From James Madison to Dolley Madison, [ca. 2 November] 1805
To Dolley Madison
[ca. 2 November 1805]
The last mail brought me, my dearest yours of the 30 Ocr. I am happy to find you able to walk about. I hope that will help to restore your appetite & strength, and that it will not belong before you will be able to undertake a journey hither; tho’ anxiously as I sigh for it, I can not wish it to be precipitated agst. the fullest approbation of Dr. P. I inclose a letter from the President and another from Mrs. Jackson.1 I have one from the latter but it says nothing except as to Lovells land.2 I find that the letter from Mrs. Pichon was brought by the black maid who went with her, and that a little box remains in her hands, containing probably the trinket referred to. If you wish it to be procured & forwarded, say so. Payne is well, and I am endeavoring to keep him in some sort of attention to his books.
All my affection embraces you. A Carté blanche to Miss P.
J. M.
Inclosed. $300.
RC (ViU: Madison Papers, Special Collections). Undated; conjectural date assigned based on internal evidence and surviving enclosure (see n. 1 below).
1. Mary Payne Jackson’s letter has not been found. Jefferson’s 1 Nov. 1805 letter asked Dolley to buy “a fashionable wig of the colour of the hair inclosed. a set of combs for dressing the hair. a bonnet a shawl & white lace veil for paying morning visits 2. lace half-handkerchiefs” for Martha Jefferson Randolph (MHi: Thomas Jefferson Collection).