He persuaded himself that by repairing to Philadelphia previous to the second Monday in May, in order to attend the general meeting of the Cincinnati, he should efface any impressions unfavourable to the attachment he felt to his military friends, which might otherwise be excited in their bosoms by his appearing in a public character, after declining the presidency of their society.

The increasing probability that the convention would be attended by a full representation of the states, and would propose a scheme of government which, if accepted, might conduce to the public happiness, and would not be unworthy of his character, had also its influence on his mind.

An opinion too began to prevail, that the government must be invigorated by agreement or by force, and that a part of the opposition to the convention originated in a desire to establish a system of greater energy than could spring from consent.

The idea that his refusing his aid in the present crisis might be attributed to a dereliction of republican principles, furnished additional motives for yielding to the wishes of his fellow citizens.

On the 28th of March, he addressed a letter to the governor of Virginia, in which, after stating the reasons which had induced him to decline attending the convention, the influence of which he still felt, he added--"However, as my friends, with a degree of solicitude which is unusual, seem to wish for my attendance on this occasion, I have come to a resolution to go if my health will permit, provided from the lapse of time between your excellency's letter and this reply, the executive may not (the reverse of which would be highly pleasing to me) have turned their thoughts to some other character." After communicating this determination to the executive of Virginia, he received a letter from the secretary of war, one of the small number of his friends who had endeavoured to dissuade him from the resolution he had ultimately taken, in which that officer avowed an entire change of opinion on this subject.