{ 138 J 
[Sept. 1 
STEPHENSIANA. 
NO. XXI. 
The late ALEXANDER STEPHENS, Esq. of Park House, Chelsea, devoted an active and 
well-spent life in the collection of Anecdotes of his contemporaries, and generally entered ina 
book the collections of the passing day ;—these collections we have purchased, und propose to 
present a selection from them to our readers. 
As Editor of the Annual Obituary, and many 
other biographical works, the Author may probably have incorporated some of these scraps ; 
but the greater part are unpublished, and all stand alone as cabinet-pictures of men and 
manners, worthy of a place in a literary miscellany, 
—>— 
LETTERS of GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
Philadelphia, May 1, 1792. 
i\ Y Lord,—I should have had the ho- 
nour of acknowledging sooner the 
receipt of your letter of the 28th of June 
last, had I not concluded to defer doing 
it till I could announce to you the trans- 
mission of my portrait, which has been 
just finished by Mr. Robinson, (of New 
‘York,) who has also undertaken to for- 
ward it. The manner of the execution 
does no discredit, I am told, to the art- 
ist, of whose skill favourable mention 
had been made tome. I was farthey in- 
duced to entrust the execution to Mr. 
Robinson, from his having informed me, 
that he had drawn others for your lord- 
ship, and knew the size which would 
best suit. your collection. 
I accept with sensibility, and with sa- 
tisfaction, the significant present of the 
box which accompanied. your lordsbip’s 
letter. In yielding the tribute due from 
every lover of mankind, to the patriotic 
and heroic virtues of which it is comme- 
morative, I estimate, as I ought, the 
additional value which it derives from 
the hand that sent it, and my obligation 
for the sentiments that induced. the 
transfer. 
I will, however, ask, that you will 
exempt me from a compliance with the 
request relative to its eventual destina- 
tion. In an attempt to execute your 
wish in this particular, I should feel 
embarrassment from a just. comparison 
of relative pretensions, and should fear 
to risk injustice by so marked a pre- 
ference. 
With sentiments of the truest esteem 
and consideration, 
I remain your lordsbip’s 
most obedient servant, 
Earl Buchan. G,. WASHINGTON. 
Philadelphia, June 20, 1792. 
My Lord,—I presume you will, long 
before this reaches you, have received 
my letter of the Ist of May, in answer 
to the honour of your Jordship’s favour of 
the 28th of June, by Mr. Robinson. In 
that letter, I have stated, that the reason 
of my having so long delayed acknow- 
ledging the receipt of it, was a wish 
that the portrait, which you were 
pleased to request, should accompan 
the letter. f 
It was not till the 10th instant that I 
lad the honour to receive your lordship’s 
second favour of the 15th of September, 
which was enclosed in a letter from Dr. 
James Anderson, and accompanied with 
six volumes of the Bee. ‘These were 
forwarded by a bookseller at New York, 
who mentions his having received direc- 
tions from Dr. Anderson to transmit 
them to me. 
I must therefore beg your lordship’s 
acceptance of my warmest thanks for 
this additional testimony of your polite- 
ness. Considering myself as a sub- 
scriber to the Bee, I have written to Dr. 
Anderson to know in what manner I 
shall pay the money, that it may get. 
regularly to his hands. 
With sincere prayers for the health 
and happiness of your lordship, and 
gratefully impressed with the many 
marks of attention which I have received 
from you, I have the honour to be, 
with great esteem, your lordship’s 
most obedient servant, 
G. WASHINGTON. 
Earl Buchan. 
Philadelphia, April 22, 1793. 
My Lord,—Y ou might, from appear- 
ances, suspect me of inattention to the 
honour of your correspondence; and, if 
you should, I can assure you it would 
give me pain. Or you might conceive, 
that I had rather make excuses than 
acknowledge, in time, the receipt of 
your favours, as this is the second in- 
stance of considerable lapse between 
the dates’ of them and my acknowledg- 
ments: this also would hurt me, for the 
truth is, that your favour of the 22d of 
Jast October, under cover of one from 
Dr. Anderson of the 3d of November, 
accompanying the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 
and 11th, volumes of the Bee, did not 
comc 
