TO GEORGE W. IRVING, ESQ.
Monticello, November 23, 1809.
Sir,—An American vessel, the property of a respectable merchant of Georgetown, on a voyage to some part of Europe for general purposes of commerce, proposes to touch at some part of Spain with the view of obtaining Merino sheep to be brought to our country. The necessity we are under, and the determination we have formed of emancipating ourselves from a dependence on foreign countries for manufactures which may be advantageously established among ourselves, has produced a very general desire to improve the quality of our wool by the introduction of the Merino race of sheep. Your sense of the duties you owe to your station will not permit me to ask, nor yourself to do any act which might compromit you with the government with which you reside, or forfeit that confidence on their part which can alone enable you to be useful to your country. But as far as that will permit you to give aid to the procuring and bringing away some of the valuable race, I take the liberty of soliciting you to do so—it will be an important service rendered to your country: to which you will be further encouraged by the assurance that the enterprise is solely on the behalf of agricultural gentlemen of distinguished character in Washington and its neighborhood, with a view of disseminating the benefits of their success as widely as they can. Without any interest in it myself, other than the general one, I cannot help wishing a favorable result, and therefore add my solicitations to the assurances of my constant esteem and respect.