To James Madison from George Joy, 31 December 1814
From George Joy
⟨N⟩o 13 Finsbury ⟨Square⟩
London 31st December1 1814.
Dear sir,
It is long since I had the honor of addressing you; much longer since I had that of receiving a Line from you; the last being of the date of Janry 1811.2
I have very sudden notice of Mr: Carroll’s arrival and Departure; and write this in the Coffee House with him, without any opportunity of referring to or enclosing any papers save the printed section of the Pamphleteer No 8.3 which, if the whole work should not have reached you before this will exhibit a sample of the Labours to bring about the peace I know you desire, of Your friend & Servt.
Geo: Joy.
In the haste in which I find myself I leave open to your perusal a Letter for Mr Benjn […]
I am […]
RC (DLC: Rives Collection, Madison Papers). Docketed “1814” by JM and “31 Decr. 1814” by Edward Coles. Extensively damaged at lower margin.
1. Joy wrote “Janry” here, which was canceled and “December” interlined by Edward Coles.
2. For the letter, see Joy to JM, 9 June 1811, 3:331, 332 n. 1.
3. Joy evidently enclosed an introduction and four essays, entitled “Why Are We Still at War? Or the American Question Considered: in a Series of Essays Rejected by the Journalists as Unpopular; Recommended to a Candid Perusal,” and published under the pseudonym “Conciliator” in volume four of the Pamphleteer (1814, 551–75); the volume contained the eighth number, dated November 1814. The introduction stated that newspaper editors had found “Conciliator’s” arguments reasonable but declined publishing them because of prevailing sentiment against the United States. Structuring his essays around a review of the causes for war given in JM’s 1 June 1812 message to Congress, “Conciliator” contested British assertions that the declaration of war by the United States was unprovoked and that the American government was in alliance with France, asserted that British protests against American naturalization and employment of British seamen were hypocritical, and urged British subjects to ignore the misinformation spread by their government and draw their own conclusions about the war.