Much to their embarrassment,
the president thought the commissioners shared in the blame for the
debacle. He authorized a $1,600 a year salary for the commissioners
on the condition that they would live in
the city and keep a close eye on the work. However, the new
commissioners lived in or near Georgetown. Secretary of State Edmund
Randolph reminded them of that and implied that the bad work at the
Capitol could have been prevented if they had been paying attention.
The commissioners fired back implying that the workers were too rude
to be supervised by gentlemen. “Those not acquainted with the
motley set we found here, and can form no adequate idea of the
irksome scenes we are too frequently compelled to engage in.”
One might describe slaves each with
a different shade of dark skin as “motley,” but the commissioners
singled out Collen Williamson as especially irksome for always
boasting about his “building castles” in Scotland.
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