James Madison Papers
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From James Madison to the Secretary of the Republican Meeting of Columbia, South Carolina, 17 October 1809

To the Secretary of the
Republican Meeting of Columbia, South Carolina

Ocr. 17. 1809

Sir

I have recd. the Resolns. unanimously entered into by the Citizens of Columbia, & covered by your letter of the 20th. of Sepr.1

The very unexpected & inauspicious turn given to our relations with G. B. by the disavowal of the friendly Arrangt. concluded by her accredited Minister, cd. not fail to excite a lively sensibility among a people conscious of their own just purposes, and satisfied of the reasonable views & good faith, which have been evinced by their own Govt.

In such a posture of our Affairs, it is a happy consideration, that a disposition, more & more prevails, to review the course which has been pursued in our foreign relations with a due attention to the causes which have produced & prolonged the embarrts. which have distinguished them; and to unite in support of the public Authorities in the measures which may be best adapted to the peculiarity of the crisis.

Such a Union alone can be wanted to command respect from foreign nations to our rights, or to vindicate them with success.

I tender to my fellow Citizens of Columbia my respects & friendly wishes.

J. M.

Draft (DLC). Addressed to “John M. Creyon Esqr.”

1. See Republican Meeting of Columbia, South Carolina, to JM, 4 Sept. 1809 (PJM-PS description begins Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (2 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1984-). description ends , 1:352). Creyon’s letter to JM (misdated 30 Sept.) is printed in the National Intelligencer, 8 Dec. 1809, along with JM’s reply.

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    Madison Papers
    Title
    From James Madison to the Secretary of the Republican Meeting of Columbia, South Carolina, 17 October 1809
    Author
    Madison, James
    Recipient
    Secretary of the Republican Meeting of Columbia
    Date
    17 October 1809

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From James Madison to the Secretary of the Republican Meeting of Columbia, South Carolina, 17 October 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-02-02-0023. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 2, 1 October 1809–2 November 1810, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 16–17.]