From James Madison to John Quincy Adams, 9 December 1827
To John Quincy Adams
Montpellier Decr. 9. 1827
Dear Sir
I return my thanks for the copy of your Message to Congress1 on the 3d. instant.2 Its very able view of blessings which distinguish our favored country is very gratifying: And the feelings inspired by our own condition find an expanded scope in the meliorations infused into that of all other people, by a progress of reason & truth, in the merit of which we may justly claim a share. With the newborn Nations on the same Hemisphere with ourselves, and embarked in the same great experiment of Self-Government; and who are alive to what they owe to our example, as well in the origin of their career, as in the forms of their Institutions, our sympathies must be peculiarly strong & anxious; the more so, as their destiny must not only affect deeply the general cause of liberty, but may be felt even by our own. Be pleased to accept Sir assurances of my great consideration and friendly respects.
James [Madison]3
RC (MHi: Adams Papers); draft (DLC).
1. John Quincy Adams, Message from the President of the United States, to the Two Houses of Congress, at the Commencement of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress, December 4, 1827 (Washington, D.C., 1827; 31414).
2. The draft has “politely forwarded under your cover” here.
3. JM’s last name in brackets was added at a later time in an unidentified hand.