To James Madison from David Porter, 28 November 1822
From David Porter
Meridian Hill Novr. 28th. 1822
Captn. Porter presents his compliments to Mr. Madison, sends him the right Voln. in place of the one returned,1 and hopes the work may afford him some amusement.
It will be the source of great gratification to Captn. P. if the Preface should meet Mr. Madisons approbation.
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. David Porter, Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean, by Captain David Porter, in the United States Frigate Essex, in the Years 1812, 1813, and 1814, 2d ed. (2 vols.; New York, 1822; Shoemaker 9978). In a long preface, Porter took issue with and answered at length the critics of the first edition of the Journal, noting that during the war he had suffered “personal wrongs and outrages” (ibid., v) and “that the terms ‘Pirate, Freebooter, Bucanier,’ &c. were the epithets with which he was usually honoured by the British prints and British partisans; and that the usual language of both was, that ‘the scoundrel Porter deserved to be hanged alongside of the scoundrel Madison’ ” (ibid., iv).