James Madison Papers

From James Madison to Lewis M. O’Brien, 14 December 1801

To Lewis M. O’Brien

Department of State. Washington
14. Decr. 1801.

Sir,

I have received with your Letter of the 23d. May last,1 the bond which you tender for the faithful performance of your official duties.2 The usage (founded on an obvious principle of expediency) requires that the sureties should in such cases be either residents of the United States, or holders of property of a permanent nature in them. Hence, altho’ I make no doubt that Messrs. Vial, Son & Co. and Francis Varangot would be competent sureties for an engagement, which, if necessary, was to be enforced in Spain, I must request you to substitute in their place your correspondents in the United States, or other persons possessing the qualifications above indicated. I have the honor &c.

J. M.

Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, IC, vol. 1).

1. Letter not found (calendared in PJM-SS description begins Robert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (2 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986—). description ends , 1:226).

2. On 8 Jan. 1800 the Senate had approved Adams’s nomination of Lewis Meagher O’Brien to be consul for Santander, Spain (Senate Exec. Proceedings description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828). description ends , 1:332, 333).

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    Source Project
    Madison Papers
    Title
    From James Madison to Lewis M. O’Brien, 14 December 1801
    Author
    Madison, James
    Recipient
    O’Brien, Lewis M.
    Date
    14 December 1801

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From James Madison to Lewis M. O’Brien, 14 December 1801,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-02-02-0462. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 2, 1 August 1801 – 28 February 1802, ed. Mary A. Hackett, J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993, pp. 314–315.]

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