To James Madison from William C. C. Claiborne, 10 April 1804 (Abstract)
§ From William C. C. Claiborne
10 April 1804, New Orleans. “Last Sunday I made a visit to the Convent in this City and was received by the Nuns with every mark of respect.
“To an affectionate and complimentary Address, which was presented me,1 I returned an answer a Copy of which is enclosed.2
“I am much pleased with this institution; the Nuns have uniformly supported the most amiable character and the education of female youth is conducted by them with care and judg’ment.
“I consider these venerable ladies as very useful members of Society, and I feel very Solicitous for their happiness and welfare.”
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, TP, Orleans, vol. 4); letterbook copy and letterbook copy of enclosure (Ms-Ar: Claiborne Executive Journal, vol. 13). RC 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Claiborne; marked “No. 4”; docketed by Wagner as received 17 May. For enclosure, see n. 2.
1. For the address of the Ursuline nuns, see Rowland, Claiborne Letter Books, 2:85–86.
2. Claiborne’s 8 Apr. 1804 reply (2 pp.; docketed by Wagner; printed ibid., 2:86–87) informed the nuns that “under the free and mild Government of United America, you may with certainty calculate on the uninterrupted enjoyment of your present tranquil and hallowed retreat, and the exercise of the honorable avocation to which your temporal cares are directed.”