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Lot 5: George S. Germain Signed Letter

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:2,400.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Lot    5: George S. Germain Signed Letter
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>Lord Germain Lobbies For The Invasion of Georgia in 1778!</b>

<b>(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) GEORGE SACKVILLE GERMAIN. British Secretary of State for the American Colonies during the revolution whose his ill-timed interference in the conduct of the War was, in every respect, fatal.</b>
Letter Signed, as Secretary of State for The Colonies, 2 pages, 8” x 12.25 and hinge mounted to archival paper measuring 10.25 x 14.5”, Whitehall, November 28, 1778, marked at top “Duplicate” and “Separate” and bracketed at bottom “Commissioners to consult & agree upon the means of quieting disorders subsisting in North America.” To “My Lord & Sire”, docketed on the integral address leaf “To The Kings Commissioners.” Choice Extremely Fine. In full: “I have thought it my duty to lay before the King the enclosed Memorial of the Merchants and others in South Carolina and Georgia; and His Majesty’s earnestly wishing that all his faithful Subjects might be able to receive their property from America if it can be done or without opening a Door by which Remittances may be made on half of the Rebels has commanded me to transmit it to you for your consideration that in case a successful attack should be made upon Georgia in the Course of the Winter, and that Province reduced to the King’s Obedience you may be apprised of His Majesty’s Wishes and the Memorialists Expectations; but your own judgments must direct you how far it is fit to comply with them. I am My Lord & Sire your most obedient Humble Servant.”

Even in the 18th century, economic considerations and lobbying attempted and often did affect military and political policy. Powerful Tory interests in Georgia were eager that the Crown reoccupy their lands, so that they might resume business as usual - a view with which Lord Germain, having been until just that year Lord Commissioner of Trade and Plantations, was in much sympathy.