Knox, Henry (1750-1806) to Christopher Gore
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10310 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 June 1794 Pagination: 1 p. ; 37.5 x 23.6 cm. Order a Copy
Written as an introductory letter for Mr. Tallerand and Beaumetz, "two gentlemen, of the greatest respectability, whom the troubles of France have constrained to quit their ... Country." Continues saying that "[t]hey are on a visit to New england where I flatter myself they will see as much genuine liberty regulated by order and law, as ever blessed any portion of Mankind." Watermarked "J Watt & C Patent Copying/Sold by J Woodmason/London." Letterpress copy.
Gore served in the Continental Army as a clerk with an artillery regiment and afterwards, became a Boston lawyer. One of the young men whom he trained and mentored in his law practice was Daniel Webster. He was the eighth Governor of Massachusetts and served as an overseer of Harvard University and later as a fellow. Gore also served as a Federalist Senator from Massachusetts from 1813-1816.
Tallerand most likely refers to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevente (otherwise known as just Talleyrand) the French foreign minister. He tried to bribe American commissioners who were seeking a negotiated settlement to disputes between France and the United States. This attempt, called the XYZ affair, resulted in a quasiwar with France in 1798. Beaumetz is most likely Bon-Albert Briois de Beaumetz (also spelled "Beaumez"), travelling companion of Talleyrand and former President of the French National Constituent Assembly.
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