On the Correspondence of Governor D. D. Tompkins. 233 



From General Henry Dearborn, both Secretary of War and Com- 

 mander on our northern frontier in 1812 and 1813, fifty-six letters; 

 from General William Curtis, Secretary of War, twenty-six letters; from 

 Colonel Jonathan Williams, also Commander at West Point, twenty- 

 two letters; from General John Armstrong, also Secretary of W ar, 

 twenty-three letters; from General Solomon Van Rensselaer, Adjutant- 

 General of New York, eighteen letters; from Governor De Witt Clinton, 

 twelve letters. 



And from a long list of many others, names with which you are per- 

 fectly familiar as the eminent names in our State or National history, 

 from one to eight letters from eacli of them — such as, Nicholas Pish, 

 General Wads worth, Robert Swartwout, Dr. S. L. Mitchill, Albert 

 Gallatin, Eli Whitney, General James Wilkinson, Ambrose Spencer, 

 Washington Irving, General Scott, Rufus King and six from T. Addis 

 Emmet, and many others. 



One volume contains his correspondence as Major-General of the 

 United States, commanding the third military district of the United 

 States and his general orders in 1814 and 1815. Two volumes of five 

 hundred pages eaeb contain all the general orders and correspondence 

 of the Adj utant-General's department of New York, during the years 

 from 1800 to 1812. 



In two folio volumes containing 1,000 beautifully written pages 

 have been copied out all his judicial opinions, all his messages to the 

 assembly, the senate or the legislature and their answers for the whole 

 ten years of his terms of office. 



The 2,500 loose manuscripts, the originals of many of the copies 

 in the volumes, have yet to be compared with the copies to discover how 

 far they duplicate or are additional to what are in the bound volumes. 



Our curiosity may be excited to know how it comes to pass that so 

 many of these letters exist in copies in this purchase, as well as in their 

 oriyinals. It was the opinion of Minthorne Tompkins, his son, that the 

 copies had been -made to facilitate the governor in using them in 

 defense of his claims. His son thought that many of the copies were 

 in the handwriting of his father, or were original entries made by him 

 when sending off his letters. 



I will now read extracts from a few of his unpublished letters, which 

 I do not pretend are more interesting and important than many others. 

 They are such as my eyes chance to have rested upon, and may be 

 supposed fairly to illustrate the character of the State's newly acquired 

 treasures. 



