PAYNE, JOHN HOWARD, Author of "Home, Sweet Home." Three autograph letters signed ("John Howard Payne") to W.L. Marcy, Secretary of War in New York, 24 September 1847-23 August 1848. Together 8 pages, 4to and 8vo, one with integral address leaf. The author, recalled from his post as U.S. Consul at Tunis, appeals to Marcy for a new post. 24 September 1847: "Next to knowing whether there is a disposition to grant me anything, it is rather essential to find out whether there is anything to be granted...." He fears being "thrown back upon literary labour, which is now a more beggarly resource in our country than ever." 9 December 1847: Payne proposes a position as a government agent: "So far as the Coast of Barbary is concerned, I think I could execute such a commission...even to Constantinople," then expresses displeasure at having been recalled: "the impressions concerning the causes of my removal did no service to the reputation of our country in Tunis and Malta." In the last letter Payne, still begging for a job, enquires about a vacancy that has opened in Tripoli, in light of "the extreme difficulty of my position." (3)