Robert Walsh, Jr. (1784 – February 7, 1859) was an American publicist and diplomat.

Education and Europe

Robert Walsh was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1784. He was one of the first students to enter

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

. He graduated in 1801 and began his law course. During a two-year tour of

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, he contributed several articles on the institutions and laws of the

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to the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

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papers.

Bar and literature

Returning to the United States in 1808, he was admitted to the

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. In 1811 he established at

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the '' American Review of History and Politics'', the first American quarterly review. Thereafter, he devoted himself entirely to

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Reacting to the U.S. in the European press and his publications

His "Appeal from the Judgment of Great Britain respecting the United States" (1819), an important contribution to the political literature of the era. In the "Appeal," Walsh defended the United States from British critics who denounced the continuation and expansion of slavery in the United States. In formulating his response to British critics, Walsh relied on information gather from former president James Madison. In his letters to Walsh, Madison denounced slavery, overplayed southern white efforts to reign in slavery's growth, and downplayed southern whites actions that led to slavery's rapid growth and expansion in the South. Like many other southern whites, Walsh blamed Great Britain for establishing slavery in the United States. But the Missouri Crisis dramatically changed Walsh's opinions on slavery in the United States and southern white slaveholders. Later that year, Walsh published his widely read pamphlet "Free Remarks on the Spirit of the Federal Constitution, the Practice of the Federal Government, and the Obligations of the Union, Respecting the Exclusion of Slavery from the Territories and New States" (Philadelphia, 1819). In "Free Remarks," Walsh called for a complete prohibition on slavery's expansion in the United States, expecting that such an action would force southern states to begin adopting gradual abolition policies. In 1821 he founded the Philadelphia ''National Gazette'', a newspaper run by

William Henry Fry William Henry Fry (August 10, 1813 – December 21, 1864) was an American composer, music critic, and journalist. Fry was the first known person born in the United States to write for a large symphony orchestra, and the first to compose a public ...

that was devoted to

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, letters, and the

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s. Walsh edited the ''Gazette'' until 1836.

Reactions to his book ''Didactics''

Lord Jeffrey said of his ''Letters on the Genius and Disposition of the French Government'': "We must learn to love the Americans when they send us such books as this" (''Edinburgh Review'', 1853, 799). He published two volumes of essays, entitled ''Didactics'', in 1836.Guy Woodall, "Some Sources of the Essays in Robert Walsh's 'Didactics'," ''Studies in Bibliography'' Vol. 24, (1971), pp. 184–187

Diplomatic work

For health reasons, Walsh moved to Paris in 1837. His house was the popular rendezvous of the learned and distinguished men of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. From 1844 to 1851 he was Consul General of the United States in Paris. Walsh remained in

until his death. At his death a writer declared him to be "the literary and intrinsical link between Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton and the men of the present day" (1859).

References

;Sources *Mary Frederick Lochemes, ''Robert Walsh: His Story'' (New York: American-Irish Historical Society. 1941) *Joseph Eaton, "From Anglophile to Nationalist: Robert Walsh's "An Appeal from the Judgments of Great Britain"" The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 132, No. 2 (Apr., 2008), pp. 141–171 ;Notes

External links

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Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Robert People from Baltimore 1784 births 1859 deaths Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni American diplomats American consuls American expatriates in France