To James Madison from James W. Wallace, 2 September 1823
From James W. Wallace
Fauquier Sep. 2. 23
Esteemed Sir,
A gentleman late from Spain presented me with an inkstand made of the rock of Gibraltar;1 I was pleased with it untill I saw my possession is an Error Loci,2 therefore very cheerfully I send it home to you as a mark of respect from the Mediterranean for having set her mother Atlantic free. May the dew of respect continue to refresh you.
James W. Wallace3
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. “Gibraltar stones” were stalactites and stalagmites found in caverns at Gibraltar that were cut, polished, and fashioned into inkstands, among other items (Edward Hull, A Treatise on the Building and Ornamental Stones of Great Britain and Foreign Countries … [London, 1872], 143).
2. Wrong place.
3. James Westwood Wallace (1769–1838) was a physician educated at Edinburgh University, who lived in Warrenton, Virginia. He had previously sought a federal medical post in New Orleans in 1803 (Richmond Enquirer, 11 Sept. 1838; , 5:298, 401).