To James Madison from John Pope, 20 July 1817
From John Pope
Frankfort July 20th 1817
Dr Sir
If you have retained a letter I wrote you about the first of April 1812 the day preceding your message to Congress recommending an embargo,1 you would oblige me by enclosing it or a copy to me by mail with an endorsment of the time or about the time it was received. I trust it is unnecessary for me to assure you that no improper use is intended to be made of the letter. I do not know if I was disposed how I could use it to your prejudice—an early answer is requested—as I may find occasion to refer to this letter in explanation of some part of my public conduct.
Permit me now that you have retired from public life to […] that whe[…] […]ude the[…] in which […] of opinion on […] may have compelled me to assume. I have ever entertained a high respect for your public character and for yourself & Mrs Madison I have a sincere personal regard. To her please to present my best regards & believe me to be yours sincerely
John Pope2
RC (DLC). Addressed by Pope to JM “Orange County Virginia by Washington City.” Cover docketed by JM. Extensively damaged at lower edge.
1. Letter not found. For JM’s embargo message to Congress, 1 Apr. 1812, see , 4:279. Though a Kentucky Republican, Pope had opposed JM’s administration by introducing a motion in the Senate on 8 May 1812 to repeal various nonintercourse measures (ibid., 4:378 n. 2).
2. John Pope (1770–1845) was a Kentucky lawyer who served as a Jeffersonian Republican in the U.S. Senate, 1807–13, and as a Whig in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1837–43. Pope also served multiple terms in the Kentucky legislature and was governor of the Arkansas Territory, 1829–35.