RC (DLC); at head of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr:”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Rufus King to Henry Jackson, Brighton, 28 Aug. 1799, replying to Jackson’s letter of 22 July requesting permission to emigrate to America; King explains that Congress had recently given him “an assurance, that a particular description of persons in Ireland” would not be permitted to leave for the United States without that nation’s consent; this restriction, King assumes, would be lifted on individuals “against whose emigration I should not object”; examining the political situation in America, King and others believe that a portion of their countrymen has “erroniously supposed” that America’s civil and political institutions would be improved “by a close imitation of the Models of France”; this has created considerable divisions among Americans and “required a greater watchfullness and activity from the Government”; in particular, King states that a large proportion of Irish immigrants, especially in the middle states, has “arranged itself on the side of the Malcontents”; King excepts a few “enlightened & well educated Irishmen who reside among us,” and largely confines his comments to the “indigent and illiterate, who entertaining an attachment to freedom are unable justly to appreciate those salutary restraints without which it degenerates into anarchy”; King worries that the Irish in America may enlist in “mischievous combinations against our Government”; he does not object in general to the emigration of persons of capital and skill, but such persons may become “tenfold more dangerous” if their opinions align them with the malcontents; “the motives which lead me to interfere with your Government to restrain the emigration of the persons above alluded to,” King explains, “oblige me to observe a due caution on the present occasion”; the recommendation in Jackson’s favor that he received from Joseph Wilson, the United States consul at Dublin, has led King to “withdraw every objection that may be supposed to stand in the way of your being permitted to go to the United States”; King urges Jackson to carry an “unbiassed mind” to America and hopes that he may find the country favorable to his future business endeavors “& its Government deserving your attachment” (Tr in same; King, Life description begins Charles R. King, ed., The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: Comprising His Letters, Private and Official, His Public Documents and His Speeches, New York, 1894-1900, 6 vols. description ends , 2:645–7; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States…to the Termination of the Nineteenth Congress, Washington, D.C., 1828, 3 vols. description ends , 1:158). (2) Edward Hudson to Henry Jackson, Philadelphia, 20 Jan. 1803, restraining himself from giving full vent to his feelings on the betrayal of his country and the victimization of its people “to a mercantile, relentless policy”; Hudson has no desire to become “an American politician,” but as an Irishman, Hudson must always feel as such; many of his countrymen in Philadelphia have resolved to send a memorial to Congress, praying an alteration of the naturalization laws; the memorial will also assert that because of the American minister’s refusal to allow Irish political prisoners to reside in the United States, the British government made this the pretext for “detaining them in dungeons for the space of four years, in open violation of a solemn compact”; the aliens wish to support this statement with every document possible; while imprisoned, Hudson was present when Mr. Marsden, one of the secretaries of the Irish government, informed the prisoners that they would not be allowed to emigrate to America because of objections by the American minister in London; Hudson and his fellow prisoners, including Jackson, initially believed this was a lie concocted by the British to keep them imprisoned; Hudson recollects that Jackson wrote Rufus King on the subject, and received a reply establishing the fact “that he did interfere against us” and the “imprecations” by the prisoners against King as a result of his letter were unanimous; King’s letter to Jackson would confirm the statement of the aliens in their memorial to Congress, and Hudson asks Jackson for a copy of it, or, preferably, the original; it may not be necessary to make use of the letter, but if a partisan of King should call for proof of the accusations made against him by the memorialists, the use of the letter would prevent the tables from being turned against the memorialists; anything brought before the public must not only be grounded in fact, but able to be proven as well; the accusations against King “cannot be questioned by us,” but may be by others and the difficulty lies in proving them; “Without the letter in your possession,” Hudson concludes, “we cannot—With it we can: and to the conviction of the most willfully incredulous” (Tr in DLC). (3) Henry Jackson to Edward Hudson, Carlisle, 24 Jan. 1803, forwarding Rufus King’s letter to him, “full proof of his interfering, and I have little doubt of his doing as the English Government directed him”; Jackson also encloses “that Scoundrel Castlereagh’s letter to me returning it, having sent it to him to remove the only objection the Irish Government said they had to my leaving Ireland”; King’s delay in answering Jackson cost him £500; “somebody got that sum for procuring an order for leave for me to go to America,” Jackson claims, although he did not learn this until a year after he arrived; “this same influence” now offers to procure leave for Jackson to return for a “few hundred pounds—What a virtuous Government”; Jackson asks Hudson to take care of the letters, since he may have occasion to make use of them at another day, and hopes to see some of Hudson’s committee in Washington, “if the weather is tolerable, all depends on that” (RC in same). (4) “Memorial of the Aliens, Inhabitants of the City and County of Philadelphia” to the Senate and the House of Representatives, undated, stating that they had petitioned Congress during their previous session for a repeal of the existing naturalization law; describing the experiences of those memorialists residing in America from the summer of 1798 to the spring of 1801, the petition claims “Every Alien distinguished for his attachment to the principles of Liberty, was incessantly abused” by the Federalist press, that the American minister in London stated in the name of his government that Irish state prisoners would not be allowed to reside in the United States, that the British government made this a pretext for detaining them “in dungeons” for four years, that the president at that time was “notoriously hostile to Aliens of Republican principles,” and that he was authorized by law to banish any alien at his pleasure; under these circumstances, few resident aliens declared an intention of becoming a United States citizen, “For by so doing, he placed his name on a list of proscription, and subjected himself to banishment, at the arbitrary will of an Individual”; the memorialists argue that even the poorest immigrant arriving in America “has a property in his life, in his liberty, and in his labour; and is as liable to the laws as the richest Citizen”; to tax, imprison, or execute him by laws that were framed without his representation “is to exercise against him an act of tyranny”; society would benefit by enfranchising aliens that have demonstrated good character, paid taxes, showed their attachment to American government, and declared their wish to reside permanently in the United States; they rest their case not only on rights, but on justice and policy as well; the majority of the memorialists are natives of Ireland and retain a love and appreciation for freedom; Congress acknowledged the services of Irish patriots to the cause of “Humanity and America” and invited them to partake of the United States and of their success, “and the countrymen of Montgomery, have never by their conduct in war, or their votes in peace, proved unworthy of the Blessing”; those who have sacrificed their country “for the Principles on which your Constitution is founded” deserve the trust and functions of citizenship; states like Pennsylvania and others, where the laws regarding foreigners are most liberal, “are not inferior in attachment to the American Union, in Morals, in Freedom, in Arts, Industry or Prosperity to any of their Sister States”; such states are foremost in population increase, affording strength and security to the nation, and by their constitutions the “Stranger of good Conduct” may become a citizen after two years residence; Spain and France suffered by expelling foreigners from their lands, and the memorialists urge Congress to “Encourage your Aliens, you will have the Arts and Manufactures of Europe;—neglect us, we suffer, but you are not served”; they therefore pray that Congress admit to citizenship those aliens who are now excluded on account of not having made a declaration of their intention three years previously, and to restore the time of two years’ residence specified in the original naturalization law (printed copy in same).