FROM SIR EDWARD NEWENHAM TO CONGRESS. To the Right Honorable the President and Members of the Congress of the United States of North America. Sirs, Belle Champe, near Dublin, August 12, 1786. I trust that this mode of addressing so respectable and magnanimous an assembly will not be deemed presumptuous in a private individual, who so early and warmly supported the just rights of the freemen of North America. It will be my pride to have one of my family honored by you. It will shew my friends and yours in this Kingdom that my zealous endeavors to support American independence are most amply rewarded. My humble desire is to have my son, Robert O'Callaghan Newenham, honored with the important trust of being Consul for the United States of North America at the port of Marseilles, in the kingdom of France. He is settled there in the mercantile line, his whole fortune is to be remitted, and he is to spend the remainder of his days there. In my pretensions to so distinguished an honor, I beg leave to refer to the Honorable Doctor Benjamin Franklin. I believe I need not refer to the public prints of those days, when a friend to the liberties of America was deemed a bold character for an Irishman to support. That friend I gloried in being and ever shall. I shall not presume to add more, only that you cannot find a man of better principles, purer integrity, or warmer zeal in your service than my son. As such I recommend him, and will be answerable for the faithful discharge of his duty. I have the honor to be, &c., EDWARD NEWENHAM. FROM LADY GRACE ANNA NEWENHAM TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Dear Sir, Belle Champe, August 21, 1786. Permit me to solicit your support towards obtaining the honor of my son, Robert O'Callaghan Newenham, being appointed Consul of the United States of America at Marseilles. Sir Edward has settled him there, probably for life. This appointment must be of service to him, as well as an honor to his father and me. I would not offer to solicit your respectable friendship did I not know he will not disgrace your protection—his heart and his principles are equally good, and he possesses an intelligence and sobriety of conduct much beyond his years. Believe me, sir, I am fully sensible of the impropriety of my thus intruding upon you; but when I consider the character I am addressing, I am encouraged to expect every allowance for a mother's pleading for the interest and honor of a beloved son; and if I do not succeed in my wishes for him, I shall feel secure of pardon from the universal philanthropy with which you are so eminently distinguished. The letter, of which I have the honor to enclose your Excellency an extract, and the addresses, came to my hands a few days since. Whether the latter are originals or copies, or whether any steps have been taken in compliance with Sir Edward Newenham's wishes, you can better decide than I; also, if there has not, what is best to be done with the application. If I mistake not, this case militates with a resolve of Congress, which declares that none but citizens of these United States shall hold consular appointments under it. But how far the singularity of the application, from such a character and under such enumeration of circumstances may occasion a departure therefrom, (if my belief is founded,) is not for me to decide. This letter to you, my good sir, is the first move I have made in this business, and I will await your sentiments before I make another. GEO. WASHINGTON. I am, &c., EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM SIR EDWARD NEWENHAM TO GEORGE WASHINGTON. Dear Sir, Belle Champe, near Dublin, August 12, 1786. May I presume to solicit your friendship in obtaining the wish of a whole family, viz: to have one of them honored by the Congress of American patriots. The idea originated with my son he is so good and virtuous a young man that I can boldly assert he never will dishonor any confidence reposed in him. He has been warm in yours and your country's cause from the beginning; his future life is fixed at Marseilles, where his fortune is vested; his third sister is married there. He wants no salary-it is the honor he solicits for. I cannot express how anxious I am to obtain his wish. The mode I have adopted is novel, but it occurred to me as the most respectful. I have acquainted Doctor Franklin and Mr. Jay with this affair, and had time been allowed, I am confident that the Marquis de la Fayette would write most warmly in our favor; but as this is the only opportunity of a safe conveyance that I can have for some time, I could not delay it; the ship Dublin Packet, Captain Alcorn, sails to-morrow for Philadelphia, and this will be committed to his care. FROM JOHN JAY TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. New York, December 30, 1786. Sir, I have received the letter you did me the honor to write on the 27th day of November last, with the papers mentioned to be enclosed with it, which shall be laid before Congress as soon as they make a House. Letters from Sir Edward Newenham, on the same subject, had been previously received, but the want of an adequate representation in Congress has hitherto prevented, and still prevents, a decision on it. With sentiments of great respect, &c., JOHN JAY. FROM JOHN JAY TO THE PRESIDENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. New York, February 8, 1787. Mr. JAY presents his compliments to his Excellency Doctor Franklin, and, agreeable to his request, has the honor of returning, herewith enclosed, the letters transmitted in the Doctor's letter of the 21st November last. Those letters, with others on the same subject, were laid before Congress, and had it not been for the act which confines their appointment of Consuls to citizens, there is no doubt but that Congress would most readily have complied with Sir Edward Newenham's request. FROM JOHN JAY TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. New York, February 24, 1787. Sir, I have just received a letter from Lady Newenham on the subject of the application of Sir Edward for the consulship of Marseilles for their son. The solicitude of that amiable family to obtain that mark of the notice of the United States seems so fervent, that, considering their uniform and zealous attachment to America, the necessity of disappointing their hopes is to be regretted, especially, too, as the object of their wishes is far from being a very important one. If Mr. Newenham would come to this country, and be naturalized, in either of the States, I presume the objection arising from the act of Congress, which confines these appointments to citizens, would be removed; and on the least intimation that he would then have the honor he solicits, I apprehend he would not hesitate to take this step. It would, however, be improper for me to suggest such a hint to Sir Edward, unless authorized by Congress to do it; and I take the liberty of mentioning this expedient, from an opinion that nothing but the act in question restrains Congress from complying with his request, and gratifying the wishes of that good friend of our country. I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY. Sir, FROM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TO JOHN JAY. Philadelphia, January 3d, 1787. Mr. Samuel Vaughan, jr., has informed me that he purposes applying to Congress for an employment in their intended Mint, and for some encouragement to explore the United States with respect to the ores, minerals, &c., that may be contained in their territories, and has requested of me a line of recommendation to you. I do not know how far his views may be compatible with those of Congress, nor do I presume to have any interest that may promote them; but if it may be of use to him, I, with pleasure, give this testimony, that I have known him some years, during which he has been constantly engaged in the diligent study of metallurgy and mineralogy, and in travelling through most of the countries of Europe, where there are mines, and where those sciences flourish, to inspect the one and converse with the learned and experienced professors of the other; that he has brought with him to this country a most valuable collection of books on the subject, as well as a very great assortment of all the different ores, &c., and that I esteem him as a man of probity and integrity, as well as of great skill and ingenuity, so that, in my opinion, if induced to stay among us with his collections, it will be a valuable acquisition to our country. With great respect, I have to be, &c., B. FRANKLIN. Sir, FROM SAMUEL VAUGHAN TO JOHN JAY. Philadelphia, December 29, 1786. Since I had the pleasure of seeing you I have entertained some thoughts, with the concurrence of my friends, of offering myself as a candidate for one of the offices in the Mint lately established by Congress; and in this case I have little, doubt your favoring me with your counsel, and if the idea meets your approbation, of then assisting me with that recommendation only, for which your acquaintance with me might be a foundation. As to a friend, I shall take the liberty of speaking fully of my views, and I shall hope for your indulgence, in attending for a few moments to them. I am too much an advocate for liberty of retirement, ever to seek an office to form my object in life; my circumstances and connexions render me perfectly independent of every pecuniary motive; and I hope I have more meritorious reasons for my conduct than any external applause. I am induced, sir, to offer myself in this line, as the one in which I could be the most eminently useful, and which I could execute with the greatest self-approbation. I appeal, sir, to |