in the smallest drawing-room where Mr. Lear had placed it. Whether the
_green_ curtain or a new _yellow_ one is to be used for the staircase
window in the hall, may depend on his getting an exact match in color
for the former; in things of this sort one would not regard a small
additional expense, to save the eye from bad contrasts. He expresses
the hope that his study will be in readiness by the time he arrives, and
that the rubbish and other litter made by those "men of mortar and the
carpenters," will be removed so that the yard may be made and kept as
clean as the parlor. This, he says, is essential, as, by the alterations
made in the house, the back rooms had become the best and there was an
uninterrupted view from them into the yard, especially from the
dining-room. He concludes by saying that as Mrs. Washington writes to
Mrs. Lear, he would only add his best wishes for her and affectionate
regards for himself, "being your sincere friend, G.W."

Mount Vernon, November 12, 1790. This letter is a duplicate written to
inform Mr. Lear that he depended upon P****'s coach, horses, and driver,
for taking on the children to Philadelphia. His reasons for writing the
duplicate was, that Giles (one of his servants), who was sent on
Wednesday to Alexandria with his first letter with directions that if
the stage had gone to pursue it to Georgetown so as to overtake the
mail, had put the letter into the hands of a passenger, who "all but
forced it from him," so anxious was this passenger to do an obliging
thing, as he "knew General Washington." This passenger told his name,
but it was "so comical," he could not recollect it. This was Giles's
story; and the General adds that as he knew what little dependence was
to be placed on the punctual conveyance of letters by a private hand, he
writes this duplicate by post to repeat his request that Mr. Lear will
inform him, by return of post, what he has to expect with _certainty_ as
to the coach hired for taking on a part of his family to Philadelphia.