De Leon, Edwin (1819-91). Diplomatic Report Signed written to the American Minister in Constantinople, Carroll Spence. <<* And:>> Introductory letter for a petition by Egyptian-Greeks to Mahmoud Bey. Copies retained for US government archives.

These letters show the efforts undertaken by Edwin de Leon, American Consul General in Egypt, on behalf of Greek Christians, who were to be expelled from Egypt as a result of Greek uprisings in Ottoman territories. A contingent of ethnic Greeks who had been resident in Egypt for generations approached De Leon to deliver their petition to Mahmoud Bey, the “Governor of Alexandria,” and also “acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.” De Leon argues that they should be spared “from the consequences of acts in which they had no part, and of which they are about being made the innocent victims.” De Leon offers flattery, pointing out that “a higher compliment could not be paid to His Highness than this mark of confidence in his justice and magnanimity and their preference for Egypt as a residence over the land of their nativity.” He also reminds that eyes are watching, and hints at greater rewards by rescinding the expulsion: “it would exalt his name throughout the whole Western World.” In De Leon’s report to Carroll Spence, the American Consul General in Constantinople, he describes the dismay of the Greeks: "The blow was so unexpected that the Greek residents in Egypt seemed entirely stunned by it, and were incredulous as to its execution.” De Leon’s report appears in: Executive Documents Printed by Order of the House of Representatives During the Second Session of the Thirty-Third Congress, 1854-55 (Washington, 1855). Edwin de Leon was a scion, on both sides, of Colonial American Jewish families from South Carolina. President Franklin Pierce appointed de Leon Consul General in Egypt in 1853 where he served at this post for eight years, resigning upon the outbreak of the Civil War. De Leon returned home and joined the Confederate government, receiving a diplomatic mission to Europe from Jefferson Davis. Otherwise described by Joseph Rader Marcus as “that brilliant Jewish assimilationist” an interesting episode in his public life may hint at some Jewish pride: King Otto of Greece (1815-67) sought to award de Leon the Cross of His Royal Order of the Saviour for his activities on behalf of Greeks but De Leon declined it.