James Madison Papers
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To James Madison from John Coghill, 20 April 1812

From John Coghill

Paris April 20 1812

Sir,

I feel myself infinitely obliged to General Lafayette for having done me the honor of introducing me to you in consequence of his having contributed in some measure to my becoming an Americain citizen, by the property he has sold me in Louissiana1 which increases doubly the desire I have to be made known to one of its most distinguished members, & I hope the interest I shall always take in the welfare of your country, will give me a claim to your protection.

I have long desired to become an Americain proprietor, not so much in a speculative point of view as from considering it likely that your country will be some of these days one of the first in the World which makes me wish to establish a part of my family there that they may be a witness of its rising progress. I have the honor to be related to Lord Lansdowns family in which I passed my infancy & more particularly with the first Marquiss, who lived & died a friend to your country.2

I have only to add that I shall feel a sincere gratification to be able to travel to America and profit by General Lafayette’s very kind introduction which I consider so highly flattering to me. I have the honor to be with the greatest respect Sir Your most obdient & Humble Servant

John Coghill

RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.

1. For Sir John Coghill’s purchase of some of Lafayette’s lands, see Madison and Lafayette’s Louisiana Lands, 26 Oct. 1809 (PJM-PS description begins Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (4 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1984–). description ends , 2:35–38).

2. William Petty, first marquis of Lansdowne (d. 1805), was better known as Lord Shelburne, head of the British ministry that negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognizing American independence.

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    Madison Papers
    Title
    To James Madison from John Coghill, 20 April 1812
    Author
    Coghill, John
    Recipient
    Madison, James
    Date
    20 April 1812

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To James Madison from John Coghill, 20 April 1812,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-04-02-0347. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 4, 5 November 1811–9 July 1812 and Supplement 5 March 1809 – 19 October 1811, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, Jewel L. Spangler, Ellen J. Barber, Martha J. King, Anne Mandeville Colony, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, p. 333.]