To James Madison from Henry Lee, 22 December 1791
From Henry Lee
Richmond Decr. 22d 1791.
My dear sir.
Mr James Marshall1 brother to our friend John is about going to London on business very important to himself. Proper introductory letters will be very necessary to him especially to characters political & commercial. For it may happen that the interposition of the first may be necessary to remove some difficultys which he apprehends. You know the merit of the family, the excellence of Mr. John Marshall, & I can assure you that Mr James is personally entitled to every respect & consideration.
Will you be so good then as to ask letters from the British minister in his behalf to such gentlemen in London as he may please to make Mr Marshall known to.
Your attention to this business will singularly oblige Mr. Marsha⟨ll⟩ & his many friends among whom I beg to be ranked. Affy. yours
Henry Lee
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. James Markham Marshall (1764–1848) went to Europe and became Washington’s unofficial emissary in Berlin when Lafayette’s release from imprisonment was unsuccessfully sought. He later became involved with Lee in the purchase of the Lord Fairfax estate and was one of President Adams’s “midnight judges” appointed in 1801. He never took the office and spent much of the remainder of his life practicing law in Winchester. He married Hester Morris, daughter of Robert Morris (Beveridge, Life of John Marshall, I, 38 n. 1; II, 203–11, 560 n. 2).