Placing the Cart Before the Horse
Item
Type
Autograph Letter Signed
Title
Placing the Cart Before the Horse
Description
Washington warns that the pending application should not be addressed until a survey, an essential document, is taken. Doing so would be like placing the cart before the horse.
short description
Placing the Cart Before the Horse
year created
1793
month created
06
day created
12
author
recipient
in collection
in image
notable person/group
Henry Knox
George Washington
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
Attorney General
Secretary of State
notable location
enclosed application
obstacle
concluding act
survey
law
signature
propriety
document number
1793061240301
page start
1
transcription
[sideways, right side of page]
The Secretary of State
Gentlemen,
As you are about to meet another business, it is my desire that you would take the enclosed application into consideration.
__It is not my wish on one hand, to shren unnecessary obstacles in the way of gratifying the wishes of the applicant__on the other it is incumbent on me to proceed with regularity. __Would not the [undecipherable]ting of a Patent then, which I believe is always the concluding act of predicated on the Survey (as an essential document) have too much the appearance of placing the Cart before the Horse. __ And does not the Law [undecipherable] something on the Attorney General of the U. States [undecipherable] to the [undecipherable]nature of the President?
__Whatever be done with property I am willing to do. __More I ought not to do.__
G Washington
To Secretaries of
State
Treasury &
War
The Secretary of State
Gentlemen,
As you are about to meet another business, it is my desire that you would take the enclosed application into consideration.
__It is not my wish on one hand, to shren unnecessary obstacles in the way of gratifying the wishes of the applicant__on the other it is incumbent on me to proceed with regularity. __Would not the [undecipherable]ting of a Patent then, which I believe is always the concluding act of predicated on the Survey (as an essential document) have too much the appearance of placing the Cart before the Horse. __ And does not the Law [undecipherable] something on the Attorney General of the U. States [undecipherable] to the [undecipherable]nature of the President?
__Whatever be done with property I am willing to do. __More I ought not to do.__
G Washington
To Secretaries of
State
Treasury &
War
Item sets
Document instances
| In image | In source | Location in source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| [view document] (2 pages) | JHD06 (2 pages) | Collection: Thomas Jefferson Papers | R: 18 |
Document names
| Type | Name | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | George Washington | [unknown] | [n/a] |
| Recipient | Thomas Jefferson | [unknown] | Also to Alexander Hamilton & Henry Knox |