From Thomas Jefferson to Stephen Sayre, 17 July 1793
To Stephen Sayre
Philadelphia July 17. 1793.
Sir
I have duly received your favor of the 13th. on the same subject with one written to the President, and I have the honor to inform you that the circumstances of the case not leaving room for the appointment therein proposed, the offer of service you are pleased to make cannot be made use of. I have the honor to be Sir Your most obedt. humble servt
Th: Jefferson
PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Stephen Sayre.” FC (Lb in DNA: RG 59, DL).
Sayre’s letter of 13 July 1793, recorded in SJL as received 15 July 1793, has not been found. In a letter of the same date to the President, Sayre had requested an appointment as a diplomatic agent to negotiate the release of the American captives in Algiers and the conclusion of a commercial treaty with that country (Sayre to George Washington, 13 July 1793, DLC: Washington Papers, Applications for Office). David Humphreys had already been entrusted with a similar agency (TJ to Humphreys, 21 Mch. 1793).