George Washington Papers
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To George Washington from David Humphreys, 3 May 1791

From David Humphreys

Private.

My dear Sir,Mafra [Portugal] May 3d 1791.

I write this short letter for the sole purpose of thanking you for nominating & appointing me Minister Resident at this Court.1 The language of affection & gratitude is brief. It is with a sensibility not expressed in words, that all the instances of your friendship & particularly the kind expressions in the close of your letter of March 16th,2 are indelibly impressed on the heart of Your sincerest & most grateful friend

D. Humphreys.

P.S. I pray you to remember me to Mrs Washington & the family with those tender sentiments of attachment, which you know I entertain for them.

D.H.

ALS, DLC:GW.

1. For GW’s nomination of his former secretary David Humphreys to become U.S. minister to Portugal, see GW to the U.S. Senate, 18 Feb. 1791. Humphreys arrived in Lisbon from Madrid on 6 Feb. 1791 but did not have his first audience with Queen Maria until 22 May (Humphreys, Life and Times of David Humphreys, description begins Francis Landon Humphreys. Life and Times of David Humphreys: Soldier—Statesman—Poet, “Belov’d of Washington.” 2 vols. New York and London, 1917. description ends 2:76, 91–92, 106, 109).

2. On the eve of his departure on the Southern Tour, GW wrote a private letter to Humphreys acknowledging his two previous letters. See Humphreys to GW, 31 Oct., 30 Nov. 1790, and GW to Humphreys, 16 Mar. 1791.

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    Washington Papers
    Title
    To George Washington from David Humphreys, 3 May 1791
    Author
    Humphreys, David
    Recipient
    Washington, George
    Date
    3 May 1791

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To George Washington from David Humphreys, 3 May 1791,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-08-02-0118. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 8, 22 March 1791 – 22 September 1791, ed. Mark A. Mastromarino. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, p. 154.]

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