Moultrie, William (1730-1805) to George Washington
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.04664 Author/Creator: Moultrie, William (1730-1805) Place Written: Charleston, South Carolina Type: Manuscript letter signed Date: July 1790 Pagination: 2 p. ; 23.8 x 19.4 cm. Order a Copy
Writes to Washington on behalf of the South Carolina branch of the Society of the Cincinnati to complain that the Secretary General "is not sending forward in proper time the notice required by the letter from the Chairman of their standing Committee & address'd to him dated the 2nd March 1790." States that by this action, the Secretary General is not showing the Society any respect; they feel justified in asking for an explanation. As a result, their branch has been "unrepresented in the last Financial meeting, but they have been precluded from having that general communication with their Bretheren [sic] which the other State Societies have enjoy'd & which is evidently calculated to preserve the Bond of union & to Support the harmony of the whole." Outlines some other ways the Secretary General slighted the Society, and declares that he is reporting this in keeping with the South Carolina chapter's responsibility to Washington as President General of the Society.
[draft]
[inserted in different hand: Cincinnati]
Charleston So. Carolina
July 1790
Sir,
I have the honor to transmit to you a Resolve of this States Society of the Cincinnati enter'd into the 8th. instant, expressing the Society's disapprobation of the conduct of the Secretary General in not sending forward in proper time the notice required by the letter from the Chairman of their standing Committee & addressd to him dated the 2nd March 1790. -
The conduct of the Secretary General on this occasion carry's with it such marks of indignity and a want of respect to the Society, that they conceive themselves fully justified in calling for an explanation and that reasons may be assigned for a behaviour from which they feel an injury -
They not only have been unrepresented in the last Triennial meeting, but they have been precluded from having the general communication with their Bretheren which the other State Societies have enjoy'd, & which is evidently calculated to preserve the Bond of union & to support the harmony of the whole -
[2] The application made by letter from the Chairman of the Standing Committee was in consiquence of the directions which he had received - it was official - and ought to have been particularly attended to as such - Nevertheless no answer whatever was given to this Letter unless the enclosed copy of a letter from the Secretary General directed to Major Genl Moultrie can be taken as one, and which could not possibly answer any other end, than a continued mark of want of attention and respect, the very date of it shew'd the impossibility of its being useful in giving timely information. -
Thus Sir in compliance with their desire I have given you, as President General, the sence of the society upon the behaviour of the Secretary General on this occasion -
I have the honor to be -
Sir
Your Most Obedt. humbl. Servt.
Willm. Moultrie
George Washington Esqre.
President General of
the Society of the
Cincinnati -
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