Books and Manuscripts

James Monroe Authorizes the Appointment of John L. Lawrence to the Swedish Delegation 

Monroe, James
Autograph Letter, signed
Washington, February 2, 1814. One sheet folded to make four pages, 10 x 8 in. (254 x 203 mm). One-page autograph letter, signed by James Monroe as Secretary of State, to John L. Lawrence, informing him of President James Madison's nomination of him to serve as Secretary of the Legation in Sweden: “Dear Sir The President has to day nominated you as secretary to the mission to Sweden. In case the nomination is confirmed it is expected that you will be ready to sail in the John Adams, now at the port of New York, with Mr. Clay and Mr. Russell who will be there in a few days. I give you this information that you may hasten to make the necessary preparations. With great respect & esteem I am Dear sir yr very obt servant Jas. Monroe”. Creasing from contemporary folds, two losses at top, affecting some letters in “Washington”; loss along bottom edge, but not affecting text.

Together with:

Monroe, James
Manuscript Document, signed
Washington, February 4, 1814. One sheet folded to make four-pages, 12 x 8 in. (305 x 203 mm). Manuscript diplomatic commission in a secretarial hand, signed by James Monroe as Secretary of State, appointing John L. Lawrence “Secretary of Legation of the United States to Sweden”; paper seal at bottom left. Edges gilt; creasing from old folds, separations along same; sheet unevenly toned; shallow tidemark along bottom edge. 

On February 2, 1814, Secretary of State James Monroe writes to New York lawyer and politician John L. Lawrence, informing him of President James Madison's decision to nominate him to serve as Secretary of the Legation in Sweden and Norway. The following day, on February 3, Lawrence was confirmed by the Senate, and on February 4, as seen in the accompanying document, Monroe sent him his diplomatic commission. As Monroe mentions in his letter above, Lawrence was to sail from New York with peace commissioners Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell aboard the USS John Adams. The latter two would go on to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812. During this time, Lawrence (1785-1849) would fulfill the role of Secretary into the summer, and from June, 1814 to May, 1815 he served as Charge d'Affaires ad interim while American Minister to Sweden and Norway, Jonathan Russell, took a leave of absence. Following Russell’s return Lawrence resumed his role as Secretary. He resigned his position in January, 1816.