It is with pleasure I receive reproof, when reproof is due, because no person can be readier to accuse me, than I am to acknowledge an error, when I am guilty of one; nor more desirous of atoning for a crime, when I am sensible of having committed it.
" It is with pleasure I receive reproof, when reproof is due, because no person can be readier to accuse me, than I am to acknowledge an error, when I am guilty of one; nor more desirous of atoning for a crime, when I am sensible of having committed it. "
Letter to Governor Dinwiddie, Aug. 27, 1757 | Saturday, August 27, 1757
Editorial Notes
This comment was intended to help explain to the Governor of Virginia the misunderstanding surrounding Washington being accused of "loose behavior and remissness of duty" in his handling of Native American affairs when in actuality Washington had been instructed to avoid these matters. Washington could handle criticism--but only when it was justified by his own misconduct, not by the perception of wrongdoing from others.
