To Thomas Jefferson from Thomas Delaire, 22 March 1791
From Thomas Delaire
La Rochelle, 22 Mch. 1791. He reminds TJ of his promise that he would be appointed agent of the United States in that Department. The free trade in tobacco and the suppression of duties on leather being favorable to use of whale oil are reasons to expect increased commerce and thus to make agents more necessary.
RC (DNA: RG 59, MLR); endorsed by TJ as received 19 July 1791 and so recorded in SJL. Dupl (same); endorsed by TJ as received 27 Dec. 1791. Tripl (DLC: Washington Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 21 June 1791 and so recorded in SJL.
TJ’s response to Delaire on 25 Jan. 1789, the only letter he wrote him, had promised to present his name for consideration. Delaire’s persistence in interpreting this as a promise to confer the agency evidently brought the correspondence to a close (see Delaire to TJ, 1 Jan., 12 Mch., and 17 Nov. 1789).