Richard+Henry+Lee+on+the+Northwest+Ordinance

New York July 14th. 1787 My dear brother,

I arrived at this place a week ago almost destroyed with heat and fatigue. Here I found Grayson in the Chair of Congress Locum Tenens for the President who is absent.(1) After some difficulty we passed an Ordinance for establishing a temporary Government beyond the Ohio as preparatory to the sale of that Country.(2) And now we are considering an offer made to purchase 5 or 6 millions of Acres with pub. Securities. I hope we shall agree with the offer, but realy the difficulty is so great to get anything done, that it is not easy for the plainest propositions to succeed.(3) We owe much money, the pressure of Taxes is very great & much complained of---;we have now something to sell that will pay the debt & discharge the greatest part of the Taxes, and altho this something is in a fair way of being soon wrested from us by the Sons of Violence, yet we have a thousand little difficulties that prevent us from selling! I found the Convention at Phila. very busy & very secret, it would seem however, from variety of circumstances that we shall hear of a Government not unlike the B. Constitution---; that is, an Executive with 2 branches composing a federal Legislature, and possessing adequate Tone. This departure from simple Democracy seems indispensably necessary, if any government at all is to exist in N. America. Indeed the minds of men have been so hurt by the injustice, folly, and wickedness of the State Legislatures; & State Executives that people in general seem ready for any thing. I hope however, that this tendency to extreme will be so controuled as to secure fully and completely the democratic influences acting within just bounds. The Land Speculators continue to urge the Open Missippi immediately against every principle of policy, common good, & common sense. Upon this I shall write you more fully hereafter. The bills of R. Morris have been refused in France, to a very considerable amount it is said. Time must discover how this will work, & what it will produce. The discoveries of fraud among the great officers of State in France proves that private embezzlement of public Money [is] not confined to America. There seems to be much convulsion in France on this occasion at present.

My love, if you please to Mrs. Lee and when you have an opportunity, let me know that you are all well. Farewell. Richard Henry Lee

P.S. I do realy consider it a thing of consequence to the public interest that Colo. H. Lee of Stratford should be in our next Assembly, and therefore I wish you would exert yourself with the old Squire to get his resignation, or disqualification rather, so that hisNephew may get early into the house of Delegates. I know it is like persuading a Man to sign his own death warrant, but upon my word the State of pub. affairs renders this sacrifice of place & vanity necessary.

R. H. Lee