On January 16, 1814, Charles Carroll of Carrollton wrote to his son-in-law Robert Goodloe Harper. His letter rejected Baltimore’s burgeoning optimism for a quick end to the war with England:

“Till Bonaparte is defeated so as to be forced to relinquish all his conquests and to make peace, or what would be more desirable till death rids the world of the tyrant, I am persuaded no peace will take place between this country and England.”

Carroll retired from public life in 1801—a public life that included signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and nearly 20 years in the Maryland State Senate. Retirement did little to slow Carroll’s correspondence. He spent the winter of 1813-1814, living at Doughoregan near Ellicott City and wrote often to Harper worrying over the mismanagement of his farm near Annapolis and the events of the war.

Source: Rowland, Kate Mason. 1898. The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 1737-1832: With His Correspondence and Public Papers. G.P. Putnam’s Sons.