George Washington Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-20-02-0026

To George Washington from William Vans Murray, 11 April 1796

From William Vans Murray

112. Spruce St.1 [Philadelphia] 11. Apl 1796.

Sir,

I find from the atto[r]ney of this district that Randal is in a course of being judicially try’d this time in the Circuit Court—& that I am to be a witness.2 You will I am sure Sir pardon the solicitude that leads me to request of you that the Proceeding may be stopped—After having done what I conceived my duty demanded of me, & after having encountered many little circumstances extremely painful to my feelings in the doing my duty as a member, I should feel myself in a Situation infinitely painful to me in again appearing in this affair—& appearing if at all, as I must in the world’s eye, as a Prosecutor. If I might be permitted to make a remark, I would observe that what the house has done amounts to every thing desireable in an example that was at once to assert the dignity of the House, and yet avoid the appearances of rigour—That example can not be repeated on a Scale equally great in a Jury Trial—nor can greater publicity be given to it—The appearance too, Sir, of a Second punishment will not perhaps add any thing to the score of government. As I have been so personally concerned in brin[g]ing Randal to one punishment I should feel very grateful if any further proceeding could be arrested before the grand Jury present him.3 I am with the Sincerest respect Sir Your most obedient Sert

W. V. Murray.

ALS, DLC:GW.

1Mary Jones, a widow, kept a boarding house at 112 Spruce St. (Philadelphia Directory, 1796, description begins Thomas Stephens. Stephens’s Philadelphia Directory, For 1796 . . . . Philadelphia, [1796]. description ends p. 98).

2The U.S. district attorney for Pennsylvania was William Rawle. For the case of Robert Randall, essentially charged with an attempt to bribe congressmen, see his memorial to GW of 14 January.

3Randall reputedly had approached several congressmen, including Murray of Maryland and William Loughton Smith of South Carolina, with offers of lands or money to support a land grant memorial. Murray and Smith had served on a seven-man committee that recommended an investigation. The two congressmen subsequently submitted written statements and testified. The House of Representatives found Randall guilty of contempt and held him in custody for week. The payment of fees secured his discharge. Murray, who supported Randall’s release, had opposed a resolution to interrogate Randall about congressmen open to his scheme (see Journal of the House, description begins The Journal of the House of Representatives: George Washington Administration 1789–1797. Edited by Martin P. Claussen. 9 vols. Wilmington, Del., 1977. description ends 8:58, 62–64, 72–76; Annals of Congress, description begins Joseph Gales, Sr., comp. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States; with an Appendix, Containing Important State Papers and Public Documents, and All the Laws of a Public Nature. 42 vols. Washington, D.C., 1834–56. description ends 4th Cong., 1st sess., 166–68, 176–77, 183, 200–205, 207–8, 244).

Later on this date, Murray again wrote GW: “I have conversed with Mr Smith of South Carolina who unites with me in wishes that a Noli prosequi may be made” (ALS, DLC:GW).

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