Letters From George Washington To Tobias Lear

Author : UNKNOWN. AUTHOR
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330970423
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (74 download)

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Download or read book Letters From George Washington to Tobias Lear written by UNKNOWN. AUTHOR and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-07-08 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Letters From George Washington to Tobias Lear: With an Appendix; Containing Miscellaneous Washington Letters and Documents Nothing more than a brief of Tobias Lear has ever been written, though for many years he was a prominent and very useful man in national affairs. He was closely associated with President George Washington, served as his private secretary, was a tutor in his family, and was honored with his particular friendship. Mr. Lear was born in the Lear mansion, on Hunking street, in Portsmouth, N. H., September 19, 1762, and was the son of Captain Tobias Lear, once a shipmaster and later in life a successful farmer. He received a liberal education and was graduated from Harvard in 1783. Immediately after the close of the Revolutionary war, General Washington retired to Mount Vernon in the belief that his public career had closed, and in the fervent hope that he might resume the quiet life of a country gentleman. His correspondence, however, steadily increased and soon became so burdensome that the services of a private secretary were needed. It was also necessary that a tutor be provided for Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, grandchildren of Mrs. Washington and children of John Parke Custis, whom Washington had adopted immediately after the death of the father, which occurred soon after the surrender of Cornwallis. Accordingly, late in 1785, Washington wrote to his friend, General Benjamin Lincoln, and asked him to recommend a suitable person. General Lincoln consulted the Rev. Dr. Joseph Willard, president of Harvard college, and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Haven, pastor of the South Parish of Portsmouth, N. H., and recommended Mr. Lear, in a letter dated January 4, 1786, saying: "I have at last found a Mr. Lear, who supports the character of a gentleman and a scholar. He was educated at Cambridge, Mass. Since he left college he has been in Europe, and in different parts of this continent. It is said he is a good master of languages. He reads French, and writes an exceedingly good letter." In his reply, written at Mount Vernon, February 6, 1786, Washington said: "Let me, in the first place, thank you for your kind attention to my inquiries; and in the next, pray you to know precisely from Mr. Lear upon what terms he would come to me. I am not inclined to leave matters of that kind to after discussion or misconception. Whatever agreement is previously made shall be pointedly fulfilled on my part, which will prevent every cause of complaint on his. "Mr. Lear, or any other who may come into my family in the blended characters of preceptor to the children, and as a clerk or private secretary to me, will sit at my table, will live as I live, will mix with the company who resort to the house, and will be treated in every respect with civility and proper attention. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.