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Subject Area: Political Theory

1825: GALLATIN TO JAMES TRIMBLE. - Albert Gallatin, The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 2 [1879]

Edition used:

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, ed. Henry Adams (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1879). 3 vols.

Part of: The Writings of Albert Gallatin, 3 vols.

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GALLATIN TO JAMES TRIMBLE.

New Geneva, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1825.

Sir,—

I had the honor to receive by yesterday’s mail your letter of 23d ult., enclosing the copy of a commission appointing me one of the canal commissioners under the Act of the Legislature of the 13th of April last.

It would have been highly gratifying to me to have had it in my power to assist in promoting an object which I ever had so much at heart as the internal improvements of the State. But the situation in which after a long absence I found my affairs, and that of my family at this moment, render it utterly impossible for me to leave this vicinity at this time. I am therefore compelled, though with much regret, to decline the appointment. I request you to return my thanks to the governor for this mark of his confidence, and have the honor to be, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant.

GALLATIN TO HENRY CLAY.

Baltimore, 10th November, 1825.

Sir,—

I had the honor to receive your letter of 8th instant, informing me of the President’s intention to nominate me one of the ministers of the United States at the contemplated congress of Panama.

An appointment so honorable in itself would be highly gratifying to me, and it is with reluctance that I decline accepting it; but I think that I could not, without much danger, encounter a tropical climate; a consideration to which, for the sake of my family, I may be permitted to yield, as, in the intercourse with men to whom the English and French are not familiar, my usefulness would be essentially lessened by my ignorance of the Spanish language.

I request the President to accept my respectful thanks for this distinguished proof of his confidence, and have the honor to be, &c.

GALLATIN TO HENRY CLAY.

Private.

Baltimore, 14th November, 1825.

Dear Sir,—

No one can be more sensible than I am both of the importance of laying the foundation of a permanent friendship between the United States and our new sister republics, and of the distinguished honor conferred on the persons selected to be the representatives of our glorious and happy country at the first congress of the independent powers of this hemisphere. But, without affecting any false modesty, I cannot perceive that I am peculiarly fitted for that mission, either by knowledge of the language, things, or men of South America, or by being known to them. My personal objection has been already stated. I had none whatever to a sea-voyage or to embarking from an Atlantic port. On the receipt of your friendly letter of the 11th, I had further private inquiries made from men thoroughly acquainted with the country, as if the object had been a commercial establishment, and without my name being mentioned. The result of these, and the decided opposition I would have to encounter in my family, compel me, though with great reluctance, to persist in declining the appointment. I will preserve a grateful sense of yours and the President’s partiality in my favor, and I beg you to accept my thanks for your conduct towards me on this occasion.