From James Madison to Charles Haumont, 5 November 1806
To Charles Haumont
Department of State, Novr. 5th. 1806.
Sir.
Your letter enclosing one, unsealed, to the Emperor of the French, came duly to hand; but upon reflecting on its subject and your relation to the French functionaries here, I feel a regret that your wish could not be gratified, as it could not be deemed proper to give the package a conveyance to the Emperor’s hands in the mode you desired.1 For this late return of it, I must offer the apolo[g]y of its having been received during my absence from the seat of Government. I am &c.
James Madison
Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, DL, vol. 15).
1. For Haumont’s request and the enclosed communication (not found) and Thomas Jefferson’s instructions not to forward the enclosure, see Jefferson to JM, 26 Sept. 1806, PJM-SS, 12:341 and n. 3).