The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787/Volume 3/Appendix A/XXX

by Max Farrand

XXX. George Washington to Thomas Jefferson.^[1]

Philadelphia 30th May 1787.

But, having since been appointed by my native State to attend the national convention, and having been pressed to a compliance in a manner, which it hardly becomes me to describe, I have, in a measure, been obliged to sacrifice my own sentiments, and to be present in Philadelphia.…

The business of this convention is as yet too much in embryo to form any opinion of the conclusion. Much is expected from it by some; not much by others; and nothing by a few. That something is necessary, none will deny; for the situation of the general government, if it can be called a government, is shaken to its foundation, and liable to be overturned by every blast. In a word, it is at an end; and, unless a remedy is soon applied, anarchy and confusion will inevitably ensue.

1. W.C. Ford, Writings of George Washington, XI, 158–159.