1. William Lambert (d. 1834) was a clerk in the State Department from November 1790 through September 1792 under Jefferson. He was one of the clerks of the House of Representatives under Chief Clerk John Beckley from 1801 to 1805, often serving as acting chief clerk in Beckley’s absence. In early December 1805 he offered himself as a candidate for chief clerk, but the House voted for Beckley and against Lambert, 85 votes to 18, and Beckley fired Lambert. JM was well enough acquainted with Lambert that, in contrast to his usual wont with applicants, he wrote Lambert on 6 Jan. 1806, explaining that there was no current opening in the department nor was there the prospect of one in the near future, and should one occur, a successful applicant would have “a knowledge of some of the modern languages” (Boyd, Papers of Thomas Jefferson, description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (39 vols. to date; Prince ton, N.J., 1950–). description ends 26:234–35 n.; Richmond Enquirer, 6 Dec. 1805; PJM-SS, description begins Robert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (10 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986–). description ends 2:419 n. 1, 459 n. 1, 4:285 n. 2, 317 n. 1, 350 n., 494 n. 7, 8:487 n. 1; DLC).