From James Madison to John Langdon, 15 May 1811
To John Langdon
Washington, May 15, 1811.
Dear Sir:
Mr. Edward Coles, of my family, with an Elder brother proposing to visit Portsmouth, in a Northern ramble,1 I take the liberty of asking in their behalf, the kind reception which you are always ready to give to those who are as worthy of it, as I know these young gentlemen to be.
I cannot lose this occasion of expressing the pleasure I have felt in learning that your country continues to be mindful of your long and distinguished services, and that your health enables your patriotism, to add new titles to their gratitude.2 Be assured always of my highest esteem & most friendly wishes.
James Madison.
Printed copy (Alfred Langdon Elwyn, ed., Letters by Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Others, Written during and after the Revolution, to John Langdon, New Hampshire [Philadelphia, 1880], pp. 51–52).
1. In January 1811 Edward Coles suggested to his brother that they go “as far North as my purse will admit, and if possible, to form a circle and take the falls of Niagara &c &c in our way” (Edward to John Coles, 28 Jan. 1811 [NjP: Edward Coles Papers]). On 15 May JM also wrote a similar letter of introduction for the Coles brothers to Elbridge Gerry in Boston (RC in the possession of the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C., 1994).
2. Langdon, with some reluctance, had been reelected as governor of New Hampshire in 1811 (Lawrence Shaw Mayo, John Langdon of New Hampshire [Concord, N.H., 1937], p. 283).