LETTERS AND OTHER WRITINGS
OF
JAMES MADISON,
VOL. I.
LETTERS
AND OTHER WRITINGS
OF
JAMES MADISON
FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS.
VOL. I.
1769-1793.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPING 0 TT & CO.
1867.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania.
MA ? /O
ADVERTISEMENT.
ON the 3rd of March 1837, Congress appropriated $30,000
for the purchase of the MSS. of ME. MADISON referred to in a
letter from Mrs. Madison to the President of the United States,
dated 15 November, 1836 *
On the 14th of October 1837, Congress passed an Act grant
ing to Mrs. Madison the right to publish in foreign countries,
for her own benefit, her husband's MS. Debates of the Con
vention of 1787.f
On the 9th of July 1838, Congress passed an Act authoriz
ing the Library Committee to cause the Madison Papers to be
printed and published, and appropriating $5,000 for the
purpose. $
Those Papers were accordingly published in three vols. 8vo.,
Washington 1840, printed by Langtree and O'Sullivan. They
contain MR. MADISON'S Eeports of Debates during the Congress
of the Confederation, [1782, 1783, and 1787,] and in the Federal
Convention of 1787 : Also letters to Greneral Washington, Mr.
Jefferson, Mr. Eandolph, Mr. Pendleton, and Mr. Joseph Jones,
and a few other letters, written during the period covered by
those Eeports. [Yol. I. pp. 43 — 186, 469 — 580. Vol. II.
pp. 615 — 682.]
On the 31st of May 1848, Congress passed an Act appropri-
* President's Message, December 6, 1836. Madison Papers, I. xvi, xvii.
f Statutes at Large, v. 205. J Stat. L. v. 309.
VI ADVERTISEMENT.
ating $25,000 to purchasing from Mrs. Madison all the unpub
lished MSS. of her husband, etc. ; James Buchanan, John Y.
Mason, and Eichard Smith, to be trustees to hold, etc., $20,000
for her *
On the 18th of August 1856, Congress appropriated $6,000
to printing and publishing 1,000 copies of the Papers of MR.
MADISON, then in the State Department, under the direction of
the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.f
The publication now made under the last mentioned Act, is
in four vols. 8vo. and contains letters of MR. MADISON, from 1769
to 1836, being a period of more than sixty seven years. A few
only of these letters are contained in the three volumes publish
ed in 1840.
To the papers referred to in the Act of 18 August 1856, the
Library Committee have, in the present publication, made some
additions. Among them are MR. MADISON'S celebrated " Exam
ination of the British doctrine, &c.; &c.," written in 1806 ; his
pamphlet entitled " Political Observations," published in 1795 ;
some Essays, chiefly political, published in 1791 - '92 ; the
Virginia proceedings of 1798, &c., which became a frequent
subject of exposition with him in his later years. The Com
mittee have also been enabled, through the courtesy of Mr.
James C. McGuire of Washington City, to add from originals
in his possession, MR. MADISON'S statements in relation to Sec
retaries Smith and Armstrong ; his apologue of " Jonathan and
Mary Bull ; " his memorandum of Bollman's interview with
President Jefferson, concerning Burr's conspiracy ; his letter on
Napoleon's return from Elba ; his note for the Princess, now
Queen, Victoria ; and his " Advice to my Country."
* Stat. L. ix. 235. t Stat. L. xi. 117.
ADVERTISEMENT. yii
The Chronological order of arrangement has been preferred,
as being, on the whole, the most convenient. Any advantages
of other plans are supposed to have been secured by the inser
tion of an analytical table of Contents and an Index of letters
for each volume, with a copious General Index to the whole
work.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1769.-— [P. 1—3.]
To Rev. Thomas Martin. Nassau Hall, Aug. 16 - 1
Friendly salutations. President Blair's account of the College of New
Jersey. " Britannia's Intercession for John Wilkes." Prospect of
College life* Approaching examination - -1
To James Madison. Nassau Hall, Sept. 30 - 2
Commencement. Degrees confirmed. Honorary degrees 2
Exercises, College honors, choice of tutors, &c. - 2, 3
1770.— [P. 4.]
To James Madison. Nassau Hall, July 23 - 4
Letter of New York Merchants burnt by the students in College yard.
Increase of students - ... 4
1771.— [P. 4, 5.]
To James Madison. Princeton, Oct. 9 ... 4
Dr. Witherspoon's visit to Virginia .... 4
1772.— [P. 5—7.]
To William Bradford, Jun. Orange, Va., Nov. 9 - - - 5
Moral and religious considerations - .... 5
Infirm health. History and the science of morals. Fops 6
Is teaching his brothers and sisters. Personal allusions - - 6, 7
1773.— [P. 7—10.]
To William Bradford, Jun. Orange, Va., April 28 7
Punctiliousness in correspondence. "Candid remarks." Freneau's
works, &c., &c. - 8
To William Bradford. Orange, Va., Sept. 6 9
Mr. Erwin's discourse, &c. - -10
1774.— [P. 10—17.]
To William Bradford, Jr. Jan. 24 - - - 10
Proceedings in Philadelphia with regard to the tea - 10
Obduracy, &c., of the Governor of Massachusetts. Evils of ecclesias
tical establishments. History, belles lettres, &c., &c. - 10, 11
Mr. Brackenridge. Manners, &c. Virginia. Persecution - - 12
To William Bradford, Jr. Virginia, Orange County, April 1 13
Mr. Brackenridge's illness. Religious liberty. The Clergy - - 13, 14 1
Caspapini's letters. Correspondence of friends - 15
ix
X CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE
1774, — Continued.
To William Bradford. Jr. July 1 - 15
Public affairs. Indians. Sympathy in Virginia with the people of
Boston. Rumor concerning Gov. Gage - - 16
The fast and the Scotch clergymen. Dean Tucker's tracts - 17
1775.— [P. 17—20.]
To William Bradford. Virginia, Orange County, January 20 17
Brackenridge's poem - 18
Preparations for defence. The Quakers - 18, 19
Logan's speech. Rev. Moses Allen - - - 19, 20
1776.— [P. 21— 28.J
To James Madison. Williamsburg, June 27 21
The Convention. Rumor of maritime aid to Dunmore - 21
COPT OP THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, AS REPORTED BY THE SELECT COMMIT
TEE OF THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION OF 1776 - 21
DRAFT OP A PLAN OF GOVERNMENT FOR VIRGINIA - 24
1777.— [P. 28—30.]
To James Madison. Orange, March - 28
Case of Benjamin Haley, arrested for seditious language - 28
1778.— [P. 30—32.]
To James Madison. Williamsburg, January 23 30
Dissuasion from resigning Lieutenancy of the County - - 30
To James Madison. Williamsburg, March 6 - 31
Effect in England of Burgoyne's surrender. Rumored rescue of pris
oners by a New England privateer. Arrival of a cargo from Nantes.
Treaty expected - 31
1779.— [P. 32, 33.]
To Col. James Madison. Williamsburg, December 8 - ?,1
Requisitions from Congress. Proposed tax on tobacco, &c. Prices - 32
Suggestions for the instruction of a younger brother. College arrange
ments. Bear skins, &c. - - 33
1780.— [P. 34—41.]
To Col. James Madison. Philadelphia, March 20 - - 34
Depreciation of the paper currency. Financial scheme - 34
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, October 3 - - 34
Reported proceedings of Spain. Arnold's treason - - 35
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, October 10 - - - 35
Military movements. Rodney. Ternay. Guichen. Execution of Andrd.
Smith. Arnold - ,. 36
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, November 14 - 37
Information from New York. Destruction of Schoharie. Exchange
of prisoners. Gen. Washington. Rumors - - - - 37
CONTENTS OP VOL. I. x(
PAGE.
1780,— Continued.
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, No^. 21 38
Embarkation at New York. Supposed purposes of the enemy - 38
Information from J. Adams. Reported death of Gen. Woodford - 38, 39
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia. December 5 39
Letters from Jay and Carmichael. Portugal, France, Spain - 39
Tempest in the West Indies. Its effects - - - 40
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, December - - 40
Partial accession of Portugal to the neutral league - - 40
Removal of Sartine, Minister of French Marine. Succeeded by De Cas
tries. Laurens committed to the Tower - - - -41
1781.— [P. 41—58.]
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia. January 23 - 41
Discontents among the German troops in New York. Rumored pro
ject of British Ministry - - 41
France and Spain. Arnold's irruption - 42
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, February - - 42
Proposed exchange of C. Taylor. Admiralty Department - - 42
Preparations of the enemy - - - 43
To Edmund Randolph. Philadelphia, May 1 - 43
Mr. Jefferson, and the defence of the title of Virginia - 43
To Philip Mazzei. Philadelphia, July 7 - 44
Summary of military events since 1779. Siege of Charleston. Battle
of Camden - - 44
Recall of Gates. Succeeded by Greene. Morgan defeats a detach
ment of Cornwallis's best troops. Cornwallis's pursuit and retieat.
Battle with Greene. Recovery of posts in South Carolina. Greene's
operations. Progress in the re'r.emption of Georgia - 45
Cornwallis?s advance into Virginia. Arnold. Fayette. Cornwallis
at Chesterfield. Tarleton's expedition. Its full object defeated.
Governor Jefferson declines a re-election. Nelson elected Gov
ernor. Tarleton's retreat. Retreat of Cornwallis to Richmond, and
thence to Williamsburg. Fayette's pursuit. Bellini - 46
Conjectured movements in the Northern Department. Financial vicis
situdes. Depreciation of old Continental bills - 47
Probable financial improvement. R. Morris. Great advantage of the
naval superiority of the enemy - 48
Barbarities of the enemy in the Southern States. Moral effect - 49
To Col. James Madison. Philadelphia, August 1 - - 50
Russian offer of mediation. Gen. Washington's operations - 50
Rumor of a proposed evacuation of Virginia. Speculators. Prices -50,51
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, Sept. 18 51
Rumors, De Banes. Digby. Arnold's blow on New London. Selfish
projects of Spain. Washington. Rochambeau - - 51
Advantages of Washington's presence in Virginia - - 52
Xli CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE-
1781.— Continued.
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., October 2 - -52
Speech of C. J. Fox, &c. Intelligence from N. York - 52
Digby. Impending fate of Cornwallis. Information from Europe.
Objects deserving attention from the legislature of Virginia - 53
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., October 9 - 54
Property of Virginia seized by Nathan - 54
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., October 16 - 54
Defence of Mr. Jay. Situation of Cornwallis. Case of Nathan against
Virginia - . 55
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Nov. 27 56
Arrival of Gen. Washington. Virginia proportion of men. Proceed
ings in the Virginia Assembly on Territorial cessions. Influence of
British reverses on the question of peace - - 56
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Dec. 11 - - 57
Harrison elected Governor of Virginia. Letters and obliquity of
Deane. Proceedings of Congress. Requisitions on the States - 57
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Dec. 25 - - 58
Commodore Johnson's capture, &c., of Dutch vessels. Jefferson's hon
orable acquittal, abilities, and patriotism - - 58
1782.— [P. 58—61.]
To James Madison. February 12 - . 58
Remittances, books, &c. - - 59
To Col. James Madison. Phila., March 30 - 59
Conjectured plans of British Ministry - 59
To James Madison. Phila., May 20 - - - 60
Rivington's spurious publications. "William Madison. Jefferson's
election to the Virginia legislature - - 60
Continental money. Public duties, &c. - 60, 61
1783.— [P. 61—66.]
To James Madison. January 1 61
Negotiations for peace. Oswald - 61
To James Madison. Phila., February 12 61
Rumors concerning peace. Fall in price of imported goods - 61
To Thomas Jefferson. Phila., February 11 - - 62
Anecdote concerning Franklin and A. Lee. Jefferson's detention at
Annapolis. Proceedings of Congress. Valuation of the land - 62
J. Adams. Franklin. E. Randolph - 63
To Gen. Washington. Phila., April 29 64
McHenry's merits. &c. - - 64
To James Madison. Phila., May 27 - 64
Books. J. Chew. Progress of the definitive treaty, &c. - 64, 65
To James Madison. Philadelphia, June 5 - - - 65
Newspapers. Pamphlet of Congress concerning Revenue - 65
CONTEXTS OF VOL. I. xiii
PAGE.
1784.— [P. 66—119.]
To Edmund Randolph. Orange, March 10 - 66
Legal studies. Coke Littleton - - 66
Demand, by Executive of South Carolina, of a citizen of Virginia - 66, 67
The propriety of surrendering fugitive offenders. Chastellux's work.
" A notable work, &c." [Qu.: J. Adams's Essay on Canon and Feu
dal laws?] - - 68
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, March 16 - 68
Delay of the ratification of the peace. Question of international law 69
Questions as to the competency of seven States to a Treaty of peace,
to revoke a commission, &c. Historical argument - - 69, 70, 71
Parliamentary meaning of " appropriation." Unaccountable error of
opinion. Territorial cession - 72
Effort of Pennsylvania for "Western Commerce. Virginia. Declen
sion of Georgetown as a residence for Congress. Virginia politics.
Executive Council. Henry. G. Mason - 73
Boundary between Virginia and Maryland - - 74
Studies and books. Buffon. Confederacies. Bynkershoeck. Wolfius.
Hawkins's Abridgement of Co. Litt. Deane's letters - 75
Spectacles. Surrender of a citizen of Virginia demanded by the Ex
ecutive of South Carolina. Case stated, and questions arising
on it - 76
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, April 25 - - 77
Mazzei. His views towards a consulate, enmity to Franklin, and fa
vorable opinion of J. Adams. Henry's present politics. Meteoro-
. logical Diary - - 78
Case of the Potowmac. Policy of Baltimore, &c. Proposition of Vir
ginia to arm Congress with certain powers. Recent change in the
British Ministry. Interrogatories. Discovery of a subterraneous
city in Siberia. Equestrian statue - - 79
Catharine 2d and Buffon - 80
To Thomas Jefferson. Richmond. May 15 - 80
Projected revisal of the Constitution of Virginia. R. H. Lee. Henry 80
To Col. James Madison. Richmond, June 5 - 81
Proceedings of the General Assembly of Virginia - 82
NOTES OF A SPEECH IN SUPPORT OF A PROPOSITION FOR A CONVENTION TO REVISE
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE - - 82, 83
PROPOSITION ON THE SUBJECT OF BRITISH DEBTS, SUBMITTED TO THE HOUSE OF
DELEGATES OF VIRGINIA - - 83, 84, 85
To George Washington. Richmond, July 2 85
Efforts in the Legislature of Virginia for the benefit of Thomas Paine.
Prejudices against him. Arthur Lee - - - 85, 86
To Thomas Jefferson. Richmond, July 3 - 86
Private business for his <fc countrymen." Act assigning to Congress
1 per cent, of the land tax, £ per cent, impost on trade - 86
Acts laying certain duties for the foreign creditors of the State. Nor-
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1784.— Continued.
folk, Alexandria, York, Tappahannock, and Bermuda hundred, es-
A tablished as ports. British Debts. Protest in the Senate. Effort
/ ! for a State Convention. Henry's opposition
.( Petitions for a general assessment. Project of the Episcopal clergy.
\ Henry preserves it from a dishonorable death. Discourse. Sale
f of public lands at Richmond. Seat of State Government fixed.
Lands about Williamsburg given to the University. Their value.
Lottery for encouragement of Maury's school - 88
Revisal to be printed. Frivolous economy. Failure of effort for re
muneration of Paine. Appointed, together with three others. Com
missioners to negotiate with Maryland in establishing regulations
for the Potomac. W. Maury's school. Jefferson's nephews - 89
Slave tax. Confusion in the Revenue Department. Unskilful draft
ing of resolutions. Scheme for opening the navigation of the Poto
mac under the auspices of Gen. Washington - 89, 90
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, August 20 - 90
Pamphlet on W. I. trade. Deane's letters. Public opinion in Vir
ginia said to disapprove the proceedings of the Legislature con
cerning British debts. Amending State Constitution - 90
Act restraining foreign trade to enumerated ports. Objections - 90, 91
Striking facts in favor of a general mart. Discrimination in favor of
citizens. Effect of Independence on prices. Tobacco, hemp, wheat,
corn. Chinch-bug - - 91, 92
Views of the probable policy of Spain as to the navigation of the Mis
sissippi. General interest of Europe as bearing on the American
doctrine - 93, 94
Influence of the free use of the Mississippi on the settlement of the
Western country - 96
Necessity of a right to the use of the Spanish shores, and of holding
an entrepot, or using N. Orleans as a free port - 97
Floating magazines. "The Englishman's turn." Batonrouge. Point
Coupfc. Suggestion of purchasing from Spain a portion of ground,
&c. A joint tribunal for adjusting disputes between the Spaniards
and Americans suggested. Treaty of Munster - - 97, 98
British use of the Spanish shore. Construction of a stipulation in
Treaty of 17G3. Jefferson's nephews - 98. 99
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, September 7 - 99
Fayette. Navigation of the Mississippi. Interests of France. Sup
posed purpose of Spain. Probable interregnum of the Federal Gov
ernment for some time. Messages of friendship, &c., &c. - 100, 101
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, September 15 - - 101
Change of traveling route. Fayette. Accounts of Indian ravages,
&c. - 101, 102
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, October 11 102
Marbois. Arrival at Fort Schuyler. Fayette and the Indians - 102
CONTENTS OP VOL. I. xv
PAGE.
1784.— Continued
Obstacles to treaty. British retention of the posts ... 103
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, October 17 - - 104
Cypher. Post office espionage in Europe. Fayette, Arthur Lee,
and the Indians - 104, 105, 106
Traits of Fayette's character. Case of Longchamps. Mrs. Trist 106, 107
To James Monroe. Richmond, November - - 107
Cypher. Arrivals of General Washington and Fayette - 107
Balloting for public offices. Elections and rejections - 107, 108
To James Monroe. Richmond, November 14 ... 108
Monroe's critical escape. Indians. Spaniards. Proposed suspen
sion of land surveys, negotiations, river surveys, &c., &c. Scheme
for general assessment. Presbyterian clergy. Successor to Har
rison. Henry. Variances in the Council - 108, 109
To James Monroe. Richmond, Nov. 27 ... 109
Negotiations of New York with the Indians. Federal articles bearing
on the question. Proviso. Rule of construction. Ignominious se
cession at Annapolis. Case of Ho well - - 110
Affair of M. de Marbois. Proposition to authorise Congress to refuse
the surrender of offenders, in certain cases, and under certain cir
cumstances, to foreign powers. Bill for a religious assessment.
Henry. Circuit Courts, &c. - .... m
To Col. James Madison. Richmond, Nov. 27 112
Proceedings of the Legislature - ... 112
To James Monroe. Richmond, Dec. 4 .... 112
British debts. Religious assessment. Henry. Bust of Fayette - 113
To James Monroe. Richmond, Dec. 17 - 114
Revisal of the laws. Religious freedom. Mercer. Corbin - - 114
To James Monroe. Richmond. Dec. 24 - - 114
Proposition to empower Congress to carry into effect the imposts - 114
Act empowering Congress to surrender citizens of the State to the
sovereign demanding them, for certain crimes committed within his
jurisdiction. Concurrent provision for State punishment. The In
dians. Assize courts. General assessment - - 115
NOTES OF. SPEECH IN opposmp>jpe-TH^,GENERAj*.AssESSMEjJi BILL FOB THE
SUPPORT OP RELIGIOUS TEACHERS - - - - * -»- H6
To RichaidJSCnryTiee! Richmond, Dec. 25 • • • 117
/i Lee rs election as President of Congress. Assize bill - 117
1 General assessment bill. Episcopal church. British debts. Bills for
> opening the Potowmac and James rivers, and for water surveys.
Proposition to empower Congress to collect impost within Virginia 118
Project of a Continental Convention. Union of the States essential,
&c. Inefficacy, &c., of the present system: 1785.— [P.119 — 211.] 118,119
To General Washington. Richmond, January 1 - 119
Acts for river surveys. Resolution for settling the jurisdiction of the
Potomac, &c. - - - - - - - 119, 120
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1 785 . — Continued.
To James Monroe. Richmond, January 8 - - 120
Political arrangements. R. H. Lee. R. R. Livingston - 120
Variance with Great Britain. Her probable policy. Spain. Natural
right of the Western country to the use of the Mississippi. Difficulty
as to cypher - - 121
Bills concerning Potomac and James Rivers, and presenting shares
to Gen. Washington - - 122
To Thomas Jefferson. Richmond, January 9 - 122
Proceedings of the General Assembly of Virginia. Act for the estab
lishment of the Courts of Assize. Henry previously elected Gov
ernor. Particulars concerning the Assize Act. Acts for opening,
&c., Potowmac and James rivers - - 123
The subject brought forward under Gen. Washington's auspices.
Memorials, &c. 123, 124
Agency of Gen. Washington at Annapolis, concerning the Potomac.
The James river bill. Road to Cheat river, &c. - - 125
Projected survey for a canal between Elizabeth river and North Caro
lina. Considerations leading to the Act vesting in G. Washington
a certain interest in the companies for opening James and Potomac
rivers. His earnestness in the public object, showing that his mind
" capable of great views, and which has long been occupied with
them, cannot bear a vacancy " - 127
Act remitting half the tax for 1785 - 127, 128
Act giving James Rumsey the exclusive privilege of constructing
and navigating certain boats for a limited time. General ridicule
of Rumsey's invention. Washington's opinion of its reality and im
portance. Acts authorizing the surrender of a citizen in certain
cases, &c., to a foreign Sovereign. Authorities - 128, 129
Act incorporating the Protestant Episcopal church. Objections, &c. 130
British Debts. Jones. Henry. Memorials, &c., &c. Thr^teglslation
on this subject left incomplete, from a singular cause. Bill concern
ing depreciated payments into the Treasury. Abortive proposition
concerning the collection of the impost by Congress. Complaint of
the French Vice Consul 133
Henry elected successor to Governor Harrison. Amendment of the
State Constitution. Petitions from Western Virginia for a separate
Government. Arthur Campbell. Revisal. Compensation to the
acting members of the Committee - - 134
To Edmund Randolph. Orange, March 10 - - 135
European affairs. Kentucky Convention - 135
To Marquis Fayette. Orange, March 20 - - 136
Navigation of the Mississippi. Future population and prospects.
Spain, Great Britain, nature, philosophy, and commerce - 136. 137
Narrow policy of Spain. Favorable sentiments of other European
powers. France. Philanthropy of Louis 16 138,139
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
1785.— Continued.
Domestic affairs. Act of Virginia vesting in G. Washington shares,
&c., &c. Juridical system. jBilLfox ' 'jjoj^oifttiaff-ettf- Religious sys
tem." Anomalous condition of the act for paying British debts - 140
To James Monroe. Orange, March 21 - 141
Jay. Question of etiquette. Foreign Department - - 141
Movement in Kentucky towards an independent Government - 142
To James Monroe. Orange, April 12 - 143
Appointment of J. Adams as Minister to London. Jefferson. Consu
lar arrangements. Maury. Western posts. Massachusetts and
Rhode Island, &c. - - 143
The 8th article of the Confederation. GejoejaLAssessment Act of Vir- '
ginia. Sectarian opinions. A new cypher - - 144
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, April 27 - 145
Natural philosophy. Pamphlets. Claim of Le Maire. Literary wants.
Felice. De Thou. Moreri - - 145
Treaties on Federal Republics. Law of nations. History of the New
World. Greek and Roman authors. Historians of the Roman Em
pire. PaschaL Ulloa, Linnaeus, Ordonnances Marines. French tracts
on economies of different nations. Amelot's travels. Continua
tion of Buffon. New invented lamp. Pocket compass - - 146
Tax on transfers of land. Tax on law proceedings. Kentucky Con
vention. Scheme for independence - - 147
Uncertainty whether or not Washington will accept the shares voted
to him. Ramsey's Invention. Report of Maryland and Virginia
Commissioners concerning the jurisdiction of Potowmac. Bills in
the General Assembly of Virginia. Elections. Carter, Harrison,
Tyler, Arthur Lee. Fayette. Navigation of the Mississippi. Folly
of Spain 148, 149
Jefferson's nephews. Maury's school. Weather - 150
Invitation to visit Jefferson in France. Subterraneous city discovered
in Sibena. Deaths - 151, 152
To James Monroe. Orange, April 28 - 152
Cypher. Elections. Pendleton, Nicholas, Fry, Harrison, &c. - 152
Disorders of Coin. Weights and measures. Mint. Proposed stand
ard of measures and of weights. Importance of uniformity - 153
To James Monroe. Orange, May 29 - 153
Territorial fund. Western posts. Navigation of the Mississippi. Cer
tificates for discharging interest of home debt - 153
Proposed separation of Kentucky. Rumor that a State has been set
up in the back country of North Carolina. Clause for Township
support of Religion. Opinions - - 154
T9 James Monroe. Orange, June 21 - 155
~Eill_for establishing the Christian religion in ViEgtBia. Commission
ers from TJeorgfaTTo the^anisTi^oveTnTJr^f New Orleans. Out
rage on the Federal Constitution - - ... 155
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE
1785.— Continued.
Commercial discontents in Boston, &c. British monopoly df 'trade <
with Virginia. Prices - 156
To R. H. Lee. Orange, July 7 157
Interest of Virginia to part with Kentucky. Congress ought to be
made a party to a voluntary dismemberment of a State. Reasons
for this opinion - 157
Arrival of Gardoqui. The Mississippi. Western posts. British mo
nopoly. Deane's intercepted letters. Deplorable condition of
trade. Prices. Weather. Crops - 158, 159
To Edmund Randolph. Orange, July 26 - - 159
Ecclesiastical journal. Objections to a legal salary annexed to the
t\ title of a parish priest. Gen. Washington and the negotiation with
j Pennsylvania. Mason. Fayette. Neckar. The Mississippi. Spain 1GO
\ / Incorporating act. Course of reading. The bar. Slave labor. Pro
jects of speculation and travel - 161
U MEMORIAL AND REMONSTRANCES AGAINST THE GENERAL ASSESSMENT, ADDRESSED
TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA - 162
To James Monroe. Orange, August 7 - 169
Proposed change of the 9th article of the Confederation - 109
The power of regulating trade ought to be a Federal power. Perfect
freedom of trade, to be attainable, must be universal. Exclusive
policy of Great Britain. Retaliating regulations necessary. These
to be effectuated only by harmony in the measures of the States 169, 170
Importance of amending defects in the Federal system - 171
Answer to objections against entrusting Congress with a power over
trade. Difficulties - - 172
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, August 20 - - 173
Machinations of Great Britain with regard to commerce. Desired
augmentation of the power of Congress. Feeling in Virginia against
Great Britain, and apathy as to commerce - - 173
Paris. Surmise as to British policy. Internal trade. Evil of long
credits to the consumer - 174
Conjectural explanation of the dissolution of the Committee of States
at Annapolis. Fayette 's foibles and favorable traits of character.
General Assessment. Remonstrance against it. Mutual hatred of
the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians. Circuit Courts. Potow-
mac company. James river - - 175
Revised Code. Crops. Prices. Ex-Governor Harrison. Withdrawing
from nomination. Travel. A project - 176
To John Brown, (Kentucky.) Orange, August 23 - - 177
Parental ties. Ideas towards a Constitution for Kentucky. The Legis
lative Department ought to include a Senate. The Senate of Mary
land a good model. That of Virginia a bad one. The other branch.
The extent of Legislative power in many respects necessarily indefi
nite. Subjects proper for Constitutional inhibition. Advantage of
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XIX
PAGE.
1785.— Continued.
the New York Council of revision - 178
Project and functions of a Select Standing Committee. Executive
Department in State Governments. Objections to it in Virginia 178, 179
Judiciary Department. Importance of an independent tenure and
liberal salaries. A separate Court of Chancery advisable. Repro
bation of Virginia County Courts. Tribunal of impeachment ; how
it should be constituted. Right of suffrage. Mode of suffrage.
Ballot. Plan of representation. Rights of property 180, 181
Annual, triennial, septennial elections considered in reference to the
different departments of power - - 182
Union of different offices in one person - - 183
Periodical review of a Constitution, &c. 183, 184
The Mississippi. Constitutions of the several States, printed by order
of Congress - 184, 185
REMAKES ON MR. JEFFERSON'S DRAUGHT OF A CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA,
SENT FHO.M NEW YORK TO MR. JOHN BROWN, KENTUCKY, OCTOBER, 1788 185
The Senate. A term of six years not more than sufficient - - 185
Objections to appointment of Senators by Districts - 186
A property qualification for voters considered 187, 188
Ballot compared with viva voce voting. Exclusions. Ministers of the \
Gospel. Re-eligibility of members after accepting offices of profit. ^
Limits of power. Capital punishment. Prohibition of pardon - 189
Election of Governor. Council of State. Appointments to office.
Detail to be avoided in the Constitutional regulation of the Judi-
. ciary Department. Court of Appeals. Court of Impeachment.
Objections to the plan proposed. Desiderata in such a Court 190, 191
Trial by Jury. Council of Revision. Extension of the writ of Habeas
Corpus. Emergencies. Proposed exemption of the Press in every
case of true fads - - 195
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, Oct. 3 - 195
Journey. Disordered affairs of the Confederacy. Efforts of Congress.
Desiderata. Unauthorised expenses of the States. Apportionment
of common debt. Desired powers to Congress to enforce payment
of State quotas, and over trade. R. H. Lee. Grayson. Monroe.
Hardy. Proceedings in certain States 196, 197
African slave trade. S. Carolina. Dr. Franklin's arrival. Washing
ton declines the shares voted to him, &c. - - 198
To General Washington. Richmond, Nov. 11 - 199
The shares. Contest for the chair. Prospect of the adoption of the
Revised Code. Petition for a general manumission. Distresses of
trade. Power over it proposed to be given to Congress. Braxton's
counter propositions. Reports on navigation. Pamphlet attributed
to St. George Tucker - 200, 201
NOTES OF A SPEECH ON THE QUESTION OF VESTING IN CONGRESS THE GENERAL
POWER OF REGULATING COMMERCE FOR ALL THE STATES - - 201
XX CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1785.— Continued.
To Thomas Jefferson. Richmond, Nov. 15 - - 202
Jefferson's notes. The Revisal - - 203
To James Monroe. Richmond, Dec. 9 - 203
Trade. Suggested convention of Commissioners at Annapolis - 203
Assize bill. The Revisal. Criminal bill. Mercer. Coldness of mem
bers from Kentucky as to immediate separation - - 204
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, Dec. 9 - - 205
The Commercial propositions. Sacrifices of sovereignty on which the
Federal Government rests. Difficulties - 205
Proposed Convention at Annapolis. Alexandria. Exceptional liber
ality and light of its mercantile interest, with regard to a navigation
act. The Revisal. Public credit. Assize and Port bills - 206, 207
Projected canal between Virginia and North Carolina. Memorial of
Kentucky for Independence. Terms of separation - 207, 208
To James Monroe. Richmond, Dec. 24 - - 208
r'^Proceedings of the Legislature. Bills concerning Religious Freedom,
British debts, Proprietary interest in tfi6~NbrIh^rn Neck~7aS3TEe
County Courts - 208, 209
To James Monroe. Richmond, Dec. 30 - - 210
Discussions concerning British debts, and changes in the bill. Dis
paragements of the Treaty. J. Adams 210
Impracticability of rendering the county courts fit instruments of jus
tice. Business depending. Compact with Maryland 211
1786.— [P. 211—269.]
To Thomas Jefferson. Richmond, January 22 - 211
Jefferson's Notes. Arrival of books - - - 211
Harrison elected Speaker. Question of residence. Arthur Lee.
Question of holding office, &c. Progress of Revisal. Crimes and
punishments. Religious Freedom - 212, 213
List of Acts not incIudecTiif the revisal - - 214 — 220
Fayette. Shares voted to Gen. Washington. Conditional pardons.
Alien law. Quit-rents. County Courts. Papers. Courts of As
size - 214, 215
Appointment of Commissioners to Annapolis - - 216
Opposition of Thruston, the Speaker, and Corbin. Port bill. British
debts. Gradual abolition of slavery. Private manumissions 216, 217
Itch for paper money. Postponed tax. Kentucky an independent
State - - 218
Militia Law. Escheat law. Lord Fairfax's lands. Attempts to dis
member the State. Arthur Campbell's faction - - 219
Appropriating Act. Salaries. Tonnage on British vessels. Canal in
N.Carolina. Family affairs. Peter Carr's studies. Le Maire - 220
Large fish bones found in sinking wells. Promotions. Prices - 221
To James Monroe. Richmond, January 22 - 221
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. Xxi
PAGE.
1786.— Continued.
Adjournment of the Legislature. A previous statement corrected.
Navigation system for the State. Tyler, £c. Commissioners to An
napolis. Particulars concerning their appointment. Defects of cer
tain bills for complying with the demand of Congress. Economical
revision of the Civil list 222, 223
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, March 18 - 224
The Capitol. Books received. Le Maire. Copying press - - 225
Meeting of deputies from Virginia to the Commercial Convention.
Tendency of separate regulations by the States. Deficiencies of pay
ments by the States under calls from Congress - 225, 226
Balance of trade. Importance of the proposed Convention. Difficul
ties and dangers. Prices - - 226, 227, 228
To James Monroe. Orange, March 19 - 228
A Convention preferable to gradual reforms of the Confederation.
Temper of the Assembly, &c. - - 229
To James Monroe. Orange, April 9 - - 229
Action in New Jersey. Gloomy prospect of preserving the Union of
the States. The impost. Materially short of the power which Con
gress ought to have as to trade 229, 230
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, May 12 - 230
Jefferson's Notes. Books. Pedometer. &c. Inscription for the statue
[of Washington.] Houdon's criticism - 231
Fayette and Rochambeau. Changes in the late elections. G. Mason,
George and John Nicholas, Monroe, Mercer, Bland, &c. - - 232
Refusal of Maryland to appoint deputies for the proposed Convention.
Internal situation of Virginia. Prices. Kentucky. Skirmish with
the savages. Scheme of Independence said to be growing unpopu
lar. Dabney Carr . - 233
Peccan nuts. Sugar tree. Opossums. Buffon. Fallow and Roedeer
not native quadrupeds of America. The Chevruel. The Monax.
The Marmotte of Europe 234, 235
Moles. Buffon's theory. His cuts of Quadrupeds - 236, 237
To James Monroe. Orange, May 13 237
Two Conventions, concurrent as to time, and, in part, as to powers.
Consequent embarrassment, and proposed expedient. Change in
the late elections. Mercer's pamphlet - 237
Mason, &c. Forcing trade to Norfolk and Alexandria. Kentucky.
Disquiet from the savages. Proposed separation - 238
To James Monroe. Orange, June 4 - 238
Proposed journey. Information from the back country. Death of
Col. W. Christian. Kentucky. Paper money - 239
To James Monroe. Orange, June 21 239
Amazing thought of surrendering the Mississippi, and guarantying the
possessions of Spain in America. Objections to these projects. Ad
justment of claims and accounts - 239, 240, 241
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
F.tGE.
1786. — Continued.
To Thomas Jefferson. Phila., Aug. 12 - 242
Ride through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Crops - 242
Harper's Ferry. Works on the Potowmac. Negotiation for canal
from the head of Chesapeake to the Delaware 242, 243
Rage for paper money. Pennsylvania and North Carolina. South
Carolina. New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Senate of Maryland. Virginia.
G. Mason 244, 245
States appointing and not appointing deputies to Annapolis. Discour
agements of the hope to render the meeting subservient to a pleni
potentiary Convention for amending the Constitution 245, 246
Spanish politics. Temporary occlusion of the Mississippi, and abso
lute negative of the American claim. Embarrassment of personal
situation. The Impost. British debts. Paradise's claim - - 247
Ubbo Emmius - - 248
To James Monroe. Phila., Aug. 15 - - 248
Jay's proposition for shutting up the Mississippi for 25 years - 248
To James Monroe. Phila., Aug. 17 - - 248
Principles proposed by Monroe and Grayson for negotiations with
Spain. Want of cypher 248, 249
To James Monroe. Annapolis, Sept. 11 - - 249
Prospect of a breaking up of the meeting, &c. - - 250
To James Monroe. Phila., Oct. 5 - 250
Alarming progression of a certain measure. Not expedient, because
not just. The maxim, " that the interest of the majority is the po
litical standard of right and wrong," considered - - 251
To James Monroe. Richmond, October 30 - - 251
Navigation of the Mississippi. Paper money. Henry declines re-elec
tion as Governor of Virginia, Randolph and R. H. Lee. Appoint
ments to Congress - - 251. ?52
To Col. James Madison. Richmond, Nov. 1 - 253
Large vote denouncing paper money. Revenue matters. Henry de
clines re-election as Governor. His probable successor. Commo
tions in Massachusetts. Relative strength and suspected aims of the
discontented 253, 254
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, Nov. 8 - 254
Vote against a paper emission. Jay's project. Report from the Dep
uties to Annapolis. Henry. Randolph. R. H. Lee. James. Mar
shall. Nominations for Congress - 252, 2 "3
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, Nov. 8 - - - 254
Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts. Votes against paper money;
against applying a scale of depreciation to military certificates ;
and for complying with the recommendation from Annapolis in
favor of a general revision of the Federal system. Washington to
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XXlil
PAGE.
/86 — Continued.
be placed at the head of the delegates from Virginia to the proposed
Federal Convention ... . 254, 255
E. Randolph elected Governor of Virginia. The vote. Col. H. Lee. 255
Combination of the Indians threatening the frontier of the U. States.
Party in Congress in favor of surrendering the Mississippi. Ques
tion of independence in Kentucky. Domestic - 255
NOTES OF A SPEECH rx THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES OF VIRGINIA, IN OPPOSITION
TO PAPER MONEY - - 255 — 257
To Col. James Madison. Richmond, Nov. 16 - 257
Want of a Senate. Indents. Bill making Tobacco receivable in pay
ment of taxes. Certificate tax .... 257
To Col. James Madison. Nov. 24 - - 257
Tobacco bill passed. Objections to an equality of price - - 257
PETITION* FOR THE REPEAL OF THE LA\V INCORPORATING THE PROTESTANT EPIS
COPAL CHURCH - 258
To Thomas Jefferson. Richmond, December 4 - 259
Unanimous vote for a Plenipotentiary Convention in Phila. - - 259
Unanimous Resolutions of the House of Delegates against the project
for bartering the Mississippi to Spain 259, 260
Paper money. Public securities. The consideration of the Revised
Code resumed. Necessity for a supplemental Revision, &c. Bill
proportioning crimes and punishments. Education. Pendleton.
Wythe. Blair. Reform, according to the Assize plan, desperate.
. District Courts. Impolitic measures of the last session - - 261
Attempt to repeal the Port bill. Mason. British debts. Public ap
pointments. Bland. Prentis. Ex-Speaker Harrison. E. Randolph
elected Governor. His competitors, Bland and R. H. Lee. Delega
tion to Congress. H. Lee reinstated. Vacancy in the council.
Boiling Starke. Griffin. Innes. Marshall. Weather. Crops.
Prices - 261, 262
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, Dec. 7 - 263
Reasons for his accepting his appointment to the Convention - - 263
Unfavorable influence on Virginia of the project of Congress on the
Mississippi question. Henry "hitherto the champion of the Fed
eral cause" . 264
Improper legislation to be expected. Tobacco. District Court
Bill 264, 265
To Col. James Madison. Richmond, Dec. 12 _ 265
Tobacco. Resolutions concerning the Mississippi. Port bill. Dis
trict Court bill - 265
Taxes on fees of lawyers, on Clerks, riding carriages. Convention in
Kentucky - 266
To James Monroe. Richmond, Dec. 21 . 266
Legislature of Virginia. District Courts. Paper money in Mary
land - 266, 267
To Gen. Washington, Richmond, Dec. 24 - . 267
XXIV CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1786.— Continued.
Difficu ties opposing his accepting the appointment to the Convention 267
Tobaccc as u commutable. Defeated projects of Paper money. Grad
uating certificates. Instalments. A property tender. Failure of plan
for reforming the administration of justice. Rage for drawing all
income from trade. Port bill. Revised Code. Bills concerning
Education, Executions, Crimes and punishments. Reason of the
Virginia Senate for negativing a bill defining the privileges of Am
bassadors 268, 269
1787.— [P. 269—368.]
To Edmund Pendleton. Richmond, January 9 - 269
District bill. General Court. County Courts. Negative merit on the
score of justice - 269
Revised Code. Supplemental revision. A succession of revisions
commended - - 270
Regret at the necessity of imposing future labors on Pendleton, Wythe,
and Blair. Rage for high duties. Prudence of the Senate. Swift's
remark. Manufactures. A prevailing argument considered - 271
The seditious party at the Eastward in communication with the Vice
roy of Canada - - 272
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, February 15 - - 272
Recent Legislative proceedings. Rejection of the bill on crimes and
punishments. Rage against horse-stealers. Bill for diffusing knowl
edge. Revisal at large. Reasons for imperfect action on the sys
tem. Committee to amend unpassed bills. Critical question with
the friends of revisal - 272, 273
Henry. Religion. District Court. Taxes on lawyers, clerks, doctors,
town houses, riding carriages, &c., £c. Calonne. Duties on trade.
Tobacco 274
The Mississippi. Jay's project. Deputies from Virginia to the Con
vention for amending the Federal Constitution. Action and expect
ations on that subject in the Carolinas, Maryland, Delaware, Penn
sylvania. New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
and Rhode Island - - 275
To Gen. Washington. New York, Feb. 21 - 276
Meeting of Congress. Objects depending. Treaty of peace. Rec
ommendation of proposed Federal Convention 276
Politics of New York. From States North of it. S. Carolina, Georgia,
&c., &c. Maryland. Rebellion in Massachusetts nearly extinct.
Proposed punishments. - 277
Political opinions. Monarchy unattainable. Republic to be preserved
only by redressing the ills experienced from present establishments.
Virginia the only State making provision for the late requisition 277, 278
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, February 24 - - 278
Lincoln's dispersion of the main body of Massachusetts insurgents.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XXV
PAGE.
1787.— Continued.
Escape of principal incendiaries - - 278
Congress recommends proposed Convention. Dispositions, &c., of
New York and other States. Discredit, impotence, &c., of the pres
ent system - 278, 279
Insurrection in Massachusetts. Infamous scenes in Rhode Island. A
partition of the Union into three or more governments, a lesser than
existing and apprehended evils, but a great one. Reorganization
necessary - 280
To Col. James Madison. New York, Feb. 25 - 280
Lincoln's success against the insurgents in Massachusetts. Contumacy
of Connecticut. General distrust, &c. 280, 281
To Gen. Washington. New York, March 18 - 281
Application of the Russian Empress for the Aboriginal vocabularies.
Sample of Cherokee and Choctaw dialects. Appointments for the
Convention. Deputies from Georgia, S. Carolina, N. York, Massa
chusetts. N. Hampshire. Instance of political jealousy in the legis
lature of N. York. Thinness of Congress. Calm restored in Massa
chusetts. Its continuance doubtful. Terms of proffered amnesty
rejected by half of the insurgents - 281, 282
Proposition for relinquishing the claim of N. York to Vermont, and
admitting Vermont into the Confederacy. Agitation at Pittsburg,
caused by the reported intention of Congress concerning the Missis
sippi. Apprehensions from that policy. Refusal by Henry of his
mission to Phila. 283, 284
To Thomas Jefferson. N. York, March 19 - - 284
Appointments for the Convention. Deputies from Massachusetts, N.
York. S. Carolina. Prospect of appointments from Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and Maryland. Deputies from Virginia - 284
Difficulties of the experiment. Proper foundations of the new system:
1. Popular ratifications. 2. Power of regulating trade, &c. Neg
ative in all cases on the local Legislatures. 3. Change in the prin
ciple of representation, <fcc. 4. Distribution of Federal powers 285, 286
To Col. James Madison. New York, April 1 - 286
The approaching Convention. Appointments made and expected.
Connecticut and Maryland. Motive of the refusal of Rhode Island.
Uncertain issue of the Convention - 286, 287
To Gen. Washington. N. York, April 16 - - 287
Washington's views of necessary Reform. Temporising and radical
measures compared. Individual independence of the States irrec-
oncileable with their aggregate sovereignty. Consolidation into a
single Republic inexpedient and unattainable. Middle course.
Change in principle of representation 287, 288
Authority of the National Government to be positive and complete in
all cases requiring uniformity. A negative in all cases on the Le
gislative acts of the States, as heretofore exercised by the King's
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1787.— Continued.
prerogative. Advantages of this principle. National supremacy
to be extended to the Judiciary. Oaths of the Judges. Admiralty
jurisdiction - 288, 289
Executive Departments. Militia. Two branches of the Legislative
Department. How, and for how long, to be chosen. Functions of
the smaller body. Council of Revision. National Executive. Opin
ion as to its constitution and powers yet unformed. Right of co
ercion should be expressly declared. Necessity of operating by force
on the collective will of a State to be avoided* Negative on the
laws may answer this purpose. Or some defined objects of taxation
might be submitted, along with commerce, to the general authority.
Ratifications to be obtained from the People, and not merely from
the ordinary authority of the Legislatures - - 290
Address to States on the Treaty of peace. Thinness of Congress.
Public accounts and lands. Arrangements with Spain - 290, 291
Differences as to place for the reassembling of Congress. Philadel
phia. N. York. Permanent seat for the National Government.
Discontents in Massachusetts. Electioneering. Paper money. Ver
mont - 291, 292
NOTES OF ANTIENT AND MODERN CONFEDERACIES, PRERARATORT TO THE FEDE
RAL CONVENTION OF 1787 - 293—315
Lycian Confederacy. Extracts from Ubbo Emmius - 293, 294
Amphictyonic Confederacy. Seat. Federal authority. Vices of the
Constitution - - 294, 295, 296
Achcean Confederacy. Federal Authority. Extracts from Ubbo Em
mius, Vices of the Constitution - -296,297,298
Helvetic Confederacy. Federal Authority. Vices of the Constitu
tion - 298, 299, 300, 301, 302
Belgic Confederacy. Federal Authority. States General. Powers, &c.
Reservations to the provinces. Restrictions on the provinces. Coun
cil of State. Chamber of Accounts. College of Admiralty. The
Stadtholder. His powers. Vices of the Constitution
302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309
Germanic Confederacy. The Diet. The Emperor. Federal Authority.
The Ban of the Empire. The Circles. Imperial chamber. Aulic
Council. Restrictions on the members of the Empire. Prerogatives
of the Emperor. Vices of the Constitution - 309, 310, 311, 312, 314, 315
To James Monroe. N. York, April 19 - 315
Domestic. The Mississippi. Motion to remove to Philadelphia, &c.
Objections, &c. 315, 316
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, April 22 - 316
The malcontents in Massachusetts. Their electioneering projects.
Governor Bowdoin displaced. Hancock's merits tainted by obse
quiousness to popular follies. Prospect of a full Convention. No
appointments yet from Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1787.— Continued.
Doubtful issue of the crisis. Causes of apprehension - 317
Congress. The Treaty of peace. Deliberations concerning the West
ern lands, and criminal and civil administration for the Western
settlements. Affair with Spain. Danger of a paper emission in Vir
ginia. Henry - - 318
To Thomas Jefferson. April 23 - - 319
Insurrection in Massachusetts. County elections in Virginia. Paper
Money. Henry. Mason. Monroe. Marshall. Ludwell Lee. Har
rison - - 319
NOTES ON THE CONFEDERACY. Vices of the political system of the U.
States - - 319—328
I. Failure of the States to comply with the Constitutional requisitions.
2. Encroachments by the States on the federal authority. 3. Viola
tions of the law of nations and of treaties - - 320
4. Trespasses of the States on the rights of each other. 5. Want of
concert in matters where common interest requires it - 321
C. Want of Guaranty to the States of their Constitutions and laws
against internal violence. 7. Want of sanction to the laws, and of
coercion in the Government of the Confederacy - - 322
8. Want of ratification by the people of the articles of Confederation 323
9. Multiplicity of laws in the several States. 10. Mutability of the
laws of the States - 324
II. Injustice of the laws of the States - - 325
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, May 15 - 328
Day for meeting of Convention. Thin attendance. Arrival of Gen.
Washington, amid the acclamations of the People, &c. - - 328
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, May 27 - - 328
Delay in making up quorum of seven States. Gen. Washington unan
imously called to the chair. Major Jackson, Secretary. Committee
for preparing rules appointed 328, 329
To Col. James Madison. Philadelphia, May 27 - - 329
Proceedings of the Convention. Conduct of some State Governments.
Iron. Tobacco. Event of the election 329,330
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, June 6 - 330
Proceedings of the Convention. Names of members present. States
which have not yet sent deputies. Proceedings thus far secret.
Gen. Washington 330, 331
John Adams's Defence of the American Constitutions. Appetite in
Virginia for paper money. Patrick Henry's opinions on this and
other subjects. Jefferson's nephews. Mazzei - 331, 332, 333
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, July 18 - 333
Takes notes of proceedings. Evils of paper money. Crops - 333, 334, 335
To Col. James Madison. Philadelphia, July 28 - - 335
Affairs in Holland. Proceedings of Congress. Ordinance for the
Government of the Western country - - 335
xxviii CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
•
PAGE.
1787.— Continued.
Indian affairs. Brandt. Crops - - 336
To James Madison, Sen. Philadelphia, Sept. 4 - 336
Proceedings of Convention still secret - - 336
Rumors of a spirit of insurrection in some counties of Virginia.
Crops - 336, 337
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, Sep. 6 - 337
Diligence of the Convention. Probable plan of Government. Public
land - 337, 338
Discontents in some counties of Virginia. Wythe, &c., &c., &c. Maz-
zei 339, 340
To Edmund Pendleton. Philadelphia, Sept. 20 - - 340
Sends copy of proposed Constitution for the United States. Difficul
ties - - 340
To James Madison, Sen. New York, Sept. 30 341
Unanimous vote of Congress forwarding to the States the act of the
Convention. Its reception in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, &c. 341
To Gen. Washington. New York, Oct. 14 - - 342
Pinckney's pamphlet, &c. Opinions concerning the Constitution. Ar
rangements of Congress for the Western Country. J. Adams. Jef
ferson - 342, 343
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Oct. 24 - - 343
The new Constitution - - 343
Wish of the Convention to preserve the Union of the States. No sug
gestion made for a partition of the Empire into two or more Con
federacies. The ground-work of the Constitution was that it should
operate, without the intervention of the States, on the individuals
composing the States. Great objects of the Constitution - - 344
The Executive branch. Tenure of office. Powers - 345,346
The Senate " the great anchor of the Government." Different propo
sitions for its appointment and duration - - 346
Partition of power between the General and local Governments. A
negative on the laws of the States rejected by a bare majority. Rea
sons for such a check. Historical examples - 346, 347, 348, 349
A Republican form of Government, in order to effect its purposes,
must operate within an extensive sphere - - 350
Reasons for this opinion - 351, 352, 353
Adjustment of different interests of different parts of the continent.
South Carolina and Georgia. Equality in the Senate. Virginia dele
gates to the Convention. Delegates refusing to be parties to the
act. Gerry, Randolph, Mason - 354
Conjectures as to the final reception of the proposed system by the
people at large - 355
Opinions in particular States - 355, 356
Opinions of prominent citizens of Virginia. Danger of Indian war in
Georgia - - - - - - - 356, 357
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. xxix
PAOE.
1787.— Continued.
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, Oct. 28 - 358
Test oaths. Reception of the Constitution by the Virginia Assembly 358
The disposition of other States towards it - 359
To Gen. Washington. New York, Nov. 18 - - 360
Disposition in Virginia towards the Constitution ... 360
The Federalist. Congress 360, 361
To Gen. Washington. New York, Nov. 20 - - 361
The Federalist. No quorum in Congress 361, 362
To Gen. Washington. New York, Dec. 7 - - 362
The Federalist. Prospects of the Constitution - 362
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Dec. 9 - - 362
American trees, birds, &c., &c. - 363
Prospects of the Constitution in particular States - - 363 — 367
Three parties in relation to it in Virginia - 364
Views of prominent individuals. Henry. Opinions in Virginia and
New England classified - 365
Virginia Assembly. Prohibitions. Revised Code. Henry. Mason.
No quorum in Congress 366. 367
To Gen. Washington. New York, Dec. 14 - - 367
Papers in favor of the Federal Constitution. Virginia Assembly 367, 368
To Gen. Washington. New York, Dec. 26 - - 368
Expected Convention in Massachusetts. Gerry. Dana. Omission in
Mason's published objections to the Constitution. New Jersey
adopts the Constitution - 368
1788.— [P. 369—446.]
To Gen. Washington. New York, Jan. 14 - ... 359
Information received, &c. Federal complexion of accounts from
Georgia, &c. - . 359
To Gen. Washington. New York, Jan. 20 - - 369
Arrival of Count de Moustier. News from Europe - 369
Opposition to the Constitution in Massachusetts. Views of the minor
ity in Pennsylvania. Georgia. South Carolina - . 379
To Gen. Washington. New York, Jan. 25 - - 379
Governor Randolph's letter to the Virginia Assembly - - 370
Information from Boston. Gerry. A Congress of seven States made
ui> 371, 372
To Gen. Washington. New York, Jan. 28 - - 372
Convention in Massachusetts. Information from King. Gerry - 372
To Gen. Washington. Feb. 1 - 373
Information from King. Gloomy prospect in Massachusetts - - 373
Encouraging in South Carolina - - 374
To Gen. Washington. New York, Feb. 8 - - 374
Prospect brightening in Massachusetts. Hancock. North and South
Carolina. New York - 374, 375
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAOE.
1788. — Continued.
To G»JH Washington. New York, Feb. 11 - - 375
Hancock's propositions to the Massachusetts Convention. S. Adams.
Decision expected in the Virginia Convention 375, 376
To Gen. Washington. New York, Feb. 15 - - 376
Result of Convention at Boston. Amendments. New Hampshire - 376
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Feb. 19 - - 376
States which have adopted the Federal Constitution. Votes. Views,
&c., of the minority in Massaehusetts. Conduct of the minority in
Connecticut and in Pennsylvania - 376. 377
Conjectures as to the course of New Hampshire, South Carolina, Mary
land. North Carolina, and Virginia. Henry and Mason. The As
sembly of. Virginia. The District Court bill. British debts - 378, 379
To Gen. Washington. New York, Feb. 20 - - 379
A candidate for the Convention - 379
Notice of Gen. Washington's letter to Col. Carter. French affairs - 380
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, Feb. 21 381
Politics of Virginia. The question of Union, the test of the proposed
Constitution. Different objections of non-signing members, writers,
and minorities. Objections classified - 381
Expectations as to New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and
Charleston, S. C. Lowndes. Indications of an approaching Rev
olution in France. The Dutch patriots - 382
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, March 3 - 382
Unexpected result in New Hampshire. Prospects - - 382
To Gen. Washington. New York, March 3 - - 383
The course of the Convention in New Hampshire. Explanation and
prospects 383
To Gen. Washington. Orange, April 10 - 384
Conjectures as to the probable fate of the Constitution in the Virginia
Convention - - 384
Personal efforts in its favor - 38^, 385
To Edmund Randolph. Orange, April 10 - - 385
Amendments of Masssachusetts. Samuel Adams. Obligations, under
the new Constitution, as to the old money - - 385
Claim of the Indiana Company. Retrospective laws and retrospective
construction. Religious test. Recommendatory alterations pre
ferred to a conditional ratification or a second Convention - 386
Henry. Mason - - 387
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, April 22 - 387
Elections for the Convention. Probable dispositions of members.
Opinions of notable individuals. Governor Randolph's temperate
opposition. R. H. Lee, F. L. Lee, J. and M. Page - - 3S7
Different grounds of opposition. Henry. Mason. Preliminary ques
tion. Objections to a conditional ratification and to a new Conven
tion. Difficulty in ascertaining the real sense of the People of Vir-
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1788.— Continued.
ginia. Geographical view. Weather, crops, &c. - 388, 389
ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM FOR THE CONVENTION OF VIRGINIA IN 1788, ON THE
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION - - 389 — 398
Examples showing defect of mere Confederacies ... 339
Union between England and Scotland - - 389 — 392
Sweden. Denmark - 391
France. Spain. Poland - 392
Rival communities not united by one Government. Historical ex
amples - 392, 393
Sparta. People. Carthage - - 394
Rome. Power of Consuls. Tribunes - 395, 396
Roman Empire. Modern Europe - 397, 398
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, June 4 - - 398
Meeting of Virginia Convention. Prospects. Randolph. Henry. Ma
son. Kentucky - - - - - 398
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, June 13 - - 399
Result doubtful. British debts. Indiana claim. The Mississippi.
Kentucky. Oswald, an anti-federal messenger. Henry. Mason.
New York elections - - 399
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, June 18 - - 400
Probable smallness of majority on either side. Moderation. Henry 400
To Col. James Madison. June 20 - - 400
Conjectured majority of friends of the Constitution. Contest concern
ing the Judiciary Department - 400
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, June 23 - - 401
Approaching close of proceedings on the Constitution. Temper of
the opposition. Mason. Henry. A bare majority expected - 401
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, June 25 - - - 401
Vote on ratification. Temper of opposition, &c. - 401, 402
To Gen. Washington. Richmond, June 27 - - 402
Final Adjournment of Convention. Amendments. Address of minor
ity. Henry's declaration. Probable plan of minority - - 402
To Gen. Washington. New York, July 21 - - 403
Movements in New York concerning the Constitution. Views as to
putting the new Government into operation. Anti-Federal temper
of the Executive in Maryland - 403, 404
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, July 24 - ... 4.94
Virginia Convention. Final question on the new Government two
fold. Votes. Moderation and decorum of members - - 404
British debtors. Henry and Mason. Attempt to bring the influence
of Jefferson's name against the Constitution. Action, &c., in New
Hampshire. South Carolina and New York. Crops 405,406
To Col. James Madison. New York, July 27 ... 406
Ratification, by New York, of the Federal Constitution - - 406
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, August 10 407
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1788. — Continued.
Brissot. Remarkable form of the New York ratification of the new
Government. Address concerning amendments. Danger from
another Convention. Convention of North Carolina. Action in
Congress for bringing the new Government into operation. Time
for first meeting agreed on. Uncertainty as to place. Different
propositions. The " Federalist." Its authors. Mazzei - 407, 408
To Gen. Washington. New York, Aug. 15 - - 409
Place of meeting of Congress. Different places proposed - - 409
Pestilent tendency of a circular from the New York Convention.
Speculations - - 410
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Aug. 23 - - 410
Rejection by North Carolina of the Constitution, or annexment of con
ditions precedent. Causes and probable effects of this step. Diffi
culties in fixing a place for the first meeting of Congress. Western
country. Spanish intrigues. The " Federalist " - - 411
To Gen. Washington. New York, Aug. 24 - - 412
New York circular. Inauspicious tendencies of the New York ratifi
cation. Local zeal for the selection of New York city, as the place
for the first meeting of Congress. Uncertainty of issue on this point.
Objections to the selection of New York city 412, 413
Views as to a final residence - 414, 415
To Col. James Madison. New York, Sept. 6 - 415
Exertions of Anti-Federalists for an early Convention. Encourage
ments. Place of meeting for the new Government - - 415
To Gen. Washington. New York, Sept. 14 - - 416
Time and place fixed for the meeting of the new Government. Views
as to its permanent seat. Clinton's Circular. Language of the
Aboriginal Americans 416, 417
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Sept. 21 - - 417
The Western Country. The Mississippi. Circular from New York
Convention. Project of another General Convention. Consulta
tions in Pennsylvania. Henry. Randolph - 417, 418
Arrangements for bringing the new Government into action. Dispute
concerning place of meeting. Places proposed. Chance of the Po
tomac. Pamphlet on the Mohegan language 418, 419
Question of " outfit" - 419,420
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Oct. 8 - - 420
Rumors concerning La Fayette. Appointments of R. Morris and Mc-
Clay to the Senate. Election laws of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
Connecticut. Gen. Washington will certainly be called to the Pres
idency. Hancock and J. Adams most talked of for the Vice Presi
dency. Jay. Knox. Reported capture of Doctor and Mm.
Spence - 420, 421
To Thomas Jefferson. New York. Oct. 17 - - - 421
The " outfit." Want of quorum in Congress. Arrangements for put-
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XXxiii
PAGE.
1788.— Continued.
ting the new Constitution into action. The Presidency and Vice
Presidency. Rutledge - 422
Hancock and J. Adams both objectionable. S. Adams. Collective
view of alterations proposed by State Conventions for the new Con
stitution. Motives in Virginia - 423
Bill of rights desirable but not important, and why. Violations of
the bill of rights in Virginia. Where is the danger of oppression.
In our Government, in the majority of the community. Republics
and monarchies compared as to danger of oppression, and efficacy
of a bill of rights 424, 425
Use of a bill of rights in popular Governments. Limitation to the
doctrine that there is a tendency in all Governments to an augmen
tation of power at the expense of liberty - - 426
Question as to absolute restrictions in a Bill of Rights, in cases which
are doubtful, or where emergencies may overrule them. Suspen
sion of Habeas Corpus, in the alarm of a Rebellion or insurrection.
Standing army. Monopolies. Nuisances. Exceptions and guards.
Proceedings in Kentucky - - 427
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, Oct. 20 - 428
Resolutions concerning the Mississippi. The temporary seat of the
new Government. Impartiality in administration vital to repub
lics. Circular from New York Convention. Evils of an early Con
vention - - 428
Probability of more war in Europe. France. Struggle between the
' Aristocracy and the Monarchy. Late measures of the Court tending
to the popular side. La Fayette on the Anti-Court side - - 429
To Gen. Washington. New York, Oct. 21 - - 429
French affairs. La Fayette. Count Moustier and Marchioness Bre-
han - - 429
Johnson and Ellsworth, Senators from Connecticut. Opinions on the
selection of New York as the temporary seat of the new Govern
ment. Henry - - 430
QUESTIONS FROM, AND ANSWERS TO, THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER, MINISTER PLEN
IPOTENTIARY OP FRANCE, OCT. 30, 1788 - 430 — 433
Contract with R. Morris - - 430
Supply of clothing for negroes. Products of Virginia. Trade with
France and the Antilles, &c. - 431, 432
Products of France and the islands. Tonnage, &c., &c. 432, 433
To George L. Turberville. New York, Nov. 2 - 433
Another General Convention suggested by New York - 433
Some amendments to the Constitution ought to be made - 434
Objections to the project of another General Convention. Importance
of the new Constitution 434, 435
To Gen. Washington. New York, Nov. 5 - - 436
St. John's memorandum. Col. H. Lee's proposal. A land specula-
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1788.— Continued.
tion - - 436
Prospects of the Constitution. Public conversation on the Vice Pres
idency. Hancock. J. Adams. Jay. Knox - 437
To Edmund Randolph. Philadelphia, Nov. 23 - - 438
Vote for the Senate. Probable opposition for the other House. Em
barrassment - - 438
Objection to appearance of electioneering - - 439
To Gen. Washington. Philadelphia, Dec. 2 - - 439
Thanks for information and opinion. State of election in Massachu
setts for the Senate. Bowdoin. Elections in New Hampshire, New
Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania. Postponement in South Caro
lina - 439, 440
Reasons for a return to New York. Appearance of electioneering.
Indisposition - - 440, 441
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, Dec. 8 - 441
Certainty of a peaceable commencement of the new Government in
March next, and favorable prospects. Gen. Washington will cer
tainly be President, and J. Adams probably Vice President. Henry.
Anti-Federal and Federal Senators. Proportion of Anti-Federal
members in H. of Representatives. Two questions before the pub
lic. Amendments to the Constitution, and mode of making them - 441
Motives of advocates of a second Convention. G. Morris's visit to
Europe. R. Morris. Private transactions. A Candidate for H. of
Representatives. Henry's opposition to him. Appearance of elec
tioneering - - 442
To Philip Mazzei. Philadelphia, Dec. 10 - - 444
His book. Plan of a single legislature. Excess of liberty - - 444
The new Constitution ratified by all the States except two. Appoint
ments of Senators. Prospect as to elections for H. of Represent
atives. Object of the Anti-Federalists 444, 445
To Thomas Jefferson. Philadelphia, Dec. 12 - 446
Returns from the Western Counties of Virginia. Political prospects.
St. Trise - 446
1789.— [P. 446—500.]
To George Eve. Jan. 2 - 446
Misrepresentations of opinions - - 447
Amendments ought to be proposed by the first Congress. Why this
mode is preferable to a general Convention - - 448
To Gen. Washington. Orange, Jan. 14 - - 448
Returns from two electoral Districts in Virginia. Gen. Stevens elected
in one of them - - 449
Personal contradiction of erroneous reports ... 44.9 ; 450
To Edmund Randolph. Alexandria, March 1 - 450
Necessity of personal appearance in the District. Discouraging an-
CONTENTS OP VOL. I. XXXV
PAGE.
1789.— Continued.
ticipations - ... 450
To Gen. "Washington. Baltimore, March 5 - 451
Electoral votes of Georgia. Candidates for H. of Representatives - 451
Vote in South Carolina for President and Vice President - - 452
To Gen. Washington. Philadelphia, March 8 - 452
Arrival at Philadelphia, and intelligence from N. York - - 452
Policy as to the Western Country 452, 453
To Gen. Washington. New York, March 19 - 453
No quorum in either House of Congress. Calculations as to strength
of parties - - 453
Singular manner of election in N. Jersey. French affairs - '453, 454
To Gen. Washington. New York, March 26 - 454
Morgan's Invitation. Spanish project. No Quorum - - 454, 455, 456
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, March 29 - 457
Virginia Electors for President and Vice President. Unanimous vote
with respect to Gen. Washington. Secondary votes for J. Adams
and G. Clinton. Election of Representatives. No quorum in Con
gress - 457, 458
Political complexion of the New Congress. Jefferson's wish to return
home for the summer - - 459
Morgan's invitation. Policy of Spain. Dispute between the two
branches of the New York legislature - 461
To Gen. Washington. New York. April 6 - - 461
Arrival of R. H. Lee. A quorum formed. Election of officers of H.
' of R. - 461
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, April 8 - 461
Examination of ballots for President and Vice President. Unanimous
vote for Gen. Washington as President. J. Adams elected Vice
President. Notices to them. Officers. Rules agreed on. Federal
ists predominate in both branches. Disability of George 3rd, and
Regency. Discussion between the Prince of Wales and Pitt - 462
To Edmund Randolph. New York, April 12 - 463
New Government not yet organized in its Executive capacity. Im
posts. Amendments to the Constitution - - 463
Sherman's opinions. British debts. Taxes - - 464
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, April 19 - 464
Non-arrival of President and Vice President. Impost. Mental condi
tion of George 3d. Contingent perplexity - 464, 465
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, May 9 - - 465
Books wanted, &c. Congressional Register. Its faults. Duties. Dis
cordant views, &c. - 465, 466
Distinction between nations in and not in Treaty. New York city
steeped in Anglicism. Cypher. President's Speech; address of H.
R.; reply. Titles - - 467
To Edmund Randolph. New York, May 10 .... 457
XXXvi CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1789. — Continued.
Imposts. Plan of temporary collection. Unanimous opinion that Gen.
Washington's acceptance of the Presidency was essential to ihe
commencement of the Government. Speech and answer. Titles.
Their friends in the Senate. R. H. Lee 468, 469
To James Monroe. New York, May 13 - 469
Ratio of particular duties. Excises - - 469
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, May 17 - 470
Bill for rating duties. Proposition as to Great Britain - 470
To Thomas Jeiferson. New York, May 23 - - 470
President's Speech, and answers of the two Houses. Titles. J. Adams
and R. H. Lee. Proposed title of the President. Moustier. Mar
chioness de Brehan. Collection bill - 470, 471
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, May 27 - - 471
Obstacles to Jefferson's desired visit to America. Auxiliary offices to
the President. Knox. Jay. Livingston. Hamilton. Jefferson.
Abolishing discriminations in favor of nations in Treaty. R. H. Lee
on titles, discriminations, and the "Western Country. Madame Bre
han. Moustier. Amendments. Bill of rights. Kentucky- 471,472
Temper of Congress. Spirit of the H. of R. - 473
To Edmund Randolph. New York, May 31 - 473
Mrs. Randolph's health. R. H. Lee. Duties. Idea of putting G.
Britain on the footing of a most favored nation. Difficulties from
want of precedents, &c. Arrangement of subordinate Executive
Departments - - 474
Reasons for a power of removal in the President - 475
To Thomas Jefferson. N. York, June 13 - - 475
Introduction of constitutional amendments into H. of R. 475, 476
To Edmund Randolph. N. Y., June 17 - 476
Judiciary bill. Question as to power of removal in the President.
Reasons for it. The Executive function of the Senate excep
tional - 476, 477
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, June 21 - 477
Removals from office. Objections to action of the Legislature. De
cision against it. As to possible encroachments of the respective
branches of the Government. Amendments to the Constitution
477, 478, 479
To Edmund Randolph. New York, June 24 - 479
Erroneous reports of discussions on removals from office. Leave to
Jefferson to visit his own country. Alarming illness and convales
cence of the President - 479
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, June 30 - - 479
Leave to visit America. Tardy progress of Federal business. Bill
for regulating duties. Discrimination in favor of nations in Treaty.
Reasons against and for it. Great Britain. Tonnage bill. Sena
tors from Virginia. Mistake as to Grayson - 479, 480, 481, 482, 483
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XXXvil
PAGE.
1789.— Continued.
Impost. War. Foreign, and Treasury Departments. Question as to
removals from office. Constitution silent. Four opinions advanced.
Discussion. Decision of H. of R. Jay and Knox. Treasury De
partment. Hamilton - 483, 484
Senate Bill for Judiciary Department. Amendments to Constitution.
Recent illness of the President - 485
To Col. James Madison. New York, July 5 - 485
Domestic. Novelty and difficulties of public business. Duties on im
ports and tonnage. No distinction to be made between nations in
and those not in Treaty. Commercial intercourse with Great Brit
ain. Amendments to the Constitution 485, 486
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, July 15 - 487
Pendleton's remarks on the Judiciary bill. Decision of H. of R. on
the power of removal. Why the Senate should not participate in
it. The least responsible member of the Government. The Ju
diciary. Duties. Collection bill. Regulations for Virginia - 487
To Edmund Randolph. New York, July 15 - 488
Judiciary bill. Power of removal. Opinions. Impost Act. Collec
tion bill. Virginia - 488, 489
To James Monroe. New York, August 9 - 489
Proposed discrimination between Foreign nations. Gerry's motion.
Compensation to members of Congress - 489
Indian affairs. Militia Bills - - 490
To Edmund Randolph. New York, August 21 - 490
Amendments to the Constitution. Judiciary bill. Randolph's dis
course in the Convention. Wishes him to deduce from his notes
the argument on a condensed plan - 490, 491
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, Sept. 14 - 491
The Judiciary bill defective. Its offensive violations of Southern
jurisprudence. Amendments from the Senate. Permanent seat of
the Federal Government. Parties on the subject - 491, 492
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, Sept. 23 - 492
Amendments to the Judiciary bill. Bill for establishing the Susque-
hannah as the permanent seat of Government. Views and schemes.
French affairs - - 493
The King. Neckar. Fayette. Committees of safety on the Ameri
can model - 494
To George Washington. Orange, Nov. 20 - - 494
Spanish movements. Morris on the residence of Congress. Probable
schemes, &c. Virginia Legislature. Henry, and the project of the
commutable. Amendments to the Federal Constitution. Quiet of
its opponents - 495, 496
To George Washington. Orange, Dec. 5 - 496
Letters of Senators of Virginia, written by R. H. Lee. Proceedings
of the Legislature. Amendments to the Federal Constitution. Ap-
J
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
1789.— Continued.
pointments of Joseph Jones and Spencer Roane as Judges of the
General Court. Death of Carey, and transfer of Mercer to Court of
Appeals 497, 498
Letter from Senators R. H. Lee and Wm. Grayson to the Legislature of
Virginia - 499,500
1790.— [P. 500—522.1
To George Washington. Georgetown, Jan. 4 - 500
Amendments to the Federal Constitution lost in the Virginia Assem
bly. Jefferson's doubts about accepting the appointment of Secre
tary of State. His fitness for it 500, 501
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Jan. 24 - - 501
Hamilton's plan of Revenue. Knox's plan of militia. Universal anx
iety for Jefferson's acceptance of the appointment of Secretary of
State. French politics and prices - 501, 502
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, February 4 - 503
Examination of Jefferson's position that one generation of men has
no right to bind another. Objections to the doctrine 503, 504. 505, 506
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, Feb. 14 - - 507
Hamilton's report. Proposed reduction of the transferred principal
of the domestic debt. An equitable rule would be to allow the
highest market price to the purchaser, and to apply the balance to
the original sufferer. Difficulty of the plan not insuperable. Bill
for taking a census. Utility of a decennial repetition of it. Con-
temp tously thrown out by the Senate - 507
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, March 4 - 507
Census act. Report of Secretary of Treasury. Plan for settling do
mestic debt. Equitable view. Proposed assumption of the State
debts. Effort to refer the assumption to the State of the debts at the
close of the war. Unequal bearing of an assumption of the exist
ing debts in Virginia and Massachusetts. Case of South Carolina.
France. The Austrian Netherlands. Spain. Influence of the Amer
ican example - 508, 509
To Dr. Rush. New York, March 7 - - 509
The Doctor's opinion on the proposition to divide the payment of the
domestic debt between the original and purchasing holders of cer
tificates. Something " radically immoral, and consequently im
politic," in making the whole payment to the purchasers. A pam
phlet by Dr. Rush - 510, 511
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, March 8 - 511
Objections to the proposed plan for assuming the State Debts - 511
To Edmund Randolph. New York, March 14 - 511
A decision by a large majority not coinciding with the supposed pre
vailing sense of the People. [Qu.?] Assumption of State debts.
Course of the Virginia delegation. Bland. Debts of the Union.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XXXIX
PAGE.
1790.— Continued.
Proposed National Debt 511,512
To Edmund Randolph. New York, March 21 512
Domestic. Language of Richmond as to the proposed discrimination.
Personal animosity. Debates occasioned by the Quakers. State
debts. Paper money in Georgia, the Carolinas, &c., to Rhode Island.
French affairs - 512, 513
To Edmund Randolph. New York, March 30 - 513
Disappointment in seeing the President. Resolutions on the Treasury
report. Assumption of State Debts. Prospects - 513, 514
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, April 4 - 514
Assumption of State debts. Bland. Historical magnitude of the
American Revolution. Importance of the proceedings in Virginia
during the crisis of the Stamp Act. Application to Randolph for
brief notes of them - 514,515
To Gen. Henry Lee. New York, April 13 - - 515
Public prospects. Seat of Government. Reception in Virginia of the
plan of discrimination. The rural districts there not in unison with
the cities - - - 515
Faults, and the apology for them, of the Report of the Secretary of
the Treasury. Proposed assumption of State debts. Contradictory
decision. Last vote. Zeal and perseverance of the minority. Lee's
reflections on a public debt. A public debt a public curse, especially
in a republic - - . 516
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, April 13 - 517
Negative of the proposed assumption of State debts. The project not
abandoned - - 517
To James Monroe. New York, April 17 - 517
Same subject. Prophetic menaces of the Eastern members - - 517
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, May 2 - - 518
Pendleton's notes, &c., on the subject of the Stamp Act. New experi
ments of the advocates of assumption - 518
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, May 19 - 518
Recent critical illness of the President. Commercial relation to Great
Britain. Funding of the public debt. Assumption of State debts.
Motives of its advocates 518, 519
To James Monroe. New York, June 1 - 519
Assumption revived. Funding bill. Experiment for navigation and
commercial purposes. Opinions, projects, &c., as to temporary and
permanent seat of Government. Death of Bland. President's re
covery. Jefferson - 519, 520
To James Monroe. New York, June 17 - - 520
Question concerning the seat of Government, temporary and perma
nent. Baltimore. Assumption. Funding bill - - 520
To Edmund Pendleton. New York. June 22 - 620
Pressure of business. Funding and revenue systems. Assumption of
xl CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1790.— Continued.
State debts. Seat of Government. Great Britain itching for
wur - - 520,521
To James Monroe. New York, July 4 - 521
Senate bill fixing the temporary and the permanent seat of Govern
ment. Public debt. Assumption - - 621, 522
To James Monroe. New York, July 24 - - 522
Prospects of the Assumption. Spirit of accommodation necessary - 522
1791.— [P. 523—545.]
To Edmund Pendleton. New York, January 2 523
Legal character of the stipulation in the Treaty concerning the recov
ery of debts. Construction of the Legislation on the Treaty. Bear
ing of the Treaty on acts of limitation. Rule of interpretation should
be liberal 523, 524
Meaning of the phrase " Supreme Law," as applied to Treaties. Au
thority to annul the Treaty. A breach on one side discharges the
other, if that other sees fit to take advantage of the breach. Prac
tical inference as to the treaty with G. Britain. Hamilton's plan
of a- Bank. Randolph's report on the Judiciary. Report concern
ing the assumed debt. Objections and difficulties. Militia bill.
Public Lands. Weights and measures. Case of Kentucky. Ver
mont - 524, 525
Letter from Lord Mayor of London to Duke of Leeds. Supposed peace
between G. Britain and Spain - 526
To James Madison. Phila., Jan. 23 - - 527
Peace between G. Britain and Spain. Excise bill. Kentucky bill.
Bills concerning a Bank, the militia, Western lands, &c. Webb's
petition. Statistical inquiries - 527
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Feb. 13 - - 528
Unconstitutionality of Bank bill. Excise. A direct tax offensive in
and out of Congress. Kentucky bill. Vermont. Public lands, mili
tia, and other bills - 528
To Edmund Pendleton. February 13 529
Price of wheat. Certificates. Webb's petition. Excise and Bank
bills. Kentucky admitted. Bill for selling the Western lands. An
earthquake. Weather 529, 530
SUBSTANCE OP A CONVERSATION HELD BY JAMES MADISON, JR., WITH COL. BECK-
WITH, AT THE DESIRE OF MR. JEFFERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE - 530 — 534
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, May 1 - - 534
Priestley's answer to Burke. Jefferson's idea of limiting the right to
bind posterity, germinating under Burke 's extravagance. Rumor
of the suppression in England of Paine's answer to Burke. Fraudu
lent practice of taking out administration on the effects of deceased
soldiers. Great amount of unclaimed dues to the U. S. Temptation
to the collusion of clerks, &c. Indecent conduct of partisans of the
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. xll
PAGE,
1791.— Continued*
Bank bilU King's opinions on British relations to U. S. Smith's
suggestion on information, &c., &c. - - 534, 535
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, May 12 - - 535
Jefferson brought into the frontispiece of Paine's pamphlet. J.
Adams's Defence, &c. His anti-republican discourses since he has
been Vice President. Ridiculous sensibility of Hammond and
Bond. Possible trip to Boston. Political prospects in Virginia 535, 536
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, June 23 - - 537
French regulations concerning tobacco. Publicola. Pamphlet on the
Bank - ... 537
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, June 27 - - 537
Col. Smith's conversations with the British ministry - - 537
J. Adams's difficulties. Attack on Paine, and obnoxious principles.
His letter to Wythe in 1776 - - 538
To Thomas Jefferson, New York, July 10 - - 533
Rise of Bank shares. Admission and inference. Bank jobbers. Polit
ical gambling - - 538
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, July 13 - - 539
Beckley's report of J. Adams's unpopularity. Publicola. J. Q.
Adams. J. Adams's method and style - 539
Bank shares. Alleged manoeuvres of Philadelphia to the prejudice of
New York, Boston, and Baltimore. Remark attributed to Pitt. G.
Morris. Luzerne. Beckwith. Paine 539, 540
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, August 4 - 540
Speculations in stock, &c., carried on with money borrowed at heavy
usury - - 540
To Thomas Jefferson. New York, August 8 - 541
Surmise as to the deferred debt. Difference between old paper under
a bad Government, and new paper under a good one. Moral and
political dangers from the Bank. The stock jobbers - 541
To Robert Pleasants. Phila., October 30 - - 542
Petition concerning the Militia bill. Personal objection to presenting
the petition concerning slavery. Probable effect of such an appli
cation to the Legislature of Virginia, on the existing privilege of
manumission - - 542, 543
To Gen. Henry Lee. Phila., Dec. 18 - 543
Freneau. The Western disaster - 543
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Dec. 18 - - 543
Discussion before the Federal Court at Richmond. Proceedings of
Congress. Disagreement of the two Houses on the Representation
bill. Fractions. Prospects as to the result - - 544
Hammond's reported disavowal of encouragement by the Government
of Canada to Indian hostilities, T. Pinckney to be Minister to Lon
don. French affairs. The King's acceptance of the Constitution.
Election of the Legislative Assembly - - - - 545
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1792.— [P. 545—574.]
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Jan. 21 - 545
The Representation bill. Proposed compensation for present inequality
of fractions. How relished - - 546
H. of Reps, occupied with shut doors on the subject of the Western
frontiers. Hamilton's report on manufactures. Its Constitutional
doctrine. Subversion of the fundamental and characteristic princi
ple of the Govt. The phrase, " General Welfare," copied from the
Articles of Confederation; and always understood as nothing more
than a general caption to the specified powers, and therefore pre
ferred in the Constitution as less liable to misconstruction - 546, 547
To Gen. Henry Lee. Jan. 29 - 547
Western defence. Justifying memorial of the Executive - - 547
To Gen. Henry Lee. February 12 - - 547
Military bill in the Senate. Suggested exchange of stations. Corn-
wallis and Tippoo 547, 548
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Feb. 21 - - 548
Report on manufactures. Bill concerning election of President and
Vice President. Question as to number of electors. Provision for
case of a double vacancy, certainly erroneous. Various objections
to it. Proposition in H. of R. to substitute the Secretary of State.
Another Representation bill - 548, 549
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., March 25 - - 549
Perseverance and victory of the Northern members on the Represen
tation bill. Result unconstitutional. Treasury reports. Militia bill.
Mint. St. Domingo. Failure of a New York speculator. Extensive
ruin caused by it 549, 550
To Gen. Henry Lee. Phila., March 28 - - 551
Gen. St. Clair. Proposed inquiry into the cause of Western calamities.
Mint bill. Proposition of the Senate to stamp the head of the Pres
ident, for the time being, on one side of the coin - 551, 552
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., April 9 - - 552
President negatives the Representation bill. Assumption of the re
mainder of the State debts. Western defence. Bankruptcies in
New York - - 552
To Gen. Henry Lee. Phila., April 15 - 553
Nominations for General officers. Wilkinson. Commander-in-Chief.
Anticipations, &c., as to a military appointment. Gen.
Lee's present station as Governor of Virginia. Augmented duties.
Speculating and Banking in New York. President's negative on
the Representation bill. The law providing for invalid pensioners
pronounced by the Judges to be unconstitutional. The power 553, 554
SUBSTANCE OP A CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESIDENT, MAY 5, 1792:
The subject of, the mode, and time for making known, the President's
intention of retiring from public life, on the expiration of his four
years - - 554—559
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE
1792.— Continued.
May 9, 25. Farther conversation, &c., on the subject 559, 5GC
To Mr. Jefferson. Orange, June 12 - - 560
Answer to Hammond. Criticisms in the cabinet. Kentucky. Brown.
Campbell. Muter. Brackenridge. Greenup. The Excise. Effect
of Sidney, a writer in the Gazette. Tax on newspapers. Freneau 561
Drought. Crops. Meeting with the President on the road. Problem
as to his declining a re-election. Monroe. Mease's oration on Hy
drophobia. Tableau of national debts and polls - 562,563
To President Washington. Orange, June 21 - - - 563
Questions as to a notification of Washington's purpose to retire. Time,
mode, valedictory address; whether notification and address should
be separate acts, or blended together. Requests reconsideration of
the purpose to retire. Encloses draught of an address, following
the prescribed outline - 563, 564, 565
THE DRAUGHT above referred to - - 565 — 568
To Edmund Randolph. Orange, Sept. 13 - - 569
A publication in Fenno's paper. Jefferson. Freneau 's talents, mer
its, and sufferings in the Revolution. The application for his ap
pointment to his present Clerkship suggested by Gen. H. Lee. Ad
vice to establish a press in Phila. Motives. Calumnious charges.
Why they have not been publicly answered - 569. 570
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Nov. 16 - - 571
President's speech, and answers of the two Houses. Answer of H.
of R. as to the Excise. Criticisms. Anonymous pamphlet reflect
ing on Madison and other of Pendleton 's friends - 571
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Dec. 6 - - 572
French affairs. Formidable combination against the Revolution, &c.
Disposition of the nation. Newspaper tax. Election of Vice Pres
ident. J. Adams and Gov. Clinton. Political principles of Adams.
Harvest in Europe. Prices. Col. Taylor. Jefferson's probable re
tirement - 572, 573
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila., Dec. 10 - - 573
New Treasury Report. Query as to a tax on horses. Operation of it
in different places. Queries - - 573, 574
1Y93.— [P. 574—654.]
To Edmund Pendleton. Phila.. Feb. 23 - 57*
Talents, &c., of [John Taylor] successor to R. H. Lee. Approaching
election in Virginia for H. of R. Mr. C. Scrutiny into administra
tion of Treasury Dept. Giles's resolutions. British Ministry. Paine.
French affairs. Spain 574, 575
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, April 12 - 57t>
Dunlap. Evil of premature denunciations. Public sentiment in Vir
ginia. Election for H. of R. The only discontinued representa
tive from Virginia in the last Congress. Member for the Alexan-
xljv CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAOE.
1793. — Continued.
dria district. G.'s vote on the resolutions of censure. J. Cole,
Hancock, Preston, Brackenridge, Greenup. Sympathy with fate of
Louis XVI. The man and the monarch. Prospect as to crops.
Weather. Ploughs - 576, 577
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, May 8 - 578
Wish that Genet may be properly received. Impression as to effect
of the Treaty. The Proclamation. Quibbling on Vattel. Effect of
a change of Government on public engagements. Weather. Vege
tation. Pamphlet on the proceedings in the case of the Secretary
of the Treasury 578, 579
To Thomas Jefferson. May 27 - 579
Jefferson's longings for private life. Objections to their gratification.
Genet. Fiscal party in Alexandria. Georgetown. Fredericksburg.
The executive. Secret Anglomany - 579, 580
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, June 13 - - 580
Letter to a French minister. Apostasy of Dumouriez - 580
Criticisms on the President's proclamation. Authority to declare the
disposition of the U. S. on a question of war or peace. Snares for
the President - 581, 582
Sentiment of Virginia concerning liberty and France. Heretical tone
of the towns. Weather. Crops. Kentucky coffee trees - 582, 583
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange, June 17 - - 583
French affairs. W. C. Nicholas. Sympathy of the People of Virginia
with the French Revolution. Jay's judicial opinion on a question
concerning British debts. Reflections 583, 584
To Thomas Jefferson. Orange. June 19 - 584
Anglified complexion charged on the Executive politics. The Proc
lamation an unfortunate error. Reflections - 584
To Thomas Jefferson. June 29 .... 585
The Proclamation. Seizure and search of American vessels for French
goods - - - 585
To Thomas Jefferson. July 18 ... 585
A subject recommended to the writer's attention. [Qu.: Pacificus?]
Pamphlet and ploughs. Genet's folly. De la Forest. Harvest
585, 586
To Thomas Jefferson. July 22 - 586
W. C. Nicholas. E. Randolph. Their sentiments on the French Rev
olution. Allowance to be made in conversations, &c. Suspicions
of Nicholas imputing to Hamilton a secret design against the Pres
ident. Printed papers. [Qu.: Pacificus?] Difficulties in the way of
discussing the subject. Controversial precautions - - 586, 587, 588
To Thomas Jefferson. July 30 - 588
Acknowledgment of papers, &c., received. Has forced himself into
the task of a reply [to Pacificus.] Vexations. "Prolixity and per
tinacity " of the antagonist. Question as to ideas of France and of
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PACK.
1793.— Continued.
the President on certain points ... 588, 589
The President's journey to Virginia. Errors as to public sentiment.
Ploughs. Dr. Logan. Crops. Weather - 589, 590
To Thomas Jefferson. August 5 - 590
Jefferson's distressing account of Genet's proceedings. His folly. Sus
picions. Last topic of Pacificus. His feeble defence of an import
ant point - - - - - - 590
To Thomas Jefferson. August 11 - - 591
Key to the cypher left wanting. Necessity of abridging the answer
to Pacificus. Particular delicacy of one topic. Pamphlet against
the fiscal system, by the reputed author of Franklin. Communica
tion to F., &c. - - 591
Paper for J. F. Requests critical examination, &c., &c., and erasure
of quotation from the Federalist, if deemed objectionable on the
ground of delicacy. Drought - - 592
To Thomas Jefferson. August 20 - - 593
Proposed visit to Monroe. Requests aid concerning the publication
of Helvidius. The last No. required particular care, but necessarily
hurried. More quotations from the Federalist, to be omitted if,
&c., &c. Paragraph concerning Spain. President's answers to ad
dresses. Drought - 593, 594
To Thomas Jefferson. At Col. Monroe's, Aug. 22 - - 594
Helvidius. Apology for an error of fact - 594
To Thomas Jefferson. August 27 - - 595
Certificate of Jay and King. Wythe at the head of certain proceed
ings at Richmond. His disgusts from the State legislature. Plan
for making political use of Genet's indiscretions. Counteraction.
Wish for Pendleton's support 595, 596
To Thomas Jefferson. September 2 - 596
Genet's unaccountable and distressing conduct. Use made of it. An
tidote to the poison. Encloses sketch of ideas for use at county
meetings. Conversation between the President and Jefferson. Anx
iety to retain J. in office. Reasons for his remaining. His contin
gent successor would probably be King or E. Rutledge. Monroe's
perplexity about Genet. Suggestion. Palliatives of Genet's con
duct in certain errors of our own Government 597, 598
W. C. Nicholas. E. Randolph drew the proclamation, and reprobates
the comment of Pacificus. Hamilton. The task to be resumed. Its
awkwardness. Visitors ... . 599
SKETCH OP IDEAS ON FRENCH RELATIONS, TO BE USED AT COUNTY MEETINGS 599 — 601
To James Monroe. September 15 - - 601
Mad conduct of Genet. Its effect on his own votaries in Philadel
phia; on Anglicans and Monocrats. War of G. Britain on Ameri
can commerce. Malignant fever in Philadelphia. Jefferson, and
a composition of John Taylor - - 601, 602
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1793.— Continued.
To George Washington. Orange, Oct. 24 - - 602
Questions as to the meeting of Congress, arising from the existence of
malignant fever at Philadelphia. Duty and constitutional power
of the Executive. Conclusion. Draught of notification - 602, 603. 604
To James Monroe. October 29 - 605
Resolutions proposed at Fredericksburg. Letter from Bordeaux.
Culpeper meeting. Fauquier resolutions. Davis's papers. Forward
corn, &c. 605. 606
HELVIDIUS, IN ANSWER TO PACIFICUS, [ALEXANDER HAMILTON,] ON PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON'S PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY, APRIL 22, 1793 607 — 654
Answer to the argument that the powers of declaring war and treaties
are, in their nature, Executive powers 612 — 619, 621
In G. B. they are royal prerogatives - - 619
The Federalist, No. 75 - 620
Argument from the admissions that the right to declare war is vested
in the Legislature, and that it includes the right to judge whether
the U. S. be obliged to declare war or not - 622 — 62G
Neutrality defined - 627
Answer to the argument founded on the clause of the Constitution de
claring that the President " shall take care that the laws be faith
fully executed " 626—630
Asserted right and duty of the Executive to interpret certain treaty
stipulations - - 630
Inferences from the right of the Executive to receive public ministers
631, 632
Federalist, No. 69. The authority of the Executive does not extend to
a question whether an existing Government ought to be recognised
or not - - - 633
Right of every nation to abolish an old Government and establish a
new one - 633
Treaties formed by the Government are treaties of the Nation, unless
otherwise expressed in the treaties - - 634
Treaties not affected by a change of Government - - 634
No more right in the Executive to suspend. &c., a treaty on account
of a change of Government, than to suspend any other law - 634
Draught of a supposed Proclamation founded on the prerogative and
policy of suspending the Treaty with France 634, 635
Qualification of the suspending power. Answer 635 — 638
Public rights of two sorts. Supposed cases - 636, 637
Towering prerogative claimed for the Executive - - 639
Position of the Legislature 639, 640
Summary of the view taken in the preceding Nos. - 640
Tendency and consequence of the new doctrine 640 — 643
Axiom, that the Executive is the department of power most distin
guished by its propensity to war. Practice of free States to disarm
CONTEXTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE.
1793.— Continued.
this propensity of its influence ... 643
Refusal of the Constitution to vest in the Executive the sole power of
making peace - - 644
Federalist, No. 75. Reflections- 644.64.)
Assumption that the Proclamation has undertaken to decide the ques
tion, whether there be a cause of war, or not, in the article of guar
anty between U. S. and France, and in so doing has exercised the
right claimed for the Executive Department. Application of the
term " Government" to the Executive authority alone - G46, 647
Nature of a Proclamation in its ordinary use - 647
Unusual and unimplied meaning ascribed to President Washington's
Proclamation. Term " neutrality " not in it. Legal and rational
grounds for it - - 648
Part of it declaring the disposition, &c., of U. S. in relation to the
war in Europe - 648, 649
It does not require the construction put on it by Pacificus - - 649
Reasons why the President cannot be supposed to have intended to
embrace and prejudge the legislative question, whether there was
or was not, under the circumstances of the case, a cause of war in
the article of guaranty - - 649
No call from either of the parties at war wit'h France, for an expla
nation of the light in which the guaranty was viewed 649, 650
An inadmissible presumption - - 650
Farther reasons against supposing that a precipitate and ex parte de
cision of the guaranty question could have been intended by the
Proclamation - 651—653
Silence of the Executive since the accession of Spain and Portugal to
the war against France ... 653, 654
Proper sense of the Proclamation ..... 654
MEMORANDUM
OF
LEADING DATES, ETC.,
IN THE
LIFE OF JAMES MADISON,
1751. March 16, N. S. [1750, March 5, 0. S.] Born in King George
county, Virginia.
. His early education, at the school of Donald Robertson, in King
and Queen county; and afterward at home, under the private
tuition of the Rev. Thomas Martin.
1769. Becomes a student of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton.
1771. Takes the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
1775. Chairman of the Committee of Public Safety for the county of
Orange.
1776. April. Chosen a member of the new Virginia Convention at
Williamsburg.
1777. November. Elected by the Legislature, a member of the Coun
cil of State.
1780. March 4, to the first Monday in November 1783, a delegate
from Virginia to the Congress of the Confederation.
1780. October 17. His report from a Committee, consisting of him
self, Mr. Sullivan, and Mr. Duane, to prepare instructions to
Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jay in support of the claims of the
United States to Western territory, and the free navigation of
Mississippi River.
1783. April 26. From a Committee, consisting of himself, Mr. Ells
worth, and Mr. Hamilton, he prepares an Address to the
States, urging the grant of power to Congress to lay certain
duties for the payment of the public debt; the levying by the
States of a revenue for paying the interest of the debt; and
that the States should make liberal cessions to the Union, of
their territorial claims.
xlix
I MEMORANDUM OF
1784. Elected a member of the Legislature of Virginia. Prepares
Remonstrance and Memorial in favor of Religious Liberty.
1785. As Chairman of the Committee of Courts of Justice, reports a
plan for establishing Courts of Assize. His labors in the gen
eral revisal of the Statute laws. Advocates successfully the
enactment of a law by Virginia, to repress and punish enter
prises by her citizens against nations with which the United
States are at peace. [Filibustering.]
His proposition for the execution of the Treaty of peace con
cerning British debts.
Suggests a proposition for the appointment of Commissioners to
consider of the state of trade in the Confederacy.
1786. Appointed, with six others, as Commissioners from Virginia to a
Convention at Annapolis.
Drafts the report of the Commissioners to the Legislatures by
which they had been appointed, recommending a second Con
vention of delegates to a Convention to be held at Philadel
phia on the second Monday of May, 1787, for a general revi
sal of the Constitution of the Federal Government.
His effort for the disposal of the Public Lands, leading to a
modification of the terms of cession, and to the ordinance for
the Government of the North Western territory, which was
afterward [13th of July, 1787] adopted by Congress.
1787. One of a Committee of five members for revising the style and
arranging the articles of the Constitution which had been
agreed to by the Convention at Philadelphia, and for prepar
ing an address to the People of the United States.
The leading advocate of the new Constitution.
In conjunction with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, writes
"The Federalist."*
* Of the eighty-five Numbers of the "Federalist," Nos. 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13,
15, 16, 17, 21 to 36, 59, 60, 61, 65 to 85, were written by Hamilton; Nos. 10, 14,
37 to 58, by Madison; Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 64, by Jay; and Nos. 18, 19, 20, by Ham
ilton and Madison, jointly. In a copy* of the Federalist lent by Mr. Madison to
Mr. Jacob Gideon, of Washington city, the publisher of the edition of 1818. is
the following MS. note, written by Mr. Madison, on the leaf commencing with
No. 18 :
" The subject of this and the two following numbers happened to be taken up
" by both Mr. H. and Mr. M. What had been prepared by Mr. H., who had en-
* Now in the Washington Library.
"LEADING DATES. }j
1789 1797. A member of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Congresses
under the new Constitution.
1793. Writes "Helvidius," in answer to "Pacificus," (Alexander
Hamilton,) on President Washington's Proclamation of Neu
trality, April 22, 1793.
1794. September 15. Marries Mrs. Dolly P. Todd.
1798. December 21. Prepares Resolutions of the Legislature of Vir
ginia against the Alien and Sedition Laws.
1799. Elected to the House of Delegates of Virginia from Orange County.
1799 — 1800. Prepares other Resolutions on the same subject, and a
report in reply to answers received from other States.
1801 — 1809. Secretary of State during President Jefferson's Adminis
tration.
His Reports, diplomatic letters, &c., &c.
1806. His Examination of the British doctrine relating to Neutral
Trade.
1809 — 1817. President of the United States.
His messages, annual and special, &c., &c.
1826. Rector of the University of Virginia.
1829. A delegate from the district of Spottsylvania, Louisa, Orange,
and Madison, to the Convention of Virginia for revising the
Constitution of the Commonwealth.
1833. President of the American Colonization Society.
1835. President of the Washington National Monument Society.
1836. June 28. Dies at his residence, Montpellier, Orange county,
Virginia.
" tered more briefly into the subject, was left with Mr. M., on its appearing that
" the latter was engaged in it, with larger materials, and with a view to a more
" precise delineation ; and from the pen of the latter, the several papers went to
*' ',bo Praas."
WORKS OF MADISON,
LETTERS.
TO THE REVEREND THOMAS MARTIN.
NASSAU HALL, August 16, 1769.
REV. SIR, — I am not a little affected at hearing of your mis
fortune, but cannot but hope the cure may be so far accom
plished as to render your journey not inconvenient. Your kind
advice and friendly cautions are a favor that shall be always
gratefully remembered; and I must beg leave to assure you that
my happiness, which you and your brother so ardently wish for,
will be greatly augmented by both your enjoyments of the like
blessing.
I have been as particular to my father as I thought necessary
for this time, as I send him an account of the institution, &c.,
&c., and of the college, wrote by Mr. Blair, the gentleman for
merly elected President of this place. You will likewise find
two pamphlets entitled " Britannia's Intercession for John
Wilkes," &c., which, if you have not seen it, perhaps may divert
you.
I am perfectly pleased with my present situation; and the
prospect before me of three years' confinement, however terrible
it may sound, has nothing in it, but what will be greatly allevi
ated by the advantages I hope to derive from it.
The near approach of examination occasions a surprising ap
plication to study on all sides, and I think it very fortunate
VOL. I. 1
2 WORKS OF MADISON. 1769.
that I entered college immediately after my arrival. Though
I believe there will not be the least danger of my getting an
Irish hint, as they call it, yet it will make my studies somewhat
easier. I have by that means read over more than half Horace
and made myself pretty well acquainted with prosody, botli
which will be almost neglected the two succeeding years.
The very large packet of letters for Carolina I am afraid will
be incommodious to your brother on so long a journey, to whom
I desire my compliments may be presented; and conclude with
my earnest request for a continuance of both your friendships,
and sincere wishes for your recovery, and an agreeable journey
to your whole company.
I am, sir, your obliged friend and obedient servant.
TO JAMES MADISON.
NASSAU HALL, September 30. 17(i9.
HONORED SIR, — I received your letter by Mr. Rossekrans,
and wrote an answer; but as it is probable this will arrive
sooner which I now write by Dr. Witherspoon, I shall repeat
some circumstances to avoid obscurity.
On Wednesday last we had the usual commencement. Eigh
teen young gentlemen took their Bachelor's degrees, and a con
siderable number their Master's degrees. The degree of Doctor
of Laws was bestowed on Mr. Dickinson the Farmer, and Mr.
Galloway the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, a distin
guishing mark of honor, as there never was any of that kind
done before in America. The commencement began at ten
o'clock, when the President walked first into the church, a
board of trustees following, and behind them those that were to
take their first degrees. After a short prayer by the President,
the head oration, which is always given to the greatest scholar
by the President and Tutors, was pronounced in Latin by Mr.
Samuel Smith, son of a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania.
Then followed the other orations, disputes, and dialogues, dis-
17C9. LETTERS. 3
tributed to each according to his merit, and last of all was pro
nounced the valedictory oration by Mr. John Henry, son of a
gentleman in Maryland. This is given to the greatest orator.
We had a very great assembly of people, a considerable number
of whom came from New York; those at Philadelphia were
most of them detained by Races which were to follow on the
next day.
Since commencement, the trustees have been sitting about
business relative to the college, and have chosen for tutors for
the ensuing year, for the junior class, Mr. Houston from North
Carolina, in the room of Mr. Peream; for the freshman class,
Mr. Reeve, (a gentleman who has for several years past kept a
school at Elizabethtown,) in the room of Mr. Pemberton. The
sophomore tutor, Mr. Thomson, still retains his place, remark
able for his skill in the sophomore studies, having taken care
of that class for several years past. Mr. Halsey was chosen
junior tutor, but refused. The trustees have likewise appointed
Mr. Caldwell, a minister at Elizabethtown, to take a journey
through the Southern Provinces as far as Georgia, to make col
lections by which the college fund may be enabled to increase
the- library, provide an apparatus of mathematical and philo
sophical instruments, and likewise to support professors, which
would be a great addition to the advantages of this college.
Dr. Witherspoon's business to Virginia is nearly the same, as I
conjecture, and perhaps to form some acquaintance to induce
gentlemen to send their sons to this college.
I feel great satisfaction from the assistance my uncle has re
ceived from the springs, and I flatter myself from the continu
ance of my mother's health that Dr. Shore's skill will effectually
banish the cause of her late indisposition.
I recollect nothing more at present worth relating, but as
often as opportunity and anything worthy your attention shall
occur, be assured you shall hear from
Your affectionate son.
WORKS OF MADISON. 1770.
TO ME. JAMES MADISON.
NASSAU HALL, July 23, 1770.
HONORED SIR,—
We have no public news but the base conduct of the mer
chants in New York in breaking through their spirited resolu
tions not to import; a distinct account of which I suppose will
be in the Virginia Gazette before this arrives. Their letter to
the merchants in Philadelphia requesting their concurrence, was
lately burnt by the students of this place in the college yard, all
of them appearing in their black gowns, and the bell tolling.
The number of students has increased very much of late;
there are about an hundred and fifteen in college, and in the
grammar school twenty-two commence this fall, all of them in
American cloth.
With my love to all the family, I am, honored sir, your
affectionate son.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
PRINCETON, October 9, 1771.
HONORED SIR, — In obedience to your requests I hereby send
you an answer to yours of the 25th of September, which I
received this morning. My letter by Dr. Witherspoon, who
left this place yesterday week, contains most of what you desire
to be informed of. I should be glad if your health and other
circumstances should enable you to visit him during his stay in
Virginia. I am persuaded you would be much pleased with
him, and that he would be very glad to see you.
I was so particular in my last with regard to my determina
tion about staying in Princeton this winter coming, that I need
say nothing more in this place, my sentiments being still the
same.
I am sorry Mr. Chew's mode of conveyance will not answer
in Virginia. I expect to hear from him in a few days, by return
!772. LETTERS. 5
of a man belonging to this Town from New London, and shall
then acquaint him with it and get it remedied by the methods
you propose.
Mr. James Martin was here at commencement, and had an
opportunity of hearing from his brothers and friends in Caro
lina by a young man lately come from thence to this college;
however, I shall follow your directions in writing to him imme
diately, and visiting him as soon as I find it convenient.
I am, Dr sir, your affectionate son.
TO MR. WILLIAM BRADFORD, JR.
(At the Coffee-Rouse, Philadelphia,— By the post.)
ORANGE, VIRGINIA, November 9, 1772.
MY DEAR B., — You moralize so prettily, that if I were to
judge from some parts of your letter of October 13, I should
take you for an old philosopher that had experienced the emp
tiness of earthly happiness; and I am very glad that you have
so .early seen through the romantic paintings with which the
world is sometimes set off by the sprightly imaginations of the
ingenious. You have happily supplied, by reading and obser
vation, the want of experiment; and therefore I hope you are
sufficiently guarded against the allurements and vanities that
beset us on our first entrance on the theatre of life. Yet, how
ever nice and cautious we may be in detecting the follies of
mankind, and framing our economy according to the precepts
of Wisdom and Religion, I fancy there will commonly remain
with us some latent expectation of obtaining more than ordi
nary happiness and prosperity till we feel the convincing argu
ment of actual disappointment. Though I will not determine
whether we shall be much the worse for it if we do not allow it
to intercept our views towards a future state, because strong-
desires and great hopes instigate us to arduous enterprizes,
fortitude, and perseverance. Nevertheless, a watchful eye must
be kept on ourselves, lest while we are building ideal rnonu-
(5 WORKS OF MADISON. 1772.
menta of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names
enrolled in the annals of Heaven. These thoughts come into
my mind because I am writing to you, and thinking of you.
As to myself, I am too dull and infirm now to look out for any
extraordinary things in this world, for I think my sensations
for many months past have intimated to me not to expect a
long or healthy life; though it may be better with me after
some time, [but] I hardly dare expect it, and therefore have
little spirit and alacrity to set about anything that is difficult
in acquiring and useless in possessing after one has exchanged
time for eternity. But you have health, youth, fire, and genius,
to bear you along through the high track of public life, and so
may be more interested and delighted in improving on hints
that respect the temporal though momentous concerns of man.
I think you made a judicious choice of History and the science
of morals for your winter's study. They seem to be of the
most universal benefit to men of sense and taste in every post,
and must certainly be of great use to youth in settling the
principles and refining the judgment, as well as in enlarging
knowledge and correcting the imagination. I doubt not but
you design to season them with a little divinity now and then,
which, like the philosopher's stone, in the hands of a good man,
will turn them and every lawful acquirement into the nature of
itself, and make them more precious than fine gold.
As you seem to require that I should be open and unreserved,
(which is indeed the only proof of true friendship.) I will
venture to give you a word of advice, though it be more to
convince you of my affection for you than from any apprehen
sion of your needing it. Pray do not suffer those impertinent
fops that abound in every city to divert you from your business
and philosophical amusements. You may please them more by
admitting them to the enjoyment of your company, but you
will make them respect and admire you more by showing your
indignation at their follies, and by keeping them at a becoming
distance. I am luckily out of the way of such troubles, but I
know you are surrounded with them; for they breed in towns
and populous places as naturally as flies do in the shambles,
1773. LETTERS. 7
because there they get food enough for their vanity and imper
tinence.
I have undertaken to instruct my brothers and sisters ip-
some of the first rudiments of literature; but it does not take
up so much of my time but I shall always have leisure to
receive and answer your letters, which are very grateful to me,
I assure you: and for reading any performances you may be
kind enough to send me, whether of Mr. Freneau or anybody
else. I think myself happy in your correspondence, and desire
you will continue to write as often as you can, as you see I
intend to do by the early and long answer I send you. You
are the only valuable friend I have settled in so public a place,
and I must rely on you for an account of all literary transac
tions in your part of the world.
I am not sorry to hear of Livingston's getting a degree. I
heartily wish him well, though many would think I had but
little reason to do so; and ?f he would be sensible of his oppor
tunities and encouragements, I think he might still recover.
Lucky (?) and his company, after their feeble yet wicked assault
upon Mr. Erwin, in my opinion, will disgrace the catalogue of
names ; but they are below contempt, and I spend no more
words about them.
And now, my friend, I must take my leave of you, but with
such hopes that it will not be long before I receive another
epistle from you, as make me more cheerfully conclude and
subscribe myself
Your sincere and affectionate friend.
Your direction was right; however, the addition of " Jr." to
my name would not be improper.
TO WILLIAM BRADFORD, JUN.
ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, April 28, 1773.
DEAR B., — I received your letter dated March the 1st about
a week ago ; and it is not more to obey your demands than to
g WORKS OF MADISON. 1773:
fulfil my own desires that I give you this early answer. I am
glad you disclaim all punctiliousness in our correspondence.
For my own part I confess I have not the face to perform cere
mony in person, and I equally detest it on paper; though as
Tully says, It cannot blush. Friendship, like all truth, delights
in plainness and simplicity, and it is the counterfeit alone that
needs ornament and ostentation. I am so thoroughly persuaded
of this, that when I observe any one over complaisant to me in
his professions and promises, I am tempted to interpret his
language thus: " As I have no real esteem for you, and for cer
tain reasons think it expedient to appear well in your eye, I
endeavor to varnish falsehood with politeness, which I think I
can do in so ingenious a manner that so vain a blockhead as
you cannot see through it."
I would have you write to me when you feel as you used to
do, when we were under the same roof, and you found it a
recreation and release from businc-ss and books to come and
chat an hour or two with me. The case is such with me that I
am too remote from the post to have the same choice, but it
seldom happens that an opportunity catches me out of a humor
of writing to my old Nassovian friends, and you know what
place you hold among them.
I have not seen a single piece against the Doctor's address.
I saw a piece advertised for publication in the Philadelphia
Gazette, entitled " Candid remarks," &c., and that is all I know
about it. These things seldom reach Virginia, and when they
do, I am out of the way of them. I have a curiosity to read
those authors who write with " all the rage of impotence/'7 not
because there is any excellence or wit in their writings, but
because they implicitly proclaim the merit of those they are rail
ing against, and give them an occasion of shewing by their
silence and contempt that they are invulnerable. I am heartily
obliged to you for your kind offer of sending me some of these
performances. I should also willingly accept Freneau's works,
and the " Sermons to Doctors in Divinity," which I hear are
published, and whatever else you reckon worth reading. Please
to note the cost of the articles, for I will by no means suffer our
1773. LETTERS. 9
acquaintance to be an expense on your part alone, and I have
nothing fit to send you to make it reciprocal. In your next
letter be more particular as to yourself, your intentions, present
employments, &c., Erwin, McPherson, &c., the affairs of the
college. Is the lottery like to come to anything ? There has
happened no change in my purposes since you heard from me
last. My health is a little better, owing, I believe, to more
activity and less study, recommended by physicians. I shall
try, if possible, to devise some business that will afford me a
sight of you once more in Philadelphia within a year or two.
I wish you would resolve the same with respect to me in Vir
ginia, though within a shorter time. I am sorry my situation
affords me nothing new, curious, or entertaining, to pay you for
your agreeable information and remarks. You, being at the
fountain head of political and literary intelligence, and I in an
obscure corner, you must expect to be greatly loser on that
score by our correspondence. But as you have entered upon it,
I am determined to hold you to it, and shall give you some very
severe admonitions whenever I perceive a remissness or brevity
in your letters. I do not intend this as a beginning of reproof,
but .as a caution to you never to make it necessary at all.
If Mr. Horton is in Philadelphia, give him my best thanks for
his kindness in assisting Mr. Wallace to do some business for
[ ?] not long ago.
I must re-echo your pressing invitations to [ ?]
do with the more confidence as I have complied.
I am, dear sir, yours, most unfeignedly.
TO WILLIAM BRADFORD, ESQ.
ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 6th Sept., 1773.
DEAR SIR, — If I did not love you too well to scold at you, I
should begin this with upbraiding your silence, contrary to
10 WORKS OF MADISON. 1774.
your express promise and my earnest solicitations. The bundle
of pamphlets you sent by the post has miscarried, or I would
not trouble you with sending them again; but perhaps if you
would inquire of the posts, they might still be discovered.
I expect this will be handed to you by Mr. Erwin, who has
been kind enough to extend his journey this far, whose praise
is in every man's mouth here for an excellent discourse he this
day preached for us. He will let you know everything that
occurs to me worth mentioning at commencement, or Philadel
phia, if you should not attend the commencement. Gratitude
to him, and friendship to yourself and others, with some busi
ness, perhaps, will induce me to visit Philadelphia or Princeton
in the spring, if I should be alive, and should have health
sufficient.
I set too high a value on Mr. Erwin's company to write
much to you now, and besides have the like office of friendship
to several other friends.
I am, dear sir, yours most affectionately.
TO MR. WILLIAM BRADFORD, JR.
January the 24th, 1774.
MY WORTHY FRIEND, — Yours of the 25th of last month came
into my hands a few days past. It gave singular pleasure, not
only because of the kindness expressed in it, but because I had
reason to apprehend the letter you received last from me had
miscarried, and I should fail in procuring the intelligence I
wanted before the trip I designed in the spring.
I congratulate you on your heroic proceedings in Philadel
phia with regard to the tea. I wish Boston may conduct
matters with as much discretion as they seem to do with bold
ness. They seem to have great trials and difficulties by reason
of the obduracy and ministerialism of their G-overnor. How-
1774. LETTERS. 11
ever, political contests are necessary sometimes, as well as
military, to afford exercise and practice, and to instruct in the
art of defending liberty and property. I verily believe the
frequent assaults that have been made on America (Boston
especially) will in the end prove of real advantage.
If the Church of England had been the established and
general religion in all the northern colonies as it has been
among us here, and uninterrupted tranquillity had prevailed
throughout the continent, it is clear to me that slavery and
subjection might and would have been gradually insinuated
among us. Union of religious sentiments begets a surprising
confidence, and ecclesiastical establishments tend to great igno
rance and corruption; all of which facilitate the execution of
mischievous projects.
But away with politics ! Let me address you as a student
and philosopher, and not as a patriot, now. I am pleased that
you are going to converse with the Edwards and Henrys and
Charleses, &c., &c., who have swayed the British sceptre, though
I believe you will find some of them dirty and unprofitable
companions, unless you will glean instruction from their follies,
and fall more in love with liberty by beholding such detestable
pictures of tyranny and cruelty.
I was afraid you would not easily have loosened your affec
tions from the belles lettres. A delicate taste and warm imagi
nation like yours must find it hard to give up such refined and
exquisite enjoyments for the coarse and dry study of the law.
It is like leaving a pleasant flourishing field for a barren desert ;
perhaps I should not say barren either, because the law does
bear fruit, but it is sour fruit, that must be gathered and
pressed and distilled before it can bring pleasure or profit. I
perceive I have made a very awkward comparison; but I got
the thought by the end, and had gone too far to quit it before I
perceived that it was too much entangled in my brain to run it
through; and so you must forgive it. I myself used to have
too great a hankering after those amusing studies. Poetry,
wit, and criticism, romances, plays, <fcc., captivated me much;
but I began to discover that they deserve but a small portion
12 WORKS OF MADISON. 1774.
of a mortal's time, and that something more substantial, more
durable, and more profitable, befits a riper age. It would be
exceedingly improper for a laboring man to have nothing but
flowers in his garden, or to determine to eat nothing but sweet
meats and confections. Equally absurd would it be for a
scholar and a man of business to make up his whole library
with books of fancy, and feed his mind with nothing but such
luscious performances.
When you have an opportunity and write to Mr. Bracken-
ridge, pray tell him I often think of him, and long to see him,
and am resolved to do so in the spring. George Luckey was
with me at Christmas, and we talked so much about old affairs
and old friends, that I have a most insatiable desire to sec you
all. Luckey will accompany me, and we are to set off on the
10th of April, if no disaster befalls either of us.
I want again to breathe your free air. I expect it will mend
my constitution and confirm my principles. I have indeed as
good an atmosphere at home as the climate will allow; but have
nothing to brag of as to the state and liberty of my country.
Poverty and luxury prevail among all sorts; pride, ignorance,
and knavery among the priesthood, and vice and wickedness
among the laity. This is bad enough, but it is not the worst I
have to tell you. That diabolical, hell-conceived principle of
persecution rages among some; and to their eternal infamy, the
clergy can furnish their quota of imps for such business. This
vexes me the worst of anything whatever. There are at this
time in the adjacent country not less than five or six well-
nieaning men in close jail for publishing their religious senti
ments, which in the main are very orthodox. I have neither
patience to hear, talk, or think of anything relative to this
matter; for I have squabbled and scolded, abused and ridiculed,
so long about it to little purpose, that I am without common
patience. So I must beg you to pity me, and pray for liberty
of conscience to all.
I expect to hear from you once more before I see you, if time
will admit; and want to know when the synod meets, and
where; what the exchange is at, and as much about my friends
1774. LETTERS. 13
and other matters as you can [tell,] and think worthy of notice
Till I see you,
Adieu !
N. B. Our correspondence is too far advanced to require
apology for bad writing and blots.
Your letter to Mr. Wallace is yet in my hands, and shall be
forwarded to you as soon as possible. I hear nothing from him
by letter or fame.
TO MB. WILLIAM BRADFOED, JR.
VIRGINIA, ORANGE COUNTY, April 1, 1774.
MY WORTHY FRIEND, — I have another favor to acknowledge
in the receipt of your kind letter of March the 4th. I did not
intend to have written again to you before I obtained a nearer
communication with you; but you have too much interest in my
inclinations ever to be denied a request.
Mr. Brackenridge's illness gives me great uneasiness; I think
he would be a loss to America. His merit is rated so high by
me that I confess, if he were gone, I could almost say with the
poet, that his country could furnish such a pomp for death no
more. But I solace myself from Finley's ludicrous descriptions
as you do.
Our Assembly is to meet the first of May, when it is expected
something will be done in behalf of the dissenters. Petitions,
I hear, are already forming among the persecuted Baptists, and
I fancy it is in the thoughts of the Presbyterians also, to inter
cede for greater liberty in matters of religion. For my own
part, I cannot help being very doubtful of their succeeding in the
attempt. The affair was on the carpet during the last session;
but such incredible and extravagant stories were told in the
House of the monstrous effects of the enthusiasm prevalent
among the sectaries, and so greedily swallowed by their en^-
14 WORKS orniADisoN. 17T4
mies, that I believe they lost footing by it. And the bad name
they still have with those who pretend^ too much contempt to
examine into their principles and conduct, and are too much
devoted to the ecclesiastical establishment to hear of the tolera
tion of dissentients, I am apprehensive, will be again made a
pretext for rejecting their requests.
The sentiments of our people of fortune and fashion on this
subject are vastly different from what you have been used to.
That liberal, catholic, and equitable way of thinking, as to the
rights of conscience, which is one of the characteristics of a free
people, and so strongly marks the people of your province, is
but little known among the zealous adherents to our hierarchy.
We have, it is true, some persons in the Legislature of generous
principles both in Religion and Politics; but number, not merit,
you know, is necessary to carry points there. Besides, the
clergy are a numerous and powerful body, have great influence
at home by reason of their connection with and dependence on
the Bishops and Crown, and will naturally employ all their art
and interest to depress their rising adversaries; for such they
must consider dissenters who rob them of the good will of the
people, and may, in time, endanger their livings and security.
You are happy in dwelling in a land where those inestimable
privileges are fully enjoyed; and the public has long felt the
good effects of this religious as well as civil liberty. Foreign
ers have been encouraged to settle among you. Industry and
virtue have been promoted by mutual emulation and mutual
inspection; commerce and the arts have flourished; and I can
not help attributing those continual exertions of genius which
appear among you to the inspiration of liberty, and that love
of fame and knowledge which always accompany it. Religious
bondage shackles and debilitates the mind, and unfits it for
every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect. How far
this is the case with Virginia will more clearly appear when
the ensuing trial is made.
I am making all haste in preparing for my journey. It ap
pears as if it would be the first of May before I can start, which
I can more patiently bear, because I may possibly get no com-
1774. LETTERS. 15
pany before that time; and it will answer so exactly with the
meeting of the synod. George Luckey talks of joining me if I
can wait till then. I am resolutely determined to come if it is
in my power. If anything hinders me, it will be most likely
the indisposition of my mother, who is in a very low state of
health; and if she should grow worse, I am afraid she will be
more unwilling to part with my brother, as she will be less able
to bear a separation. If it should unfortunately happen that I
should be forced off or give out coming, Luckey on his return
to Virginia will bring me whatever publications you think
worth sending, and among others [Caspapini's?] letters.
But whether I come or not, be assured I retain the most ar
dent affection and esteem for you, and the most cordial grati
tude for your many generous kindnesses. It gives me real
pleasure when I write to you that I can talk in this language
without the least affectation, and without the suspicion of it,
and that if I should omit expressing my love for you, your
friendship can supply the omission; or if I make use of the most
extravagant expressions of it, your corresponding affection can
believe them to be sincere. This is a satisfaction and delight
unknown to all who correspond for business and conveniency,
but richly enjoyed by all who make pleasure and improvement
the business of their communications.
Farewell,
J. M.
P. S. You need no longer direct to the care of Mr. Maury.
TO WILLIAM BRADFORD, JR.
July 1, 1774.
DEAR SIR, — I am once more got into my native land, and into
the possession of my customary employments, solitude and con
templation; though I must confess not a little disturbed by the
16 WORKS OF MADISON. 1774.
sound of war, blood, and plunder, on the one hand, and the
threats of slavery and oppression on the other. From the best
accounts I can obtain from our frontiers, the savages are deter
mined on the extirpation of the inhabitants, and no longer leave
them the alternative of death or captivity. The consternation
and timidity of the white people, who abandon their possessions
without making the least resistance, are as difficult to be ac
counted for as they are encouraging to the enemy. Whether it
be owing to the unusual cruelty of the Indians, the want of
necessary implements or ammunition for war, or to the igno
rance and inexperience of many who, since the establishment of
peace, have ventured into those new settlements, I can neither
learn, nor with any certainty conjecture. However, it is confi
dently asserted that there is not an inhabitant for some hundreds
of miles back which have been settled for many years except
those who are [forted ?] in or embodied by their military com
manders. The state of things has induced Lord Dunmore.
contrary to his intentions at the dissolution of the Assembly, to
issue writs for a new election of members, whom he is to call
together on the llth of August.
As to the sentiments of the people of this Colony with respect
to the Bostonians, I can assure you I find them very warm in
their favor. The natives are very numerous and resolute, are
making resolves in almost every county, and I believe arc will
ing to fall in with the other Colonies in any expedient measure,
even if that should be the universal prohibition of trade. It
must not be denied, though, that the Europeans, especially the
Scotch, and some interested merchants among the natives, dis
countenance such proceedings as far as they dare ; alledging the
injustice and perfidy of refusing to pay our debts to our gener
ous creditors at home. This consideration induces some honest,
moderate folks to prefer a partial prohibition, extending only
to the importation of goods.
We have a report here that Governor Gage has sent Lord
Dunmore some letters relating to public matters in which he
says he has strong hopes that he shall be able to bring things
at Boston to an amicable settlement. I suppose you know
1774. LETTERS. 17
whether there be any truth in the report, or any just foundation
for such an opinion in Gage.
It has been said here by some, that the appointed fast was
disregarded by every Scotch clergyman, though it was observed
by most of the others who had timely notice of it. I cannot
avouch it for an absolute certainty, but it appears no ways
incredible.
I was so lucky as to find Dean Tucker's tracts on my return
home, sent by mistake with some other books imported this
spring. I have read them with peculiar satisfaction and illumi
nation with respect to the interests of America and Britain.
At the same time his ingenious and plausible defence of par
liamentary authority carries in it such defects and misrepresent
ations, as confirm me in political orthodoxy — after the same
manner as the specious arguments of Infidels have established
the faith of inquiring Christians.
I am impatient to hear from you; and do now certainly [earn
estly?] renew the stipulation for that friendly correspondence
which alone can comfort me in the privation of your company.
I shall be punctual in transmitting you an account of every
thing that can be acceptable, but must freely absolve you from
as strict an obligation, which your application to more import
ant business will not allow, and which my regard for your ease
and interests will not suffer me to enjoin.
I am, dear sir, your faithful friend,
TO MR. WILLIAM BRADFORD.
VIRGINIA, ORANGE COUNTY, January 20, 1775.
MY WORTHY FRIEND, — Your very acceptable favors by Mr.
Rutherford arrived safe, but I perceived by the date had a
very tedious passage, which perhaps may be attributed to the
craziness of the vessel in which you embarked them. I ought
VOL. i. 2
13 WORKS OF MADISON. 1775.
to mention, in particular, that I did not receive them till after
I wrote my last, as an apology for my not then acknowledg
ing it.
I entirely acquiesce in your opinion of our friend Bracken-
ridge's talents, and think his poem an indubitable proof of what
you say on that head. It certainly has many real beauties in
it, and several strokes of a strong original genius; but at the
same time, as you observe, some very obvious defects, which I
am afraid, too, are more discernible to common readers than its
excellencies. If this be the case, I am apprehensive it will not
answer the end proposed, which, as I collect from his letter to
me, was to raise the character of his academy by the fame of
its teacher. It is on this account, he says, he desires it might
have a pretty general reading in this Government. For my
own part, I could heartily wish, for the honor of the author and
the success of the performance, that it might fall into the hands
only of the impartial and judicious. I have shewn it to some
of our middling sort of folks, and I am persuaded it will be not
much relished by that class of my countrymen. The subject is
itself frightful; blank verse, in some measure unintelligible, at
least requires stricter attention than most people will bestow;
and the antiquated phraseology, however eligible in itself, dis
gusts such as affect modern fashion. In short, the theme is not
interesting enough, nor the dress sufficiently a la mode to attract
the notice of the generality. The same merit in a political
or humorous composition would have rung the author's fame
through every Province on the continent. Something of this
kind I am encouraged to expect soon from a passage of his let
ter in which he mentions a design of finishing a poem then in
hand, on the present times; and from the description he gives
of it, (if it be not too local,) I doubt not will meet with the
public's applause. He informed me it would be ready for the
press in three months from the time he wrote. If so, you must
have seen it by this time.
We are very busy at present in raising men and procuring
the necessaries for defending ourselves and our friends in case
of a sudden invasion. The extensiveness of the demands of the
1775. LETTERS. 1$
Congress, and the pride of the British nation, together with the
wickedness of the present ministry, seem, in the judgment of our
politicians, to require a preparation for extreme events. There
will, by the Spring I expect, be some thousands of well-trained,
high-spirited men ready to meet danger whenever it appears,
who are influenced by no mercenary principles, but bearing
their own expenses, and having the prospect of no recompense
but the honor and safety of their country.
I suppose the inhabitants of your Province are more reserved
in their behavior, if not more easy in their apprehension, from
the prevalence of Quaker principles and politics. The Quakers
are the only people with us who refuse to accede to the Conti
nental association. I cannot forbear suspecting them to be
under the control and direction of the leaders of the party in
your quarter; for I take those of them that we have to be too
honest and simple to have any sinister or secret views, and I
do not observe anything in the association inconsistent with
their religious principles. When I say they refuse to accede to
the association, my meaning is that they refuse to sign it; that
being the method used among us to distinguish friends from
foes, and to oblige the common people to a more strict observ
ance of it. I have never heard whether the like method has
been adopted in the other Governments.
I have not seen the following in print, and it seems to be so
just a specimen of Indian eloquence and mistaken valor, that I
think you will be pleased with it. You must make allowance
for the unskilfulness of the interpreters.
The speech of Logan, a Shawanese Chief, to Lord Dunmore:
" I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's
cabin hungry, and I gave him not meat; if ever he came cold or
naked, and I gave him not clothing. During the course of the
last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his tent, an
advocate for peace; nay, such was my love for the whites, that
those of my own country pointed at me as they passed by, and
said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought
to live with you but for the injuries of one man. Col. Cressop,
the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, cut off all the
20 WORKS OF MADISON. 1775.
relo lions of Logan, not sparing even my women and children.
There runs riot a drop of my blood in the veins of any human
creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I
have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my
country I rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbor a
thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear.
He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to
mourn for Logan ? — not one ! "
If you should see any of our friends from Princeton a little
before the time of your intending to write to me, and could
transmit any little intelligence concerning the health, &c., of my
little brother there, it would be very acceptable to me, and very
gratifying to a fond mother; but I desire it may only be done
when it will cost you less than five words.
We had with us a little before Christmas the Rev. Moses
Allen, on his return from Boston to Charlestown. He told me
he came through Philadelphia, but did not see you, though he ex
presses a singular regard for you, and left his request with me
that you would let him hear from you whenever it is convenient,
promising to return the kindness with punctuality. He trav
elled with considerable equipage for a dissenting ecclesiastic,
and seems fo be willing to superadd the airs of the fine gentle
man to the graces of the spirit. I had his company for several
days, during which time he preached two sermons with general
approbation. His discourses were above the common run some
degree; and his appearance in the pulpit on the whole was no
discredit to [ ?] He retains too much of his pristine
levity, but promises amendment. I wish he may for the sake
of himself, his friends, and his flock. I only add that he seems
to be one of those geniuses that are formed for shifting in the
world rather than shining in a college, and that I really believe
him to possess a friendly and generous disposition.
You shall ere long hear from me again. Till then, Vive,
vale et Lcetare.
1776. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 21
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
WILLIAMSBURG, June 27. 1776.
HOXD.SIR— * * * * *
It is impossible for me to say when the Convention will ad
journ; but am pretty certain it will not be so soon as was
expected when I wrote by .
It is said that seven ships, some of them very large, have
within a few days past come to the aid of Dunmore. Whether
they be transports or ships of war is not yet determined.
I am, dear sir, yours affectionately.
[Among Mr. Madison's papers is the following copy, both in print and manu
script, of the Declaration of Rights, as reported by the select committee of the
Virginia convention of 1776. It corresponds in the main, though not without
occasional variations, with the original draft prepared by Colonel George Mason.
In the last article, to which the note there subjoined by Mr. Madison refers, the
draft of the committee and that of Colonel Mason were in all respects identical.]
The following Declaration was reported to the Convention by
the committee appointed to prepare the same, and referred to
the consideration of a committee of the whole Convention; and
in the mean time is ordered to be printed for the perusal of the
members :
A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the representatives of
the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free conven
tion, which rights do pertain to us and our posterity, as the
basis and foundation of government.
1. That all men are born equally free and independent, and
have certain inherent natural rights, of which they cannot, by
any compact, deprive their posterity ; among which are the
enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and
possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and
safety.
2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived
22 WORKS OF MADISON. 1776.
from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and serv
ants, and at all times amenable to them.
3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the
common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation,
or community: of all the various modes and forms of govern
ment, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest
degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured
against the danger of maladministration; and that whenever
any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these
purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable,
unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it,
in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public
weal.
4. That no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive or
separate emoluments or privileges from the community but in
consideration of public services; which not being descendible or
hereditary, the idea of a man born a magistrate, a legislator, or
a judge, is unnatural and absurd.
5. That the legislative and executive powers of the State
should be separate and distinct from the judicative; and that
the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression
by feeling and participating the burdens of the people, they
should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, return
into that body from which they were originally taken, and the
vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular elec
tions.
6. That elections of members to serve as representatives of
the people, in Assembly, ought to be free; and that all men,
having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with
and attachment to the community, have the right of suffrage.
7. That no part of a man's property can be taken from him,
or applied to public uses, without his own consent or that of
his legal representatives; nor are the people bound by any laws
but such as they have, in like manner, assented to for their
common good.
8. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of
laws by any authority without consent of the representative?
177G. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 23
of the people, is injurious to their rights and ought not to be
exercised.
9. That laws having retrospect to crimes, and punishing
offences committed before the existence of such laws, are gene
rally oppressive and ought to be avoided.
10. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man hath a
right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be
confronted with the accusers or witnesses, to call for evidence
in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of his
vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found
O '
guilty, nor can he be compelled to give evidence against him
self ; that no man be deprived of his liberty except by the law
of the land, or the judgment of his peers.
11. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor exces
sive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
12. That warrants unsupported by evidence, whereby any
officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search
suspected places, or to seize any person or persons, his or their
property, not particularly described, are grievous and oppres
sive, and ought not to be granted.
13. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits
between man and man, the ancient trial by jury is preferable to
any other, and ought to be held sacred.
14. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bul
warks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic
governments.
15. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of
the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe
defence of a free State; that standing armies in time of peace
should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases
the military should be under strict subordination to, and gov
erned by, the civil power.
16. That the people have a right to uniform government, and
therefore that no government separate from, or independent of
the government of Virginia, ought of right to be erected or
established within the limits thereof.
17. That no free government or the blessings of liberty can
24 WORKS OF MAD I SON.
be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice,
moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent
recurrence to fundamental principles.
18. That Religion, or the duty which we owe to our CREATOR,
and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason
and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore that all
men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of reli
gion according to the dictates of conscience, unpunished and
unrestrained by the magistrate, unless, under color of religion,
any man disturb the peace, the happiness, or safety of society;
and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian for
bearance, love, and charity towards each other.*
[The following draught of a " Plan of Government," which seems to have been
the original sketch of the Virginia Constitution of 177(5, is found among Mr.
Madison's papers, both in print and transcribed by him; and the two notes, the
one at the beginning and the other at the end, are subjoined in his hand-writing
to the manuscript copy:]
A PLAN OF GOVERNMENT,
Laid before the Committee of the House, which they have
ordered to be printed for the perusal of the members. t
1. Let the legislative, executive, and judicative departments
* On the printed paper here literally copied is a manuscript variation of this
last article, making it read : i; That religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator,
and the manner of discharging it, being under the direction of reason and con
viction only, not of violence or compulsion, all men are equally entitled to the
full and free exercise of it according to the dictates of conscience; and therefore
that no man or class of men ought, on account of religion, to be invested with
peculiar emoluments or privileges, nor subjected to any penalties or disabilities,
unless, under color of religion, the preservation of equal liberty and the exist
ence of the State be manifestly endangered.
This variation is in the handwriting of J. M., and is recollected to have been
brought forward by him, with a view more particularly to substitute for the idea
expressed by the term " toleration " an absolute and equal right in all to ihe
exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience. The proposal wa«
moulded into the last article in the Declaration as finally established, from which
the term " toleration" is excluded. — J. M.
f An alteration in the handwriting of J. M. erases " of the House," and inserts
after committee, appointed for that purpose; and adds at the end after " members.'1
1T7G. PLAN OF GOVERNMENT. 25
be separate and distinct, so that neither exercise the powers
properly belonging to the other.
2. Let the legislative be formed of two distinct branches, who
together shall be a complete Legislature. They shall meet
once or oftener every year, and shall be called the GENERAL
ASSEMBLY of VIRGINIA.
3. Let one of these be called the Lower House of Assembly,
and consist of two delegates or representatives, chosen for each
county annually, by such men as have resided in the same for
one year last past, are freeholders of the county, possess an
estate of inheritance of land in Virginia of at least one thousand
pounds value, and are upwards of twenty-four years of age.
4. Let the other be called the Upper House of Assembly, and
consist of twenty-four members, for whose election let the differ
ent counties be divided into twenty-four districts, and each
county of the respective district, at the time of the election of
its delegates for the Lower House, choose twelve deputies or
sub-electors, being freeholders residing therein, and having an
estate of inheritance of lands within the district, of at least five
hundred pounds value. In case of dispute, the qualifications to
be determined by the majority of the said deputies. Let these
deputies choose by ballot one member for the Upper House of
Assembly, who is a freeholder of the district, hath been a resi
dent therein for one year last past, possesses an estate of inher
itance of lands in Virginia of at least two thousand pounds
value, and is upwards of twenty-eight years of age. To keep
up this Assembly by rotation let the districts be equally divided
into four classes and numbered. At the end of one year, after
the general election, let the six members elected by the first
division be displaced, rendered ineligible for four years, and
tf the House; making the whole read, Laid before the committee appointed for
that purpose, which they have ordered to be printed for the perusal of the mem
bers of the House.
From this correction it appears that what was laid before the committee was
printed by its order, not by that of the Convention, as was done in the case of the
''Declaration of Rights," reported by Mr. Gary from the appointed committee:
nor is there in the journal any order for printing any plan of government reported
to the Convention from a committee. — J. M.
26 WORKS OF MADISON. 1776.
the vacancies be supplied in the manner aforesaid. Let this
rotation be applied to each division according to its number,
and continued in due order annually.
5. Let each House settle its own rules of proceeding; direct
writs of election for supplying intermediate vacancies; and let
the right of suffrage, both in the election of members for the
Lower House and of deputies for the districts, be extended to
those having leases for land in which there is an unexpired
term of seven years, and to every housekeeper who hath resided
for one year last past in the county, and hath been the father
of three children in this country.
6. Let all laws originate in the lower House, to be approved
or rejected by the upper House, or to be amended with the
consent of the lower House, except money bills, which in no
instance shall be altered by the upper House, but wholly ap
proved or rejected.
7. Let a Governor, or Chief Magistrate, be chosen annually
by joint ballot of both Houses, who shall not continue in that
office longer than three years successively, and then be ineligi
ble for the next three years. Let an adequate but moderate
salary be settled on him during his continuance in office; and
let him, with the advice of a Council of State, exercise the exec
utive powers of Government, and the power of proroguing or
adjourning the General Assembly, or of calling it upon emer
gencies, and of granting reprieves or pardons, except in cases
where the prosecution shall have been carried on by the Lower
House of Assembly.
8. Let a privy Council or Council of State, consisting of eight
members, be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly
promiscuously, from their own members, or the people at large,
to assist in the administration of Government.
Let the Governor be President of this Council; but let them
annually choose one of their own members as Vice President,
who, in case of the death or absence of the Governor, shall act
as Lieutenant Governor. Let these members be sufficient to
act, and their advice be entered of record in their proceedings.
Let them appoint their own clerk, who shall have a salary set-
1776. TLAN OF GOVERNMENT. 27
tied by law, and taken with oath of secrecy, in such matters as
he shall be directed to conceal, unless called upon by the Lower
House of Assembly for information. Let a sum of money ap
propriated to that purpose be divided annually among the mem
bers in proportion to their attendance, and let them be incapa
ble, during their continuance in office, of sitting in either House
of Assembly. Let two members be removed by ballot of their
own Board at the end of every three years, and be ineligible
for the next three years. Let this be regularly continued by
rotation, so as that no member be removed before he hath been
three years in the Council; and let these vacancies, as well as
those occasioned by death or incapacity, be supplied by new
elections in the same manner as the first.
9. Let the Governor, with the advice of the Privy Council,
have the appointment of the militia officers, and the government
of the militia, under the laws of the country.
10. Let the two Houses of Assembly, by joint ballot, appoint
Judges of the Supreme Court, Judges in Chancery, Judges of
the Admiralty, and the Attorney General, to be commissioned
by the Governor, and continue in office during good behaviour.
In -case of death or incapacity, let the Governor, with the advice
of the Privy Council, appoint persons to succeed in office pro
tempo re, to be approved or displaced by both Houses. Let
these officers have fixed and adequate salaries, and be incapable
of having a seat in either House of Assembly, or in the Privy
Council, except the Attorney General and the Treasurer, who
may be permitted to a seat in the lower House of Assembly.
11. Let the Governor and Privy Council appoint justices of
the peace for the counties. Let the clerks of all the courts, the
sheriffs, and coroners, be nominated by the respective courts,
approved by the Governor and Privy Council, and commissioned
by the Governor. Let the clerks be continued during good
behaviour, and all fees be regulated by law. Let the justices
appoint constables.
12. Let the Governor, any of the Privy Counsellors, Judges
of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of Government, for
mal-administration or corruption be prosecuted by the Lower
2& WORKS OF MADISON. 1776.
House of Assembly, (to be carried on by the Attorney General,
or such other person as the House may appoint,) in the Supreme
Court of common law. If found guilty, let him or them be
either removed from office, or forever disabled to hold any
office under the Government, or subjected to such pains or
penalties as the laws shall direct.
13. Let all commissions run in the name of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, and be tested by the Governor, with the seal of the
Commonwealth annexed. Let writs run in the same manner,
and be tested by the clerks of the several courts. Let indict
ments conclude, against the peace and dignity of tJie Common
wealth.
14. Let a Treasurer be appointed annually, by joint ballot
of both Houses.
15. In order to introduce this Government, let the repre
sentatives of the people now met in Convention choose twenty-
four members to be an Upper House, and let both Houses, by
joint ballot, choose a Governor and Privy Council; the Upper
House to continue until the last day of March next, and the
other officers until the end of the succeeding session of Assem
bly. In case of vacancies, the President to issue writs for new
elections.*
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
ORANGE, March, 1777.
HOND.SlR— * * * * * *
The following odd affair has furnished the court of this county
with some very unexpected business.
Two persons travelling from Philadelphia to the southward,
one of them a Frenchman and an officer in the Continental
* It is not known with certainty from whom this first draught of a plan of
Government proceeded. There is a faint tradition that Meriwether Smith
spoke of it as originating with him. What is remembered by J. M. is, that George
Mason was the most prominent member in discussing and developing the Consti
tution in its passage through the Convention. The preamble is known to have
been furnished by Thomas Jefferson.— J. M.
17T7. LETTERS. 29
army, and the other a man of decent figure, came to the court
house on the evening of the court day, and immediately inquired
for a member of the committee. Being withdrawn with several
members into a private room, they gave information that they fell
in with a man on the road a few miles from the court-house, who,
in the course of conversation on public affairs, gave abundant
proof of his being an adherent to the King of Great Britain,
and a dangerous enemy to the State; that he ran into the most
outrageous abuse of our proceedings, and on their threatening
to inform against him, in the most daring manner bid defiance
to committees, or whoever should pretend to judge or punish
him. They said the man they alluded to had come with them
to the court-house, and they made no doubt but they could point
him out in the crowd. On their so doing, the culprit appeared
to be Benjamin Haley. As the committee had no jurisdiction
in the case, it was referred to a justice of the peace. Every
one seemed to be agreed that his conduct was a direct violation
of law, and called aloud for public notice; but the witnesses
being travellers, and therefore unable to attend at a trial, it
was thought best not to undertake a prosecution which prom
ised nothing but impunity and matter of triumph to the offender.
Here the affair dropped, and every one supposed was entirely
at an end; but as the Frenchman was accidentally passing
through the room where Haley was, he took occasion to ad
monish the people of his being a disaffected person, and up
braided him for his tory principles. This introduced a debate,
which was continued for some time with great heat on the part
of the Frenchman, and great insolence on the part of Haley.
At the request of the latter, they at length both appeared before
a justice of the peace. Haley at first evaded the charges of
his antagonist; but after some time, said he scorned to be coun
terfeit, and in answer to some questions that were put to him,
signified that we were in the state of rebellion and had revolted
from our lawful Sovereign, and that if the King had justice
done him, his authority would still be in exercise among us.
This passed in the presence of twenty or thirty persons, and
rendered the testimony of the travellers needless. A warrant
30 WORKS OF MADISON. 1778.
for arresting him was immediately issued and executed. The
criminal went through his examination, in which his very pleas
seemed to aggravate his guilt. Witnesses were summoned,
sworn, and their evidences taken; and on his obstinate refusal
to give security for his appearance, he was committed to close
gaol. This happened about eight o'clock. I have since heard
he begged about one o'clock in the morning to be admitted to
bail, and went home, but not without threats of revenge, and
making public declaration that he was King George's man. I
have stated the case thus particularly that you may, if an op
portunity occurs, take the advice of some gentleman skilled in
the law, on the most proper and legal mode of proceeding
against him.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
WILLIAMSBUKG, January 23, 1778.
HONORED SIR, — I got safe to this place on Tuesday follow
ing the day I left home, and at the earnest invitation of my
kinsman, Mr. Madison,* have taken my lodgings in a room of
the President's house, which is a much better accommodation
than I could have promised myself.
You will be informed in due time by advertisement from the
Governor what is proper to be done with the shoes, £c., col
lected for the army. You will be able to obtain so circumstan
tial an account of public affairs from Major Moore, that I may
spare myself the trouble of anticipating it.
Although I well know how inconvenient and disagreeable it
is to you to continue to act as Lieutenant of the county, I can
not help informing you that a resignation at this juncture is
here supposed to have a very unfriendly aspect on the execu
tion of the draught, and consequently to betray at least a want
of patriotism and perseverance. This is so much the case that
a recommendation of county Lieutenant this day received by
* The Rev. James Madison, afterwards Bishop, was at this time President of
William and Mary College.
1778. LETTERS. 31
the Governor, to supply the place of one who has resigned to
the court, produced a private verbal message to the old Lieu
tenant to continue to act at least as long as the present meas
ures were in execution.
I am, dear sir, your affectionate son.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
WILLIAMSBURG. March 6, 1778.
HONORED SIR- * * * * * *
We have no news here that can be depended on. It is said
by Mr. King, who is just from Petersburg, that a gentleman was
at that place who informed that sundry persons had arrived at
Edcnton from Providence Island, who affirmed that they saw in
Providence a London paper giving an account that Bourgoyne's
disaster had produced the most violent fermentation in England;
that the Parliament had refused to grant the supplies for carry
ing on the war, and that a motion for acknowledging our inde
pendence was overruled by a small majority only.
The people who bring this news to Edenton, as the story
goes, were prisoners with the enemy at Providence, when they
were relieved by a New England privateer, which suddenly
landed her men, took possession of the small fort that com
manded the harbor, and secured several vessels that lay in it,
one of which was given up to these men to bring them to the
continent. I leave you to form your own judgment as to the
credibility of this report. I wish it carried stronger marks of
truth.
The Governor has just received a letter from the captain of
the Trench frigate I mentioned in my last, informing him of his
safe arrival in North Carolina with a rich cargo of various
useful and important articles, which will be offered for sale to
us. The frigate belongs to a company at Nantes, in France.
We also hear, but in a less authentic manner, that 7,000 tents
have arrived at Martinique, on their way from France to the
grand army.
32 WORKS OF MADISON. 1779.
A letter from New York town, this moment received, informs
us that an exchange of prisoners is at last agreed on between
W. and H.
Your affectionate son.
TO COLONEL JAMES MADISON.
WILLIAMSBURG, December 8, 1779.
HONORED SIR, — The assembly have not yet concluded their
plan for complying with the requisitions from Congress. It
may be relied on that that cannot be done without very heavy
taxes on every species of property. Indeed, it is thought ques
tionable whether it will not be found absolutely impossible.
No exertions, however, ought to be omitted to testify our zeal
to support Congress in the prosecution of the war. It is also
proposed to procure a large sum on loan by stipulating to pay
the interest in tobacco. A tax on this article necessary for
that purpose is to be collected. Being very imperfectly ac
quainted with the proceedings of the Assembly on this matter,
I must refer you for the particulars to the return of Major
Moore, or some future opportunity. The law for escheats and
forfeitures will be repealed as it respects orphans, &c. The
effects of the measures taken by the Assembly on the credit of
our money and the prices of things cannot be predicted. If
our expectations had not been so invariably disappointed, they
ought to be supposed very considerable. But from the rapid
progress of depreciation at present, and the universal struggle
among sellers to bring up prices, I cannot flatter myself with
the hope of any great reformation. Corn is already at £20,
and rising. Tobacco is also rising. Pork will probably com
mand any price. Imported goods exceed everything else many
hundreds per cent.
I am much at a loss how to dispose of Willey.* I cannot
think it would be expedient in the present state of things to
* The familiar name of his younger brother.
1779. LETTERS. 33
send him out of the State. From a new arrangement of the
college here, nothing is in future to be taught but the higher
and rarer branches of science. The preliminary studies must,
therefore, be pursued in private schools or academies. If the
academy at Prince Edward is so far dissolved that you think
his return thither improper, I would recommend his being put
under the instruction of Mr. Maury, rather than suffer him to be
idle at home. The languages, (including English,) geography,
and arithmetic, ought to be his employment, till he is prepared
to receive a finish to his education at this place.
By the late change, also, in the college, the former custom of
furnishing the table for the president and professors is to be
discontinued. I am induced by this consideration to renew my
request for the flour mentioned to you. It will perhaps be the
only opportunity I may have of requiting received and singular
favors; and, for the reason just assigned, will be extremely con
venient. I wish to know without any loss of time how far this
supply may be reckoned on. Perhaps Mr. R. Burnley would
receive and store it for me.
I am desired by a gentleman here to procure for him two
bear skins to cover the foot of his chariot. If they can be
bought anywhere in your neighborhood, I beg you or Ambrose
will take the trouble to inquire for them, and send them to
Captain Anderson, at Hanover town. If the flour should come
down, the same opportunity will serve for them. Captain
Anderson may be informed that they are for Mr. Norton. If
they can be got without too much trouble, I should be glad of
succeeding, as he will rely on my promise to procure them for
him.
Having nothing to add under the head of news, I subscribe
myself your dutiful son.
VOL. i. 3
34 WORKS OF MADISON. 17C3.
TO COLONEL JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, March 20, 17SO.
HONORED SIR -
The extreme badness of the roads and frequency of rains
rendered my journey so slow that I did not reach this place till
Saturday last. The only public intelligence I have to commu
nicate, is that the great and progressive depreciation of the
paper currency had introduced such disorder and perplexity
into public affairs, for the present, and threatened to load the
United States with such an intolerable burden of debt, that
Congress have thought it expedient to convert the 200,000,000
of dollars now in circulation into a real debt of 5,000,000, by
establishing the exchange at 40 for 1 ; and taxes for calling it
in during the ensuing year are to be payable, at the option of
the people, in specie or paper, according to that difference. In
order to carry on public measures in future, money is to be
emitted under the combined faith of Congress and the several
States, secured on permanent and specific funds to be provided
by the latter. This scheme was finally resolved on on Saturday
last. It has not yet been printed, but will be immediately. I
shall transmit a copy to you by the first opportunity. The
little time I have been here makes it impossible for me to enter
into a particular delineation of it. It will probably create
great perplexity and complaints in many private transactions.
Congress have recommended to the States to repeal their
tender laws, and to take measures for preventing injustice as
much as possible. It is probable that in the case of loans to
the public, the state of depreciation at the time they were made
will be the rule of payment; but nothing is yet decided on that
point.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, October 3, 1780.
DEAR SIR, — I had the pleasure of receiving yours of the 25th
ult. yesterday, and am sorry it is not yet in my power to grat-
LETTERS. 35
ify your hopes with any prospect of a successful issue to this
campaign. The reports of the approach or arrival of a French
fleet continue to be circulated, and to prove groundless. If any
foreign operations are undertaken on the continent, it will
probably be against the Floridas by the Spaniards. A Spanish
gentleman, who resides in this city, has received information
from the Governor of Cuba that an armament would pass from
the Havannah to Pensacola towards the end of last month, and
that ten or twelve ships of the line, and as many thousand troops,
would soon be in readiness for an expedition against St. Augus
tine. It would be much more for the credit of that nation, as
well as for the common good, if instead of wasting their time
and resources in these separate and unimportant enterprises,
they would join heartily with the French in attacking the
enemy, where success would produce the desired effect.
The enclosed papers contain all the particulars which have
been received concerning the apostacy and plot of Arnold. A
variety of his iniquitous jobs prior to this chef d'ceuvre of his
villainy, carried on under cover of his military authority, have
been detected among his papers, and involve a number of per
sons both within and without the enemy's lines. The embark
ation lately going on at New York, and given out to be
destined for Virginia or Rhode Island, was pretty certainly a
part of the plot against West Point; although the first repre
sentation of it has not yet been officially contradicted.
With sincere regard, I am, Dr sir, your obt and humble serv
ant.
TO THE HONBLE EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, October 10, 1780.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 1st instant came safe to hand
yesterday. The enclosed was sent to Mr. Pendleton, who is
still in town.
36 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780.
All we know of the several fleets in the American seas, is
that Rodney with a few ships is at New York, the remainder
having joined Graves and Arbutlmot, whom we know nothing
about. Ternay is still at Rhode Island. The main French
fleet under Guichen left the West Indies about the time first
mentioned, with a large fleet of merchantmen under its convoy,
and has not since been heard of. The residue of the French
fleet is in the West Indies, but we do not hear of their being
any way employed. It is said an English expedition is prepar
ing at Jamaica against some of the Spanish settlements. The
Spanish expeditions against the Floridas I believe I mentioned
in my last.
We have private accounts, through a channel which has sel
dom deceived, that a very large embarkation is still going on
at New York. I hope Virginia will not be surprised, in case
she should be the meditated victim.
Andre was hung as a spy on the 2d instant. Clinton made
a frivolous attempt to save him by pleading the passport granted
by Arnold. He submitted to his fate in a manner that showed
him to be worthy of a better one. His coadjutor, Smith, will
soon follow him. The hero of the plot, although he may for the
present escape an ignominious death, must lead an ignominious
life, which, if any of his feelings remain, will be a sorer punish
ment. It is said that he is to be made a Brigadier, and em
ployed in some predatory expedition against the Spaniards, in
which he may gratify his thirst for gold. It is said with more
probability, that his baseness is universally despised by those
who have taken advantage of it, and that some degree of resent
ment is mixed with their contempt, on account of the loss of
their darling officer, to which he was accessory.
With sincere regard, I am, dear sir, your obedient, humble
servant.
1780. LETTERS. 37
TO HON. EDMUND PENDLETON, CAROLINE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
PHILADELPHIA, November 14, 1780.
DR SIR, — Your favor of the 6th instant came to hand yester
day. Mr. Griffin, by whom you appear also to have written,
has not yet arrived.
1 c gives me great pleasure to find that the enemy's numbers
are so much less formidable than was at first computed; but
the information from New York makes it not improbable that
the blank in the computation may shortly be filled up. General
Washington wrote to Congress on the 4th instant that another
embarkation was going on at that place, and in another letter
of the 7th he says that, although he had received no further
intelligence on the subject, he had reason still to believe that
such a measure was in contemplation. Neither the amount nor
the object of it, however, had been ascertained.
The inroads of the enemy on the frontier of New York have
been distressing and wasteful almost beyond their own example.
They have totally laid in ashes a fine settlement called Schoharie,
which was capable, General Washington says, of yielding no
less" than 80,000 bushels of grain for public consumption. Such
a loss is inestimable, and is the more to be regretted because
both local circumstances and the energy of that Government
left little doubt that it would have been applied to public use.
I fancy the taking of Quebec was a mere invention. Your
letter gave me the first account of such a report. A different
report concerning the second division of the French fleet has
sprung up, as you will see by the enclosed paper. It is believed
here by many, and some attention given to it by all. It is also
said that Rodney has sailed from New York with twenty ships
for Europe. If he has sailed at all, and the first report be true
also, it is more likely that he has gone out to meet the French.
The late exchange has liberated about one hundred and forty
officers and all our privates at New York, amounting to four
hundred and seventy-six. General Washington has acceded
to a proposal of a further exchange of the convention officers
38 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780.
without attaching any privates to them, which will liberate
almost the whole residue of our officers at that place.
I am, sir, with the highest esteem and regard, your obt friend
and servt.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, November 21, 1780.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 13th came safe yesterday.
The past week has brought forth very little of consequence,
except the disagreeable and, I fear, certain information of the
arrival of the Cape fleet. Our last account of the embarkation
at New York was that the ships had fallen down to the Hook,
that the number of troops was quite unknown, as well as their
destination, except that in general it was southwardly. It is
still said that Philips is to command this detachment. If the
projected junction between Leslie and Cornwallis had not been
so opportunely frustrated by the gallant volunteers at King's
Mountain, it is probable that Philips would have reinforced the
former, as the great force in his rear would otherwise have
rendered every advance hazardous.
At present, it seems more likely that the declining state of
their Southern affairs will call their attention to that quarter.
They can, it is well known, regain at any time their present
footing in Virginia, if it should be thought expedient to aban
don it, or to collect in their forces to a defensible point; but
every retrograde step they take towards Charlestown proves
fatal to their general plan. Mr. J. Adams, in a letter of the
23d of August, from Amsterdam, received yesterday, says that
General Prevost had sailed from England with a few frigates
for Cape Fear, in order to facilitate the operations of their arms
in North Carolina, and that the Ministry were determined to
make the Southern States the scene of a very active winter
campaign. No intimation is given by Mr. Adams of the num
ber of troops under General Prevost. The second division of
1780. LETTERS. 39
the French fleet mentioned in my last to have been off Ber
mudas has not yet made its appearance. It is now either [?]
supposed to have been a British one.
The death of General Woodford is announced in a New
York paper of the 17th. I have not seen the paper, but am
told that no particulars are mentioned. I suppose it will reach
his friends before this will be received, through some other
channel.
Adieu.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, December 5, 1780.
DEAR SIR, — I have your favor of the 27th ult., and con
gratulate you on the deliverance of our country from the dis
tresses of actual invasion. The spirit it has shewn on this
occasion will, I hope, in some degree protect it from a second
visit.
.Congress yesterday received letters from Mr. Jay and Mr.
Carmichael, as late as the 4th and 9th of September. The
general tenor of them is that we are not to rely on much aid in
the article of cash from Spain, her finances and credit being
scarcely adequate to her own necessities, and that the British
emissaries are indefatigable in misrepresenting our affairs in
that kingdom, and in endeavoring to detach it from the war.
The character, however, of the Catholic King for steadiness and
probity, and the entire confidence of our allies in him, forbid
any distrust on our part. Portugal, on the pressing remon
strances of France and Spain, has at length agreed to shut her
ports against English prizes, but still refuses to accede to the
armed neutrality. Mr. Adams writes that the news of the fate
of the Quebec and Jamaica fleets arrived at London nearly
about the same time, and had a very serious effect on all ranks,
as well as on stocks and insurance.
Our information from the West Indies gives a melancholy
40 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780t
picture of the effects of the late tempest. Martinique has suf
fered very considerably, both in shipping and people. Not less
than six hundred houses have been destroyed in St. Vincent's.
The Spaniards in Cuba, also, have not escaped, and it is reported
that the fleet on its way from the Havannah to Pensacola has
been so disabled and dispersed as to defeat the expedition for the
present. On the other side, our enemies have suffered severely.
The Ajax, a ship of the line, and two frigates stationed off St.
Lucie, to intercept the Martinique trade, are certainly lost, with
the greatest part, if not the whole, of their crews; and there is
great reason to believe that several other capital ships that
have not been since heard of have shared the like fate. The
island of St. Lucie is totally defaced. In Barbadoes, also,
scarce a house remains entire, and one thousand live hundred
persons at least have perished. One of the largest towns in
Jamaica has been totally swept away, and the island otherwise
much damaged. The consequences of this calamity must afford
a striking proof to Great Britain of her folly in shutting our
ports against her West India commerce, and transferring the
advantage of our friendship to her enemies.
I am, Dr sir, yours sincerely.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, December, 1780.
DEAR SIR, — I had the pleasure of yours of the 2d instant
yesterday. We have not heard a word of the fleet which lately
left the Chesapeake. There is little doubt that the whole of it
has gone to the southward.
Our intelligence from Europe confirms the accession of Por
tugal to the neutral league, so far at least as to exclude the
English from the privileges which their vessels of war have
hitherto enjoyed in her ports. The Ariel, commanded by P.
Jones, which had on board the clothing, &c., which has been
long expected from France, was dismasted a few days after she
1781. LETTERS. 41
sailed, and obliged to return into port; an event which must
prolong the sufferings which our army has been exposed to from
the delay of this supply.
Mr. Sartine, the Minister of the French Marine, has been
lately removed from the administration of that department.
His successor is the Marquis de Castries, who is held out to us
as a man of greater activity, and from whom we may hope for
more effectual co-operation.
An Irish paper informs us that Mr. Laurens was committed
to the Tower on the 6th of October, by the three Secretaries of
State, on suspicion of high treason. As the warrant, with the
names of the Secretaries subscribed, (with some other particu
lars,) is inserted, no hope remains of the fact being a forgery.
With very sincere regard, I am, Dr sir, your obt sert.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, January 23, 1781.
DEAR SIR, — i have nothing new this week for you but two
reports ; the first is, that very great discontents prevail in New
York among the German troops, for causes pretty similar to
those which produced the eruption in the Pennsylvania line. It
is further said on this head, that a body of two hundred have
deserted from Long Island and gone to Rhode Island. The
other report is, that the British minister either has or proposes
to carry a bill into Parliament authorizing the commanding
officer in America to permit and promote a trade with us in
British goods of every kind, except linens and woollens. This
change of system is said to be the advice of some notable
refugees, with a view to revive an intercourse as far as possible
between the two countries, and particularly to check the habit
that is taking place in the consumption of French manufactures.
Whatever their public views may be, it is certain that such a
plan would open fine prospects to them in a private view.
We have received no fresh or certain information of the
42 WORKS OF MADISON. 1781
designs of F. and Spain in assembling so great a force at Ca
diz. There does not appear to be any object in that quarter
except Gibraltar. Should the attempts be renewed against
that place, it will prove that the former has not that absolute
sway, in the cabinet of the latter which has been generally
imagined. Nothing would have prevailed on the French to
recall their fleet from the islands at the time they did, but the
necessity of humoring Spain on the subject of her hobby-horse.
I am glad to hear that Arnold has been at last fired at. It
sounded a little unfavorably for us in the ears of people here
that he was likely to get off without that proof of a hostile
reception. If he ventures an irruption in any other quarter, I
hope he will be made sensible that his impunity on James river
was owing to the suddenness of his appearance, and not to the
want of spirit in the people.
I am, Dr sir, yours sincerely.
TO HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Febry, 1781.
DR Sm, — I have your favor of the 5th instant by the post.
Col. Harrison arrived here yesterday, and as he mentions no
circumstance which indicated an intended departure of the ene
my, I am afraid your intelligence on that subject was not well
founded. Immediately on the receipt of your former letter, re
lating to an exchange of C. Taylor, I applied to the Admiralty
Department, and if such a step can be brought about with
propriety, I hope he will be gratified; but considering the
tenor of their treatment of naval prisoners, and the resolutions
with which it has inspired Congress, I do not think it probable
that exchanges will go on easily; and if this were less the case,
a mere passenger, under the indulgence, too, of a parole, can
scarcely hope to be preferred to such as are suffering the utmost
hardships, and even made prisoners in public service.
A vessel arrived here a few days ago from Cadiz, which
1781. LETTERS. 43
brings letters of as late date as the last of December. Those
that are official tell us that England is making the most strenu
ous exertions for the current year, and that she is likely to be
but too successful in the great article of money. The Parlia
ment have voted 32,000 seamen; and a considerable land rein
forcement for their southern army in America is also said to be
in preparation.
Private letters by the same conveyance mention that the
blockade of Gibraltar is going on with alacrity, and that the
garrison is in such distress as flatters the hope of a speedy
capitulation.
If Mr. Pendleton, your nephew, is still with you, be pleased
to return him my compliments.
With great respect, I am, Dr sir, your obedient servant.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
(Extract.)
PHILADELPHIA, May 1, 1781.
DEAR SIR, — A letter which I received a few days ago from
Mr. Jefferson gives me a hope that he will lend his succor in
defending the title of Virginia. He professes ignorance of the
ground on which the report of the committee places the contro
versy. I have exhorted him not to drop his purpose, and
referred him to you as a source of copious information on the
subject. I wish much you and he could unite your ideas on it.
Since you left us I have picked up several pamphlets which had
escaped our researches. Among them are the examination of
the Connecticut claim, and the charter of Georgia, bound up
with that of Maryland and four others. Presuming that a
better use will be made of them, I will send them by Mr. Jones,
requesting, however, that they may be returned by the hands of
him, Doctor Lee, or yourself, as the case may be.
44 WORKS OF MADISON. 1781<
TO PHILIP MAZZEI.
PHILADELPHIA, July 7, 1781.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — I have received two copies of your favor
of the 7th of December last, and three of that of the 30th of
November preceding. Having neglected to bring with me from
Virginia the cypher concerted between you and the Executive,
I still remain ignorant of the paragraph in your last which I
suppose the best worth knowing.
The state of our affairs has undergone so many vicissitudes
since you embarked for Europe, and I can so little judge how
far you may have had intelligence of them, that I am at a loss
where I ought to begin my narrative. As the present posture
of them is the most interesting, I shall aim at nothing further
at present than to give you some idea of that, referring to past
events so far only as may be necessary to explain it.
The insuperable difficulties which opposed a general conquest
of America seemed as early as the year 1779 to have been felt
by the enemy, and to have led them into the scheme of directing
their operations and views against the Southern States only.
Clinton accordingly removed with the principal part of his
force from New York to South Carolina, and laid siege to
Charleston, which, after an honorable resistance, was compelled
to surrender to a superiority of force. Our loss in men, besides
the inhabitants of the town, was not less than two thousand.
Clinton returned to New York. Cornwallis was left witli
about five thousand troops to pursue his conquests. General
Gates was appointed to the command of the Southern depart
ment, in place of Lincoln, who commanded in Charleston at the
time of its capitulation. He met Cornwallis on the 16th of
August, 1780, near Camden, in the upper part of South Caro
lina and on the border of North Carolina. A general action
ensued, in which the American troops were defeated with con
siderable loss, though not without making the enemy pay a
good price for their victory. Cornwallis continued his progress
into North Carolina, but afterwards retreated to Camden.
The defeat of Gates was followed by so general a clamor
1781. LETTERS. 45
against him, that it was judged expedient to recall him. Greene
was sent to succeed in the command. About the time of his
arrival at the army, Cornwallis, having been reinforced from
New York, resumed his enterprise into North Carolina. A.
detachment of his best troops was totally defeated by Morgan
with an inferior number, and consisting of a major part of mil
itia detached from Greene's army. Five hundred were made
prisoners, between two and three hundred killed and wounded,
and about the like number escaped. This disaster, instead of
checking the ardor of Cornwallis, afforded a new incentive to a
rapid advance, in the hope of recovering his prisoners. The
vigilance and activity, however, of Morgan, secured them.
Cornwallis continued his pursuit as far as the Dan river, which
divides North Carolina' from Virginia. Greene, whose inferior
force obliged him to recede this far before the enemy, received
such succors of militia on his entering Virginia that the chase
was reversed. Cornwallis, in his turn, retreated precipitately.
Greene overtook him on his way to Wilmington, and attacked
him. Although the ground was lost on our side, the British
army was so much weakened by the loss of five or six hundred
of their best troops, that their retreat towards Wilmington
suffered little interruption. Greene pursued as long as any
chance of reaching his prey remained, and then, leaving Corn
wallis on his left, took an oblique direction towards Camden,
which, with all the other posts in South Carolina except
Charleston and Ninety-Six, have, in consequence, fallen again
into our possession. His army lay before the latter when we
last heard from him. It contained seven or eight hundred men
and large quantities of stores. It is nearly two hundred miles
from Charleston, and, without some untoward accident, cannot
fail of being taken. Greene has detachments all over South
Carolina, some of them within a little distance of Charleston;
and the resentments of the people against their late insolent
masters ensure him all the aids they can give in re-establishing
the American Government there. Great progress is also ma
king in the redemption of Georgia.
As soon as Cornwallis had refreshed his troops at Wilming-
4(5 WORKS OF MADISON. 1781.
ton, abandoning his Southern conquests to their fate, he pushed
forward into Virginia. The parricide Arnold had a detach
ment at Portsmouth when he lay on the Dan; Philips had rein
forced him so powerfully from New York, that the junction of
the two armies at Petersburg could not be prevented. The
whole force amounted to about six thousand men. The force
under the Marquis De La Fayette, who commanded in Virginia,
being greatly inferior, did not oppose them, but retreated into
Orange and Culpeper in order to meet General Wayne, who
was on his way from Pennsylvania to join him. Cornwallis
advanced northward as far as Chesterfield, in the county of
Caroline, having parties at the same time at Page's warehouse
and other places in its vicinity. A party of horse, commanded
by Tarleton, was sent with all the secrecy and celerity possible
to surprise and take the General Assembly and Executive who
had retreated from Richmond to Charlottesville. The vigilance
of a young gentleman who discovered the design and rode ex
press to Charlottesville prevented a complete surprise. As it
was, several Delegates were caught, and the rest were within
an hour of sharing the same fate. Among the captives was
Colonel Lyon of Hanover. Mr. Kinlock, a member of Con
gress from South Carolina, was also caught at Mr. John
Walker's, whose daughter he had married some time before.
Governor Jefferson had a very narrow escape. The members
of the Government rendezvoused at Stanton, where they soon
made a House. Mr. Jefferson's year having expired, he declined
a re-election, and General Nelson has taken his place. Tarle-
ton's party retreated with as much celerity as it had advanced.
On the junction of Wayne with the Marquis and the arrival of
militia, the latter faced about and advanced rapidly on Corn
wallis, who retreated to Richmond, and thence precipitately to
Williamsburg, where he lay on the 27th ultimo. The Marquis
pursued, and was at the same time within twenty miles of that
place. One of his advanced parties had had a successful skir
mish within six miles of Williamsburg. Bellini has, I under
stand, abided patiently in the college the dangers and incon
veniences of such a situation. I do not hear that the consequences
1781. LETTERS. 47
have condemned the experiment. Such is the present state of
the war in the Southern Department. In the Northern, the
operations have been for a considerable time in a manner sus
pended. At present, a vigorous siege of New York by General
Washington's army, aided by five or six thousand French troops
under Count De Rochambeau, is in contemplation, and will soon
commence. As the English have the command of the water,
the result of such an enterprise must be very uncertain. It is
supposed, however, that it will certainly oblige the enemy to
withdraw their force from the Southern States, which may be a
more convenient mode of relieving them than by marching the
troops from New York at this season of the year to the south
ward. On the whole, the probable conclusion of this campaign
is, at this juncture, very flattering, the enemy being on the
defensive in every quarter.
The vicissitudes which our finances have undergone are as
great as those of the war, the depreciation of the old conti
nental bills having arrived at forty, fifty, and sixty for one.
Congress, on the 18th of March, 1780, resolved to displace
them entirely from circulation, and substitute another currency,
to be issued on better funds, and redeemable at a shorter period.
For this purpose, they fixed the relative value of paper and
specie at forty for one; directed the States to sink by taxes the
whole two hundred millions in one year, and to provide proper
funds for sinking in six years a new currency which was not
to exceed ten millions of dollars, which was redeemable within
that period, and to bear an interest of five per cent., payable in
bills of exchange on Europe or hard money. The loan-office
certificates granted by Congress are to be discharged at the
value of the money at the time of the loan; a scale of depre
ciation being fixed by Congress for that purpose. This scheme
has not yet been carried into full execution. The old bills are
still unredeemed, in part, in some of the States, where they have
depreciated to two, three, and four hundred for one. The new
bills, which were to be issued only as the old ones were taken
in, are consequently in a great degree still unissued; and the
depreciation which they have already suffered has determined
48 WORKS OF MADISON. 178L
Congress and the States to issue as few more of them as possi
ble. We seem to have pursued our paper projects as far as
prudence will warrant. Our medium in future will be princi
pally specie. The States are already levying taxes in it. As
the paper disappears, the hard money comes forward into circu
lation. This revolution will also be greatly facilitated by the
influx of Spanish dollars from the Havannah, where the Spanish
/orces employed against the Floridas * consume immense quan
tities of our flour, and remit their dollars in payment. We
also receive considerable assistance from the direct aids of our
ally, and from the money expended among us by his auxiliary
troops. These advantages, as they have been and are likely to
be improved by the skill of Mr. Robert Morris, whom we have
constituted minister of our finances, afford a more flattering
prospect in this department of our affairs than has existed at
any period of the war.
The great advantage the enemy have over us lies in the
superiority of their navy, which enables them continually to
shift the war into defenceless places, and to weary out our
troops by long marches. The squadron sent by our ally to our
support did not arrive till a reinforcement on the part of the
enemy had counteracted their views. They have been almost
constantly blocked up at Rhode Island by the British fleet.
The effects of a hurricane in the last spring on the latter gave
a temporary advantage to the former, but circumstances delayed
the improvement of it till the critical season was past. Mr.
Destouches, who commanded the French fleet, nevertheless
hazarded an expedition into Chesapeake bay. The object of it
was to co-operate with the Marquis de la Fayette in an attack
against Arnold, who lay at Portsmouth with about fifteen hun
dred British troops. Had he got into the bay, and taken a
favorable station, the event would certainly have been adequate
to our hopes. Unfortunately, the British fleet, which followed
the French immediately from Rhode Island, reached the capes
of Virginia first. On the arrival of the latter, a regular and
* They have lately taken West Florida with a garrison of 1,500 troops.
1781. LETTERS. 49
fair combat took place. It lasted for several hours, and ended
rather in favor of our allies. As the enemy, however, were
nearest the capes, and one of the French ships had lost hei
rudder, and was otherwise much damaged, the commander
thought it best to relinquish his object, and return to his former
station. The damage sustained by the enemy, according to
their own representation, exceeded that of the French; and as
their number of ships and weight of metal were both superior,
it does great honor to the gallantry and good conduct of Mr.
Destouches. Congress, and indeed the public at large, were so
sensible of this, that their particular thanks were given him on
the occasion.
No description can give you an adequate idea of the barbarity
with which the enemy have conducted the war in the Southern
States. Every outrage which humanity could suffer has been
committed by them. Desolation rather than conquest seems to
have been their object. They have acted more like desperate
bands of robbers or buccaneers than like a nation making war
for dominion. Negroes, horses, tobacco, <fcc., not the standards
and arms of their antagonists, are the trophies which display
their success. Eapes, murders, and the whole catalogue of
individual cruelties, not protection and the distribution of
justice, are the acts which characterize the sphere of their
usurped jurisdiction. The advantage we derive from such pro
ceedings would, if it were purchased on other terms than the
distresses of our citizens, fully compensate for the injury accru
ing to the public. They are a daily lesson to the people of the
United States of the necessity of perseverance in the contest;
and wherever the pressure of their local tyranny is removed,
the subjects of it rise up as one man to avenge their wrongs
and prevent a repetition of them. Those who have possessed
a latent partiality for them, as their resentment is embittered
by their disappointment, generally feel most sensibly their
injuries and insults, and are the foremost in retaliating them.
It is much to be regretted that these things are so little known
in Europe. Were they published to the world in their true
colors, the British nation would be hated by all nations as much
VOL. i. 4
50 WORKS OF MADISON. i7S1.
as they have heretofore been feared by any, and all nations
would be sensible of the policy of abridging a power which
nothing else can prevent the abuse of.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, August 1, 1781.
We have heard little of late from Europe, except that the
mediation proffered by Russia in the dispute between England
and Holland has been referred by the former to the general
pacification, in which the mediation of the Emperor will be
joined with that of Russia. As this step is not very respectful
to Russia, it can only proceed from a distrust of her friendship,
and the hopes entertained by Britain as to the issue of the cam
paign, which, as you will see in an intercepted letter from Ger-
maine to Clinton, were extravagantly sanguine. We have no
late intelligence from the West Indies. General Washington
is going on with his preparations and operations against New
York. What the result will be can be decided by time alone.
We hope they will at least withdraw some of the invaders from
Virginia. The French fleet is still at Rhode Island. The
British, it is reported, has lately left the Hook.
August 2. — Information has been received from New York,
through a channel which is thought a good one, that orders are
gone to Virginia for a large part of the troops under Corn-
wallis immediately to sail for that place. Should this be well
founded, the execution of the orders will announce it to you.
Among other advantages attending an evacuation of Virginia,
it will not be the least that the communication with this place
by the bay will supply the State with many necessary articles
which are now transported by land at so much expense, and
will enable you to pay for them easier by raising the price of
your commodities. It gives me pain to hear that so many of
the people have incautiously sold, or rather given away, their
tobacco to speculators, when it was in no danger from the
enemy. The destruction of that article, which alarmed them,
1781. LETTERS. 51
was an obvious cause of its future rise, and a reason for their
retaining it till the alarm should be over. Goods of all kinds,
particularly dry goods, are rising here already. Salt, in par
ticular, has risen within a few days from two dollars to a guinea
per bushel.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILA, September 18, 1781.
DEAR Sm, — I was yesterday favored with yours of the 10th
instant. The various reports arrived of late from the Chesa
peake prepared us for a confirmation from our correspondents
of a fortunate rencontre between the two fleets. A continua
tion of these reports, although unsupported by any authentic
evidence, still keeps up the public anxiety. We have not heard
a word of De Banes. The arrival of Digby is far from being
certain, and the circulating reports have reduced his force to
six ships of the line. The preparations at New York for some
movement are pretty well attested. The conjectures of many
are directing it against this city, as the most practicable and
important object within the reach of Clinton. The successful
blow struck by the parricide Arnold against the town of New
London is described, as far as the particulars are known here,
in the enclosed Gazette. There have been several arrivals of
late from Europe with very little intelligence of any kind, and
with none from official sources. It all relates to the junction
of the French and Spanish fleets, for the purpose of renewing
the investiture of Gibraltar, and enterprising something against
Minorca. Thus the selfish projects of Spain not only withhold
from us the co-operation of their armaments, but divert in part
that of our allies; and yet we are to reward her with a cession
of what constitutes the value of the finest part of America.
General Washington and the Count de Rochambeau, with
the forces under them, have, I presume, by this time, got within
Virginia. This revolution in our military plan cannot fail to
produce great advantages to the Southern department, and par-
52 WORKS OF MADISON. 1781.
ticularly to Virginia, even if the immediate object of it should
be unexpectedly frustrated. The presence of the Commander-
in-chief, with the proportion of our force which will always
attend him, will better protect the country against the depreda
tions of the enemy, although he should be followed by troops
from New York which would otherwise remain there, than it
has hitherto been; will leave the militia more at leisure to pur
sue their occupations, at the same time that the demands of the
armies will afford a sure market for the surplus provisions of
the country; will diffuse among them a share of the gold and
silver of our ally, and, I may now say, of our own, of which
their Northern brethren have hitherto had a monopoly, which
will be peculiarly grateful to them after having been so long
gorged with depreciating paper; and as we may suppose that
the ships of our ally allotted for our service will, so long as his
troops remain in the United States, be kept in the Chesapeake,
it will revive the trade through that channel, reduce the price
of imported necessaries, and raise the staple of the country once
more to its proper value.
I am, Dr Sir, your sincere friend, and obt servt.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILA, October 2, 1781.
DEAE SIR, — Yours of 24th ultimo came safe by yesterday's
post. In addition to the paper of this day, I enclose you two
of the preceding week, in one of which you will find a very
entertaining and interesting speech of Mr. Fox, and in the other,
a handsome forensic discussion of a case important in itself,
and which has some relation to the State of Virginia.
Our intelligence from N. York through several channels con
firms the sufferings of the British fleet from their rash visit to
the capes of the Chesapeake. The troops which were kept in
transports to await that event have, since the return of the
fleet, been put on shore on Staten Island. This circumstance
1781. LETTERS. 53
has been construed into a preliminary to an expedition to this
city, which had revived, till within a few days, the preparations
for a militia opposition, but is better explained by the raging
of a malignant fever in the city of N. York. Digby, we hear,
is now certainly arrived, but with three ships of the line only.
It is given out that three men with a large number of transports
came with him, and that they only lay back till it was known
whether they could proceed to N. Y. with safety. This is not
improbably suspected to be a trick to palliate the disappoint
ment and to buoy up the sinking hopes of their adherents, the
most staunch of whom give up Lord Cornwallis as irretrieva
bly lost.
We have received some communications from Europe relative
to the general state of its affairs. They all centre in three
important points. The first is the obstinacy of Great Britain;
the second, the fidelity of our ally; and the third, the absolute
necessity of vigorous and systematic preparations for war on
our part, in order to insure a speedy, as well as favorable
peace. The wisdom of the Legislature of Virginia will, I flatter
myself, not only prevent an illusion from the present brilliant
prospects, but take advantage of the military ardor and san
guine hopes of the people to recruit their line for the war. The
introduction of specie will also, I hope, be made subservient to
some salutary operations in their finances. Another great
object, which, in my opinion, claims an immediate attention
from them, is some liberal provision for extending the benefits
of government to the distant parts of the State. I am not able
to see why this cannot be done so as fully to satisfy the exigen
cies of the people, and at the same time preserve the idea of
unity in the State. Any plan which divides in any manner the
sovereignty may be dangerous, and precipitate an evil which
ought, and may at least, be long procrastinated. The adminis
tration of justice, which is the capital branch, may certainly be
diffused sufficiently, and kept in due subordination in every part
to one supreme tribunal. Separate boards for crediting [audit
ing?] accounts may also be admitted with safety and propriety.
The same as to a separate depository for the taxes, &c., and as
54 WORKS OF MADISON. 1781,
to a land office. The military powers of the Executive may well
be intrusted to militia officers of rank, as far as the defence of
the country and the custody of military stores make it neces
sary. A complete organization of the militia, in which general
officers would be erected, would greatly facilitate this part of the
plan. Such an one, with a council of field officers, might exer
cise, without encroaching on the constitutional powers of the
supreme Executive, all the powers over the militia which any
emergency could demand.
I am, Dr Sir, yours sincerely.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILA? Oct. 9. 1781.
DEAR SIR, — Having sent you the arguments on one side of
the judiciary question relating to the property of Virginia
seized by Mr. Nathan, it is but reasonable that you should see
what was contended on the other side. With this view, although
I in some measure usurp the task of Mr. Jones, I enclose the
paper of Wednesday last. As it may escape Mr. Jones, I also
enclose a copy of Mr. Adams's memorial to the States general.
I wish I could have informed you of its being lodged in the
archives of their High Mightinesses instead of presenting it to
you in print.
I am, Dr Sir, ys affectionately.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
(In answer to Mr. P's, Sth Oct.)
PHILA, Oct. 16thf 1781.
DEAR SIR, — When you get a sight of the resolution of the
General Assembly, referred to in your favor of the 8th, you
will readily judge from the tenor of it what steps would be
taken by the Delegates. It necessarily submitted the fate of
1781. LETTERS. 55
the object in question to the discretion and prospects of the
gentleman whom reports, it seems, have arraigned to you, but
who, I am bound in justice to testify, has entirely supported the
character which he formerly held with you.* I am somewhat
surprised that you never had before known of the Resolution
just mentioned, especially as, what is indeed much more sur
prising, it was both debated and passed with open doors and a
full gallery. This circumstance alone must have defeated any
reservations attached to it.
The N. York papers and the intelligence from thence make it
evident that they have no hope of relieving Cornwallis, unless
it can be effected by some desperate naval experiment, and that
such an one will be made. Their force will probably amount
to twenty-six sail of the line, and if we are not misinformed as
to the late arrival of three ships of the line, to twenty-nine sail.
The superiority still remaining on the part of our allies, and the
repeated proofs given of their skill and bravery on the water,
forbid any apprehension of danger. At the same time, we can
not help calculating that every addition to the British force
proportionally diminishes the certainty of success. A fleet of
provisions amounting to about sail, convoyed by a
forty-four and two frigates, have arrived at N. Y. within the
week past.
Having sent all the papers containing the proceedings on the
case of Mr. N. against Virga, as they came out, I shall, to com
plete your view of it, add the last effort in his favor published
in the enclosed No. of the Freeman's Journal. I am told, how
ever, that the publisher ought to have subjoined that the Privy
Council interposed, and directed restitution of the King of
Spain's effects.
I am, Dr Sir, yrs affly.
* Mr. Jay, Minister to Spain.
WORKS OF MADISON. 1781.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILA, Nov. 27th, 1781.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 19th inst. came to hand yes
terday. On the same evening arrived our illustrious general,
returning to his position on the North river. We shall prob
ably, however, have his company here for some days at least,
where he will be able to give Congress very seasonable aid in
settling the military establishment for the next year, about
which there is some diversity of opinion. Whatever the total
requisition of men may be on the States, I cannot but wish that
Virginia may take effectual measures for bringing into the field
her proportion of men. One reason for this wish is the calum
nies which her enemies ground on her present deficiency ; but
the principal one is the influence that such an exertion may
have in preventing insults and aggressions, from whatever
quarter they may be meditated, by shewing that we are able to
defy them.
The Delegates have lately transmitted to the Governor, for
the Assembly, all the proceedings which have taken place on
the subject of the Territorial cessions. The tenor of them, and
the reception given them by the Assembly, will, I doubt not, be
communicated to you by some of your correspondents in it.
There is pretty good reason to believe that a descent on
Minorca has actually taken place. It is a little problematical
with me whether successes against Great Britain in any other
(juarter except America tend much to hasten a peace. If they
increase her general distress, they at the same time increase
those demands against her which are likely to impede negotia
tions, and her hopes from the sympathy of other powers. They
are favorable to us, however, in making it more the interest of
all the belligerent powers to reject the uti possidetis as the
basis of a pacification.
The report of Rodney's capture never deserved the attention,
it seems, which was given to it.
I am, Dr Sir, yrs sincerely.
1781. LETTEES. 57
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHIL., Dec. llth, 1781.
DR SIR, — I am favored with yours of the 3d instant. Other
letters by the same conveyance confirm your report of the elec
tion of Mr. Harrison to the chief magistracy. Several other
appointments are mentioned which I make no doubt are all
well known to you.
On whichever side Mr. Deane's letters are viewed, they pre
sent mysteries. Whether they be supposed genuine or spurious,
or a mixture of both, difficulties which cannot well be answered
may be started. There are, however, passages in some of them
which can scarcely be imputed to any other hand. But it is
unnecessary to rely on these publications for the real character
of the man. There is evidence of his obliquity which has for a
considerable time been conclusive.
Congress have not resumed their proceedings on the Western
business. They have agreed on a requisition on the States for
8,000,000 of dollars, and a completion of their lines according
to the last establishment of the army. We endeavored, though
with very little effect, to obtain deductions in the first article
from the quota of Virginia, but we did not oppose the aggregate
of the demand in either. If we do not obtain a sufficiency of
men and money from the States by regular and duly-appointed
calls, we know by experience that the burden of the war will
fall on the resources of the States which happen to be the sub
ject of it.
Mr. Moore, late Vice President, has been elected President of
this State in place of Mr. Reed, whose period of eligibility was
out.
I am, dr sir, yours.
58 WORKS OF MADISON.
TO THE HON. EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILA, Dec. 25th, 1781.
DEAR SIR, — You only do me justice in ascribing your dis
appointment in the part of the week preceding your favor of
the 16th instant to some other cause than my neglect. If I
were less disposed to punctuality, your example would preserve
me from transgressing it. As the last letter went to the post-
office here, and you did not receive it from the post in Virginia,
the delinquency must have happened in that line. It is, how
ever, I believe, of little consequence, as I do not recollect that
anything material has been contained in my letters for several
weeks, any more than there will be in this, in which I have
little else to say than to tender you the compliments of the day.
Perhaps, indeed, it will be new to you what appeared here in a
paper several days ago, that the success of Commodore John-
stone in taking five Dutch East Indiamen, homeward bound,
and destroying a sixth, is confirmed. Whatever may be thought
of this stroke of fortune by him and his rapacious crew, the
Ministry will hardly think it a compensation to the public for
the danger to which the remains of their possessions in the East
will be exposed by the failure of his expedition.
It gives me great pleasure to hear of the honorable acquittal
of Mr. Jefferson. I know his abilities, and I think I know his
fidelity and zeal for his country so well, that I am persuaded it
was a just one. We are impatient to know whether he will
undertake the new service to which he is called.
I am, Dr Sir, yrs affectionately.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
Feb. 12th, 1782.
HOND SIR,—
The disappointment in forwarding the money by Mr. Brown-
low has been sorely felt by me, and the more so as the Legisla-
1782. LETTERS. 59
ture has made no provision for the subsistence of the Delegates
that can be relied on. I hope some opportunity will soon put it
in your power to renew the attempt to transmit it, and that the
delay will have made considerable addition to it. Besides the
necessity of this supply for the common occasions, I have fre
quent opportunities here of purchasing many scarce and neces
sary books at a fourth of the price which, if to be had at all,
they will hereafter cost me. If an immediate conveyance does
not present itself for the cash, I would recommend that a bill
of exchange on some merchant here be got of Mr. Hunter, Mr.
Maury, or other respectable merchant, and forwarded by the
post. This is a safer method than the first, and I make no
doubt is very practicable. I wish, at all events, the trial to be
made, and that speedily.
I recollect nothing new which is not contained in some of the
late papers.
Present my affectionate regards to all the family. I have not
time to add more than that I am,
Your dutiful son.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, March 30th. 1782.
HOND SIR, — The newspapers will give you in general the in
telligence we have from Europe. As far as we are enabled to
judge of the views of the British Cabinet, the misfortunes of
one more campaign, at least, will be necessary to conquer their
obstinacy. They are attempting a separate peace with the
Dutch, and talk of suspending their offensive war against us,
and directing their whole resources against the naval power of
France and Spain. If this be their real plan, we may be sure
they do mean by it not to abandon their pretensions to the
United States, but try another mode for recovering them. Dur
ing their offensive exertions against our Ally, they can be prac
ticing insidious ones against us; and if in the first they should
60 WORKS OF MADISON. 1782.
be successful, and in the latter disappointed, a renewal of a
vigorous war upon us will certainly take place. The best
security against every artifice and every event will be such
military preparations on our part as will be sufficient either to
resist or expel them, as the case may require.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
PHILADELPHIA, May 20th, 1782.
HOND SIR, — Having written a letter and enclosed it with
a large collection of newspapers for you, which was to have
been carried by Mr. J. Smith, but which I have now put into
the hands of Captain Walker, whose return will be quicker,
little remains for me to add here.
Our anxiety on account of the West India news, published at
New York, is still supported by contradictory reports and con
jectures. The account, however, to which Rodney's name is
prefixed, renders our apprehensions too strong for our hopes.
Rivington has been very bold in several of his spurious publica
tions, and at this conjuncture might venture as far to serve a
particular turn as at any. But it is scarcely credible that he
would dare or be permitted to sport with so high an official
name.
If Mr. Jefferson will be so obliging as to superintend the
legal studies of William, I think he cannot do better than pro
secute the plan he has adopted. The interruption occasioned
by the election* of Mr. J., although inconvenient in that respect,
is by no means a decisive objection against it.
I did not know before that the letters which Mr. Walker was
to have carried last fall had met with the fate which it seems
they did. I shall be more cautious hereafter. The papers
missing in your list were, I presume, for I do not recollect, con
tained in them.
If Continental money passes here at all, it is in a very small
* Mr. Jefferson had just been elected to the Legislature of the State from the
county of Albemarle.
1783. LETTERS. Q\
quantity, at very great discount, and merely to serve particular
local and temporary ends.
It lias at no time been more difficult for me to fix my probable
return to Virginia. At present all my colleagues have left
Congress except Colonel Bland, and it is a crisis which calls
for a full representation from every State. Anxious as I am to
visit my friends, as long as I sustain a public trust I shall feel a
principle which is superior to it.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
Jan. 1st, 1783.
HoxDSm— * * * * * *
The negotiations for peace are said to be going on under the
late commission to Mr. Oswald, which authorizes him to treat
with commissioners from the thirteen United States. Mr. Jeffer
son will depart in a little time, in order to give his aid in case
it be in season. The insidiousness and instability of the British
Cabinet forbid us to be sanguine, especially as the relief of
Gibraltar was posterior to Oswald's commission, and the in
terests to be adjusted among the belligerent parties are ex
tremely complicated.
I am, with great affection, your dutiful son.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 12th, 1783.
HON'Sm— * * * * * *
I readily suppose, from the reports prevalent here, that some
information on the subject of peace will be expected, and I wish
it were in my power to gratify you. The truth is, we are in
nearly as great uncertainty here as you can be. Every day,
almost, brings forth some fresh rumor, but it is so mingled with
mercantile speculations that little faith is excited. The most
favorable evidence on the side of peace seems to be a material
62 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
fall in the price of imported goods; which, considering the
sagacity and good intelligence of merchants, is a circumstance
by no means to be despised. A little time will probably decide
in the case, when I shall follow this with something more satis
factory.
In the mean time, I remain your affectionate son.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON, ESQ.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. llth, 1783.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 31st of January was safely
brought by Mr. Thompson. That of the 7th instant came by
yesterday's mail. The anecdote related in the first was new to
me,* and if there were no other key, would sufficiently decipher
the implacability of the party triumphed over. In answer to
the second, I can only say at this time, that I feel deeply for
your situation,t that I approve of the choice you have made
among its difficulties, and that every aid which can depend on
me shall be exerted to relieve you from them. Before I can
take any step with propriety, however, it will be expedient to
feel the sentiments of Congress, and to advise with some of my
friends. The first point may possibly be brought about by your
letter to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which I suppose came
too late yesterday to be laid before Congress, but which will,
no doubt, be handed in this morning.
The time of Congress since you left us has been almost exclu
sively spent on projects for a valuation of the land, as the
federal articles require, and yet I do not find that we have got
an inch forward towards the object. The mode of referring
the task to the States, which had at first the warmest and most
numerous support, seems to be in a manner abandoned, and
* The anecdote referred to an occurrence between Dr. Franklin and Arthur
Lee.
f Untoward detention at Annapolis, whither Mr. Jefferson had gone to embark
for Europe as one of the commissioners to treat of peace.
1783. LETTERS. 63
nothing determinate is yet offered on the mode of effecting it
without their intervention. The greatest misfortune, perhaps,
attending the case is, that a plan of some kind is made an indis
pensable preliminary to any other essay for the public relief. I
much question whether a sufficient number of States will be
found in favor of any plan that can be devised, as I am sure
that in the present temper of Congress a sufficient number
cannot, who will agree to toll their constituents that the law
of the Confederation cannot be executed, and to propose an
amendment of it.
Congress yesterday received from Mr. Adams several letters
dated September, not remarkable for anything unless it be a
fresh display of his vanity, and prejudice against the French
court, and his venom against Doct. Franklin. Other prepara
tions for the post do not allow me to use more cypher at present.
I have a letter from Randolph dated February 1, confirming
the death of his aunt. You are acquainted, no doubt, with the
course the estate is to take. He seems disposed, in case he can
make a tolerable compromise with his father's creditors, to
resign his appointment under the State, and go into the Legis
lature. His zeal for some Continental arrangement as essential
for the public honor and safety forms at least one of his
motives, and I have added all the fuel to it in my power.
My neglect to write to you heretofore has proceeded from a
hope that a letter would not find you at Baltimore, and no sub
ject has occurred for one of sufficient importance to follow you.
You shall henceforward hear from me as often as an occasion
presents, until your departure forbids it.
The ladies and gentlemen to whom I communicated your
respects return them with equal sincerity, and the former, as
well as myself, very affectionately include Miss Patsy in the
object of them.
I am, dear sir, your sincere friend.
64 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
PHILADELPHIA, April 29th, 1783.
SIR, — I have been honored with your Excellency's favor of
the 22d instant, bearing testimony to the merits and talents of
Mr. McHenry. The character which I had preconceived of this
gentleman was precisely that which your representation has
confirmed. As Congress have not yet fixed the peace establish
ment for their foreign affairs, and will not probably fill up
vacancies, unless there be some critical urgency, until such an
establishment be made, it is uncertain when an opportunity will
present itself of taking into consideration the wishes and merits
of Mr. McHenry. Should my stay here be protracted till that
happens, which I do not at present expect, I shall feel an addi
tional pleasure in promoting the public interest from my knowl
edge that I at the same time fulfil both your Excellency's
public judgment and private inclination.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
PHTLA., May 27, 1783.
HONDSIR— * * * * *
I have hitherto not been inattentive to the request of Mrs.
J., and shall, in consequence of your letter, renew my efforts
for the books, which the return of peace renders more likely to
be attainable for her. I see few books in the catalogue which
you have sent which are worth purchasing, but I will peruse it
more carefully, and send you the titles of such as I may select.
I received a letter from Mr. Joseph Chew a few days ago, by
which, and the information of Colonel Wadsworth, who brought
it and is a friend of his, I find that he is in New York with his
family; that they are all well ; that he continues as yet to hold
a post which supports them comfortably; that although he has
enjoyed opportunities of honestly laying up profits, his gene
rosity of temper has prevented it. I cannot learn whether he
proposes to remain in this country or not, but am inclined to
1783. LETTERS. Co
think he will go to Canada, where he has some little expecta
tions. He seems to be exceedingly anxious to hear of his
friends in Virginia, and I have written as fully to him on the
subject as my knowledge would admit. I wish some of his
friends on the spot, and particularly yourself, would write to
him. Besides the information he would receive, it would be a
pleasing proof to him that he still retained a place in their
remembrance and regards.
We are without information of late as to the progress of the
definitive treaty, and of the bill in the British Parliament for
opening trade with the United States. The confusions pro
duced in their counsels by the long suspension of the Ministry
seem to put everything to a stand. The paper which I enclose
will give you the latest information on that subject.
Yr dutiful son.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
PIHLA., June 5, 1783.
HOND SIB, — By the post preceding the last, I answered yours
of the 16th, addressing it to the care of Mr. Maury. I was
prevented by more necessary writing from enclosing the pa
pers again by the last post, as I had intended. I now supply
the omission by two gentlemen going to Fredericksburg. All
the news we have received is contained in them, and respects
solely the arrangement which is at length made of a British
Ministry.
Having sent several copies of the pamphlet of Congress on
the subject of revenue, &c., which I suppose will be transcribed
in the Virginia gazettes, I shall add nothing on that subject,
presuming that you will, through some channel or other, obtain
a sight of these proceedings. I enclose a memorandum of the
books which I wish you to select from Dr. Hamilton's catalogue.
I shall take care not to disappoint you of the chair which I
promised to bring with me. The time of my setting out is as
VOL. i. 5
66 WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
uncertain as at the date of my last ; but it will certainly take
place before the Fall.
Remember me affly to my mother and all the family, and be
assured that I am, your dutiful son.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
ORANGE, March 10th. 1784.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your favor of the 27th January was
safely delivered to me about a fortnight ago, and was received
with the greater pleasure, as it promises a continuance of your
friendly attention. I am sorry that my situation enables me to
stipulate no other return than sincere and thankful acknowl
edgments.
On my arrival here, which happened early in December, I
entered, as soon as the necessary attentions to my friends
admitted, on the course of reading which I have long meditated.
Coke Littleton, in consequence, and a few others from the same
shelf, have been my chief society during the winter. My pro
gress, which in so short a period could not have been great
under the most favorable circumstances, has been much retarded
by the want of some important books, and still more by that of
some living oracle for occasional consultation. But what will
be most noxious to my project, I am to incur the interruptions
which will result from attendance in the Legislature, if the
suffrage of my county should destine me for that service, which
I am made to expect will be the case. Among the circum
stances which reconcile me to this destination, you need not bo
assured that the opportunity of being in your neighborhood has
its full influence.
I have perused, with both pleasure and edification, your ob
servations on the demand made by the Executive of South Caro
lina of a citizen of this State. If I were to hazard an opinion
after yours, it would be that the respect due to the chief magis
tracy of a Confederate State, enforced as it is by the Articles of
1784. LETTERS. 67
Union, requires an admission of the fact as it lias been repre
sented. If the representation be judged incomplete or ambig
uous, explanations may certainly be called for; and if, on a
final view of the charge, Virginia should hold it to be not a
casus fcede-ris, she will be at liberty to withhold her citizen, (at
least upon that ground,) as South Carolina will be to appeal to
the tribunal provided for all controversies among the States.
Should the law of South Carolina happen to vary from the
British law, the most difficult point of discussion, I apprehend,
will be, whether the terms " treason/' &c., are to be referred to
those determinate offences so denominated in the latter code, or
to all those to which the policy of the several States may annex
the same titles and penalties. Much may be urged, I think,
both in favor of and against each of these expositions. The
two first of those terms, coupled with " breach of the peace,"
are used in the 5th article of the Confederation, but in a way
that does not clear the ambiguity. The truth, perhaps, in this
as in many other instances, is, that if the compilers of the text
had severally declared their meanings, these would have been
as diverse as the comments which will be made upon it.
Waiving the doctrine of the Confederation, my present view
of the subject would admit few exceptions to the propriety
of surrendering fugitive offenders. My reasons are these: 1.
By the express terms of the Union, the citizens of every State
are naturalized within all the others, and being entitled to the
same privileges, may with the more justice be subjected to the
same penalties. This circumstance materially distinguishes the
citizens of the United States from the subjects of other nations
not so incorporated. 2. The analogy of the laws throughout
the States, and particularly the uniformity of trial by juries of
the vicinage, seem to obviate the capital objections against
removal to the State where the offence is charged. In the
instance of continuous States, a removal of the party accused
from one to the other must often be a less grievance than what
happens within the same State when the place of residence and
the place where the offence is laid are at distant extremities.
The transportation to Great Britain seems to have been repro-
68 WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
bated on very different grounds ; it would have deprived the
accused of the privilege of trial by jury of the vicinage, as well
as of the use of his witnesses, and have exposed him to trial in
a place where he was not even alledged to have ever made him
self obnoxious to it ; not to mention the danger of unfairness
arising from the circumstances which produced the regulation.
3. Unless citizens of one State transgressing within the pale
of another be given up to be punished by the latter, they cannot
be punished at all; and it seems to be a common interest of the
States that a few hours, or at most a few days, should not be
sufficient to gain a sanctuary for the authors of the numerous
offences below "high misdemesnors." In a word, experience
will shew, if I mistake not, that the relative situation of the
United States calls for a "Droit Public" much more minute than
that comprised in the federal articles, and which presupposes
much greater mutual confidence and amity among the societies
which are to obey it, than the law which has grown out of the
transactions and intercourse of jealous and hostile nations.
Present my respectful compliments to your amiable lady, and
accept the sincerest wishes for your joint happiness of
Your affec6 friend and obt servt.
P. S. By my Brother who is charged with this, I send Chas-
tellux's work, De la Felicite Publique, which you may perhaps
find leisure to run through before May; also a notable work of
one of the Representatives of the U. S. in Europe.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, March 16th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 20th ult. came duly to hand a
few days ago.
I cannot apprehend that any difficulties can ensue in Europe
from the involuntary and immaterial delay of the ratification
of the peace, or if there should, that any imputations can be de-
LETTERS. 69
vised which will not be repelled by the collective force of the
reasons in the intended protest, some of which, singly taken, are
unanswerable. As you no doubt had recourse to authorities
which I have no opportunity of consulting, I probably err in
supposing the right of the Sovereign to reject the act of his
plenipotentiary to be more circumscribed than you lay it down.
I recollect well that an implied condition is annexed by the
usage of nations to a Plenipotentiary Commission, but should
not have extended the implication beyond cases where some
palpable and material default in the Minister could be alledged
by the Sovereign. Waiving some such plea, the language both
of the Commission and of reason seems to fix on the latter as
clear an engagement to fulfil his promise to ratify a treaty, as
to fulfil the promises of a treaty which he has ratified. In both
cases, one would pronounce the obligation equally personal to
the Sovereign, and a failure on his part, without some absolving
circumstance, equally a breach of faith.
The project of affixing the seal of the United States, by seven
States, to an act u'hick had been just admitted to require nine,
must have stood self-condemned; and though it might have pro
duced a temporary deception abroad, must have been imme
diately detected at home, and have finally dishonored the
federal counsels everywhere. The competency of seven States
to a Treaty of Peace has often been a subject of debate in Con
gress, and has sometimes been admitted into their practice, at
least so far as to issue fresh instructions. The reasoning em
ployed in defence of the doctrine has been, " that the cases which
require nine States, being exceptions to the general authority
of seven States, ought to be taken strictly; that in the enumera
tion of the powers of Congress in the first clause of article 9
of the Confederation, the power of entering into treaties and
alliances is contradistinguished from that of determining on
peace and war, and even separated by the intervening power of
sending and receiving ambassadors ; that the excepting clause,
therefore, in which ' Treaties and alliances ' ought to be taken
in the same confined sense, and in which the power of deter
mining on peace is omitted, cannot be extended by construction
70 WORKS OP MADISON. 1784.
to the latter power; that under such a construction five States
might continue a war which it required nine to commence,
though where the object of the war has been obtained, a con
tinuance must in every view be equivalent to a commencement
of it, and that the very means provided for preserving a state
of peace might thus become the means of preventing its restora
tion."
The answer to these arguments has been, that the construction
of the federal articles which they maintain is a nicety which
reason disclaims, and that if it be dangerous on one side to
leave it in the breast of five States to protract a war, it is
equally necessary on the other to restrain seven States from
saddling the Union with any stipulations which they may please
to interweave with a Treaty of peace. I was once led by this
question to search the files of Congress for such lights as the
history of the Confederation might furnish, and on a review
now of my papers, I find the evidence from that source to consist
of the following circumstances: In Doctor Franklin's "Sketch
of Articles of Confederation," laid before Congress on the 21st
day of July, 1775, no number beyond a majority is required in
any cases. In the plan reported to Congress by the Committee
appointed llth June, 1776, the general enumeration of the
powers of Congress in article 18 is expressed in a similar man
ner with the first clause in the present 9th article, as are the
exceptions in a subsequent clause of the 18th article of the
report, with the excepting clause as it now stands ; and yet in
the margin of the Report, and I believe in the same handwriting,
there is a " Qu. : If so large a majority is necessary in conclu
ding a Treaty of peace.7' There are sundry other marginal
queries in the report from the same pen.
Hence it would seem that, notwithstanding the preceding dis
crimination between the powers of " determining on peace" and
"entering into Treaties," the latter was meant by the Committee
to comprise the former. The next form in which the articles
appear is a printed copy of the Report as it had been previously
amended, with sundry amendments, erasures, and notes, on the
printed copy itself, in the hand of Mr. Thomson. In the printed
1784. LETTERS. 71
text of this paper, Art, 14, the phraseology which defines the
general powers of Congress is the same with that in Art. 18
of the manuscript report. In the subsequent clause requiring
nine States, the text as printed ran thus: " The United States
in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, nor grant
letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into
any Treaties or alliances except for peace," the words except
for peace being erased, but sufficiently legible through the
erasure. The fair inference from this passage seems to be : 1.
That without those words nine States were held to be required
for concluding peace. 2. That an attempt had been made to
render seven States competent to such an act, which attempt
must have succeeded, either on a preceding discussion in Con
gress, or in a Committee of the whole, or a special committee.
3. That on fuller deliberation, the power of making Treaties of
peace was meant to be left on the same footing with that of
making all other Treaties. The remaining papers on the files
have no reference to this question.
Another question which several times during my service in
Congress exercised their deliberations was, whether seven States
could revoke a Commission for a Treaty issued by nine States,
at any time before the faith of the Confederacy should be
pledged under it. In the instance of a proposition in 1781 to
revoke a Commission which had been granted under peculiar
circumstances in 1779 to Adams, to form a treaty of commerce
with Great Britain, the competency of seven States was resolved
on, (by seven States indeed,) and a revocation took place ac
cordingly. It was, however, effected with much difficulty, and
some members of the minority even contested the validity of
the proceeding. My own opinion then was, and still is, that
the proceeding was equally valid and expedient. The circum
stances which had given birth to the commission had given
place to others totally different; not a single step had been
taken under the commission which could affect the honor or
faith of the United States, and it surely can never be said that
either the letter or spirit of the Confederation requires the
same majority to decline as to engage in foreign treaties. The
72 WORKS OF MADISON. iTSt.
safest method of guarding against the execution of those great
powers, after the circumstances which dictated them have
changed, is to limit their duration, trusting to renewals as they
expire, if the original reasons continue. My experience of the
uncertainty of getting an affirmative vote even of seven States
had determined me, before I left Congress, always to contend
for such limitations.
I thought the sense of the term " appropriation " had been
settled by the latter practice of Congress to be the same as you
take it to be. I always understood that to be the true, the
parliamentary, and the only rational sense. If no distinction
be admitted between the "appropriation of money to general
uses'' and "expenditures in detail," the Secretary of Congress
could not buy quills or wafers without a vote of nine States
entered on record, and the Secretary to the Committee of the
States could not do it at all. In short, unless one vote of ap
propriation can extend to a class of objects, there must be a
physical impossibility of providing for them; and the extent
and generality of such classes can only be determined by dis
cretion and conveniency. It is observable, that in the specifi
cation of the powers which require nine States, the single tech
nical word " appropriate " is retained. In the general recital
which precedes, the word "apply" as well as "appropriate" is
used.
You were not mistaken in supposing I had in conversation
restrained the authority of the federal Court to territorial dis
putes, but I was egregiously so in the opinion I had formed.
Whence I got it I am utterly at a loss to account. It could not
be from the Confederation itself, for words could not be more
explicit. I detected the error a few days ago in consulting the
articles on another subject, and had noted it for my next letter
to you.
I am not sure that I comprehend your idea of a cession of
the Territory beyond the Kenhaway and on this side the Ohio.
As all the soil of value has been granted out to individuals, a
cession in that view would be improper, and a cession of the
jurisdiction to Congress can be proper only where the Country
1781. LETTERS. 73
is vacant of settlers. I presume your meaning, therefore, to be
no more than a separation of that country from this, and an
incorporation of it into the Union; a work to which all three
must be parties. I have no reason to believe there will be any
repugnance on the part of Virginia.
The effort of Pennsylvania for the Western commerce does
credit to her public councils. The commercial genius of this
State is too much in its infancy, I fear, to rival the example.
Were this less the case, the confusion of its affairs must stifle
all enterprize. I shall be better able, however, to judge of the
practicability of your hint when I know more of them.
The declension of Georgetown does not surprize me, tho' it
gives me regret. If the competition should lie between Trenton
and Philadelphia, and depend on the vote of New York, it is
not difficult to foresee into which scale it will be thrown, nor
the probable effect of such decision on our Southern hopes.
I have long regarded the council as a grave of useful talents,
as well as objectionable in point of expence, yet I see not how
such a reform as you suggest can be brought about. The Con
stitution, tho' readily overleaped by the Legislature on the
spur of an occasion, would probably be made a bar to such an
innovation. It directs that eight members be kept up, and re
quires the sanction of four to almost every act of the Governor.
Is it not to be feared, too, that these little meliorations of the
Government may turn the edge of some of the arguments which
ought to be laid to its root ? I grow every day more and more
solicitous to see this essential work begun. Every day's delay
settles the Government deeper into the habits of the people, and
strengthens the prop which their acquiescence gives it. My
field of observation is too small to warrant any conjecture of
the public disposition towards the measure; but all with whom
I converse lend a ready ear to it. Much will depend on the
politics of Mr. Henry, which are wholly unknown to me.
Should they be adverse, and G. Mason not in the Assembly,
hazardous as delay is, the experiment must be put off to a more
auspicious conjuncture.
The charter granted in 1732 to Lord Baltimore makes, if I
74 WORKS OF MADISON. 1734.
mistake not, the Southern shore of the Potowmac the boundary
of Maryland on that side. The Constitution of Virginia cedes
to that State " all the territories contained within its charter,
with all the rights of property, jurisdiction, and Government, and
all other rights whatsoever, which might at any time have been
claimed by Virginia, excepting only the free navigation and use
of the Rivers Potowmac and Pohomoque, &c." Is it not to be
apprehended that this language will be construed into an entire
relinquishment of the Jurisdiction of these rivers, and will not
such a construction be fatal to our port regulations on that side,
and otherwise highly inconvenient ? I was told on my journey
along the Potowmac of several flagrant evasions which had
been practiced with impunity and success by foreign vessels
which had loaded at Alexandria. The jurisdiction of half the
rivers ought to have been expressly reserved. The terms of
the surrender are the more extraordinary as the patetits of the
N. neck place the whole river Potowmac within the Govern
ment of Virginia; so that we were armed with a title both of
prior and posterior date to that of Maryland. What will be
the best course to repair the error? — to extend our laws upon
the River, making Maryland the plaintiff if she chooses to con
test their authority — to state the case to her at once and pro
pose a settlement by negociation — or to propose a mutual ap
pointment of Commissioners for the general purpose of preserv
ing a harmony and efficacy in the regulations on both sides?
The last mode squares best with my present ideas. It can give
no irritation to Maryland; it can weaken no plea of Virginia;
it will give Maryland an opportunity of stirring the question if
she chooses; and will not be fruitless if Maryland should admit
our jurisdiction. If I see the subject in its true light, no time
should be lost in fixing the interest of Virginia. The good
humour into which the cession of the back lands must have put
Maryland forms an apt crisis for any negociations which may
be necessary. You will be able, probably, to look into her
charter and her laws, and to collect the leading sentiments rel
ative to the matter.
The winter has been so severe that I have never renewed m\
1784. LETTERS. 75
call on the library of Monticello, and the time is now drawing
so near when I may pass for a while into a different scene, that
I shall await at least the return to my studies. Mr. L. Grymes
told me a few days ago that a few of your books which had
been borrowed by Mr. W. Maury, and ordered by him to be
sent to his brother's, the clergyman, on their way to Monticello,
were still at the place which Mr. M. removed from. I desired
Mr. Grymes to send them to me instead of the Parson, suppos
ing, as the distance is less, the books will probably be sooner
out of danger from accidents, and that a conveyance from hence
will not be less convenient. I calculated, also, on the use of
such of them as may fall within my plan.
I lately got home the trunk which contained my Buffon, but
have barely entered upon him. My time begins already to be
much less my own than during the winter blockade. I must
leave to your discretion the occasional purchase of rare and
valuable books, disregarding the risk of duplicates. You know
tolerably well the objects of my curiosity. I will only partic
ularize my wish of whatever may throw light on the general
constitution and droit publique of the several confederacies
which have existed. I observe in Boenaud's catalogue several
pieces on the Dutch, the German, and the Helvetic. The oper
ations of our own must render all such lights of consequence.
Books on the law of N. & N. fall within a similar remark. The
tracts of Bynkershoeck, which you mention, I must trouble you
to get for me, and in French, if to be had, rather than latin.
Should the body of his works come nearly as cheap as these
select publications, perhaps it may be worth considering whether
the whole would not be preferable. Is not Wolfius also worth
having ? I recollect to have seen at Pritchard's a copy of Haw-
kin's abridgement of Co. Litt. I would willingly take it if it
be still there, and you have an opportunity. A copy of Deanc's
letters, which were printed in New York, and which I failed to
get before I left Philadelphia, I should also be glad of. I use
this freedom in confidence that you will be equally free in con
sulting your own conveniency whenever I encroach upon it. I
hope you will be so, particularly in the request I have to add.
76 WORKS OF MADISON. 178 1.
One of my parents would be considerably gratified with a
pair of good spectacles, which are not to be got here. The par
ticular readiness of Dudley to serve you inclines ine to think
that an order from you would be well executed. Will you,
therefore, be so good as to get from him one of his best pebble
and double-jointed pair, for the age fifty-five, or thereabouts,
with a good case, and forward them by the first safe convey
ance to me in Orange or at Richmond, as the case may be. If
I had thought of this matter before Mr. Maury set out, I might
have lessened your trouble. It is not material whether I be
repayed at the Bank of Philadelphia or the Treasury of Vir
ginia, but I beg it may be at neither till you are made secure
by public remittances. It will be necessary, at any rate, for
<£20 or 30 to be left in your hands or in the Bank for little ex
penditures which your kindness is likely to bring upon you.
The Executive of South Carolina, as I am informed by the
Attorney, have demanded of Virginia the surrender of a citizen
of Virginia, charged on the affidavit of Jonas Beard, Esqr.,
whom the Executive of South Carolina represent to be " a Jus
tice of the peace, a member of the Legislature, and a valuable,
good man," as follows: that " three days before the 25th day of
October, 1783, he (Mr. Beard) was violently assaulted by G.
H., during the sitting of the Court of General Sessions, without
any provocation thereto given, who beat him (Mr. B.) with his
fist and switch over the face, head, and mouth, from which beat
ing he was obliged to keep his room until the said 25th day of
October, 1783, and call in the assistance of a physician." Such
is the case as collected by Mr. Randolph from the letter of the
Executive of South Carolina. The questions which arise upon
it are: 1. Whether it be a charge of high misdemesnor within
the meaning of the fourth Article of Confederation. 2. Whether,
in expounding the terms high misdemeanor, the law of South
Carolina, or the British law as in force in the United States
before the Revolution, ought to be the standard. 3. If it be
not a casus foederis, what the law of nations exacts of Virginia?
4. If the law of nations contains no adequate provision for such
occurrences, whether the intimacy of the Union among the
1781 LETTERS. 77
States, the relative position of some, and the common interest
of all them in guarding against impunity for offences which can
IDC punished only by the jurisdiction within which they are com
mitted, do not call for some supplemental regulations on this
subject? Mr. Randolph thinks Virginia not bound to surrender
the fugitive until she be convinced of the facts, by more sub
stantial information, and of its amounting to a high misdemesnor,
by inspection of the law of South Carolina, which, and not the
British law, ought to be the criterion. His reasons are too
long to be rehearsed.
I know not, my dear sir, what to reply to the affectionate
invitation which closes your letter. I subscribe to the justness
of your general reflections; I feel the attractions of the particu
lar situation you point out to me. I cannot altogether renounce
the prospect, still less can I as yet embrace it. It is very far
from being improbable that a few years more may prepare me
for giving such a destiny to my future life, in which case the
same or some equally convenient spot may be commanded by a
little augmentation of price. But wherever my final lot may
fix me, be assured that I shall ever remain, with the sincerest
affection and esteem,
Your friend and servant.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, April 25th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 16th of March came to hand
a few days before Mazzei called on me. His plan was to have
proceeded hence directly to Annapolis. My conversation led
him to premise a visit to Mr. Henry, from whence he proposed
to repair to Richmond, and close his affairs with the Executive.
Contrary to my expectation he returned hither on Thursday
last, proposing to continue his circuit through Gloucester, York,
and Williamsburg, recommended by Mr. Henry, for obtaining
78 WORKS OF MADISON.
from the former members of the Council certain facts relating
to his appointment, of which the vouchers have been lost. This
delay, with the expectation of your adjournment, will probably
prevent his visit to Congress. Your letter gave me the first
information both of his views towards a Consulate and of his
enmity towards Franklin; the first was not betrayed to me by
any conversation either before or after I made known to him
the determination of Congress to confine such appointments to
natives of America.
As to the 2nd, he was unreserved, alleging at the same time
that the exquisite cunning of the old Fox has so enveloped his
iniquity, that its reality cannot be proved by those who are
thoroughly satisfied of it. It is evident, from several circum
stances stated by himself, that his enmity has been embittered,
if not wholly occasioned, by incidents of a personal nature.
Mr. Adams is the only public man whom he thinks favorably
of, or seems to have associated with, a circumstance which their
mutual characters may perhaps account for. Notwithstanding
these sentiments towards Franklin and Adams, his hatred of
England remains unabated , and does not exceed his partiality
for France, which, with many other considerations which need
not be pointed out, persuade me that however dreadful an
actual visit from him might be to you in a personal view, it
would not produce the public mischiefs you apprehend from it.
By his interview with Mr. Henry, I learn that the present
politics of the latter comprehend very friendly views toward
the confederacy, a wish tempered with much caution for an
amendment of our own constitution, a patronage of the payment
of British debts, and of a scheme of general assessment.
The want of both a Thermometer and Barometer had deter
mined me to defer a meteorological diary till I could procure
these instruments. Since the receipt of your letter, I have
attended to the other columns.
I hope the letter which had not reached you at the date of
your last did not altogether miscarry. On the 16th of March
I wrote you fully on sundry points. Among others, I suggested
to your attention the case of the Potowmac, having in my eye
1784. LETTERS. 79
the river below the head of navigation. It will be well, I
think, to sound the ideas of Maryland also, as to the upper parts
of the north branch of it. The policy of Baltimore will prob
ably thwart, as far as possible, the opening of it; and without
a very favorable construction of the right of Virginia, and even
the privilege of using the Maryland Bank, it would seem that
the necessary works could not be accomplished.
Will it not be good policy to suspend further Treaties of
Commerce till measures shall have taken place in America
which may correct the idea in Europe of impotency in the fede
ral Government in matters of Commerce? Has Virginia been
seconded by any other State in her proposition for arming
Congress with power to frustrate the unfriendly regulations of
Great Britain with regard to her West India islands? It is
reported here that the late change of her ministers has revived
the former liberality which seemed to prevail on that subject.
Is the Impost gaining or losing ground among the States? Do
any considerable payments come into the Continental Treasury?
Does the settlement of the public accounts make any comfort
able progress? Has any resolution been taken by Congress
touching the old Continental currency? Has Maryland fore-
borne to take any steps in favour of George Town? Can you
tell me whether any question in the Court of Appeals has yet
determined whether the war ceased on our coast on the 3d of
March or the 3d of April?
The books which I was told were still at the place left by
Mr. W. Maury had been sent away at the time Mr. L. Grymes
informed me of them.
Mr. Mazzei tells me that a subterraneous city has been dis
covered in Siberia, which appears to have been once populous
and magnificent. Among other curiosities it contains an eques-
train statue, around the neck of which was a golden chain 200
feet in length, so exquisitely wrought that Buffon inferred from
a specimen of 6 feet, sent him by the Empress of Russia, that
no artist in Paris could equal the workmanship. Mr. Mazzei
saw the specimen in the hands of Buffon, and heard him give
this opinion of it. He heard read at the same time a letter
$0 WORKS OF MADISON.
from the Empress to Buffon, in which she desired the present to
be considered as a tribute to the man to whom Natural History
was so much indebted. Mr. Faujas de St. Fond thought the
city was between 72 and 74 N. L.; the son of Buffon, between
62 and 64°. Mr. M., being on the point of departure, had no
opportunity of ascertaining the fact. If you should have had
no better account of the discovery, this will not be unaccepta
ble to you, and will lead you to obtain one.
I propose to set off for Richmond towards the end of this
week. The election in this county was on thursday last. My
colleague is Mr. Charles Porter.
I am, your affect6 friend.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
RICHMOXD, May 15th, 1784.
* * * * * * *
The arrangement which is to carry you to Europe has been
made known to me by Mr. Short, who tells me he means to ac
company or follow you. With the many reasons which make
this event agreeable, I cannot but mix some regret that your
aid towards a revisal of our State Constitution will be removed.
I hope, however, for your licence to make use of the ideas you
were so good as to confide to me, so far as they may be neces
sary to forward the object. Whether any experiment will be
made this session is uncertain. Several members with whom I
have casually conversed give me more encouragement than I had
indulged. As Col. Mason remains in private life, the expediency
of starting the idea will depend much on the part to be expected
from R. H. Lee and Mr. Henry. The former is not yet come
to this place, nor can I determine any thing as to his politics
on this point. The latter arrived yesterday, and from a short
conversation I find him strenuous for invigorating the Federal
Government, though without any precise plan, but have got no
1784. LETTERS. 81
explanations from him as to our internal Government. The
general train of his thoughts seemed to suggest favorable ex
pectations. We did not make a house till Wednesday last, and
have done nothing yet but arrange the committees and receive
petitions. The former Speaker was re-elected without opposi
tion. If you will, either before or after your leaving America,
point out the channel of communication with you in Europe, I
will take the pleasure of supplying you from time to time with
our internal transactions, as far as they may deserve your atten
tion; and expect that you will freely command every other
service during your absence which it may be in my power to
render.
Wishing you every success and happiness, I am, dear sir, your
affecte friend,
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
(Extracts.)
RICHMOND. June 5th, 1784.
*******
The House of Delegates have agreed to postpone the June
tax till January. It is not improbable that the Senate may re
quire half to be collected at an earlier period.
********
June 15th. — The Senate have ratified the postponement of
the taxes till the last day of January. It is thought by some
that an intermediate tax of some kind or other will be essential,
but whether any such will take place is uncertain, and perhaps
improbable, though we shall make a strange figure, after our
declarations with regard to Congress and the Continental debt,
if we wholly omit the means of fulfilling them.
* * * * *
June 24^. — Much time has been lately spent by the Assembly
in abortive efforts for an amendment of the Constitution, and
fulfilling the Treaty of Peace in the article of British debts.
VOL. i 6
82 WORKS OF MADISON. 1734.
The residue of the business will not be completed till next
week.
[Notes in the hand-writing of Mr. Madison, of a speech made by him in the
House of Delegates of Virginia, at the May session of 1784, in support of a prop
osition for a Convention to revise the Constitution of the State :]
I. Nature of Constitution examd. See Mass., P. 7, 8, 15,
16; N. Y., P. 63; Penna, P. 85, 86; Del., P. 106; N. C., P. 146,
150; S. C., P. 188; Geo., P. 186.
II. Convention of 1776, without due power from people.
1. Passed ordinance for Constitun on recommendation of
Cong8 of 15 May, prior to Declar11 of Independence, as was
done in N. H., P. 1, & N. J., P. 78, 84.
2. Passed from impulse of necessity. See last clause of the
preamble.
3. Before independence declared by Cong8.
4. Power from people nowhere pretended.
5. Other ordinances of same session deemed alterable, as rel
ative to Senators — oaths — salt.
6. Provision for case of west Augusta, in its nature tempo
rary.
7. Convention make themselves branch of the Legislature.
III. Constitution, if so to be called, defective.
1. In a union of powers, which is tyranny. Montesqn.
2. Executive Department dependent on Legislature: 1, for sal
ary; 2, for character in triennial expulsion; 3, expensive: 4, may
be for life, contrary to article 5 of Declaration of rights.
3. Judiciary dependent for am* of salary.
4. Privileges and wages of members of Legislature unlimited
and undefined.
5. Senate badly constituted and improperly barred of the
originating of Laws.
6. Equality of representation not provided for. See N. Y.,
P. 65; S. C., P. 165.
7. Impeachments of great moment on bad footing.
1784. BRITISH DEBTS. 83
8. County courts seem to be fixed, P. 143, 144; also general
Court,
9. Habeas corpus omitted.
10. No mode of expounding Constitution, and of course no
check to Gen1 Assembly.
11. Right of suffrage not well fixed — quaere, if popish recu
sants, <fcc,, not disfranchised?
IV. Constitution rests on acquiescence — a bad basis.
V. Revision during war improper; on return of peace, de
cency requires surrender of powers to people.
VI. No danger in referring to the people, who already exer
cise an equivalent power.
VII. If no change be made in the Constitution, it is advisable
to have it ratified and secured against the doubts and imputa
tions under which it now labors.
[Proposition of Mr. Madison, on the subject of British Debts, submitted to the
House of Delegates of Virginia, at the May session, 1784 :]
Whereas by the 4th article of the Definitive Treaty of peace,
ratified and proclaimed by the United States in Congress as
sembled, on the 14th day of Jany. last, "it is agreed that credi
tors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the
recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bbna fide
debts heretofore contracted;" and whereas it is the duty and
determination of this Commonwealth, with a becoming rever
ence for the faith of Treaties, truly and honestly to give to the
said article all the effect which circumstances not within its
controul will now possibly admit; and inasmuch as the debts
due from the good people of this Commonwealth to the subjects
of G. Britain were contracted under the prospect of gradual
payments, and are justly computed to exceed the possibility of
full payment at once, more especially under the diminution of
their property resulting from the devastations of the late war,
and it is therefore conceived that the interest of the British
Creditors themselves will be favored by fixing certain reason
able periods at which divided payments shall be made :
84 WORKS OF MADISON.
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that the
laws now in force relative to British debts ought to be so varied
and emended as to make the same recoverable in the propor
tions and at the periods following; that is to say, part thereof,
with interest of 5 pr ct. from the date of the Definitive Treaty
of peace, on the — day of , another on the — day of - — ,
another on the — day of , and the remaining on the — day
of .
And whereas it is further stipulated by Art. 7th of the said
Treaty, among other things, that "his Britannic Majesty shall
with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction,
or carrying away any negroes or other property of the Ameri
can inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets,
from the said United States, and from every port, place, and
Harbour, within the same, leaving in all fortifications the Amer
ican artillery that may be therein, and shall also order and
cause all archives, records, deeds, and papers, belonging to any
of the said States, or their citizens, which in the course of the
war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forth
with restored and delivered to the proper States and persons
to whom they belong," which stipulation was in the same
words contained in the Provisional articles, signed at Paris on
the 30th day of November, 1782, by the Commissioners em
powered on each part; and whereas posterior to the date of
the said provisional articles, sundry negroes, the property of
citizens of this Commonwealth, were carried away from the city
of New York whilst in possession of the British forces, and no
restitution or satisfaction on that head has been made, either
before or since the Definitive Treaty of Peace; and whereas
the good people of this Commonwealth have a clear right to
expect that whilst, on one side, they are called upon by the U.
S. in Congress assembled, to whom by the federal Constitution
the powers of War and Peace are exclusively delegated, to
carry into effect the stipulations in favour of British subjects,
an equal observance of the stipulations in their own favor
should, on the other side, be duly secured to them under the
authority of the confederacy :
1784. LETTERS. 85
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee that the
Delegates representing this State in Congress ought to be in
structed to urge in Congress peremptory measures for obtain
ing from G. Britain satisfaction for the infringement of the
article aforesaid; and in case of refusal or unreasonable delay
of such satisfaction, to urge that the sanction of Congress be
given to the just policy of retaining so much of the debts due
from citizens of this Commonwealth to British subjects as will
fully repair the losses sustained from such infringement; and
that to enable the said Delegates to proceed herein with the
greater precision and effect, the Executive ought to be requested
to take immediate measures for obtaining and transmitting to
them all just claims of the citizens of this Commonwealth under
the 7th art., as aforesaid.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, July 2d, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — The sanction given by your favor of the 12th to
my -desire of remunerating the genius which produced " Common
Sense," has led to a trial in the Legislature for the purpose.
The gift first proposed was a moiety of the tract on the Eastern
Shore known by the name of the Secretary's land. The easy
reception it found induced the friends of the measure to add the
other moity to the proposition, which would have raised the
market value of the donation to about £4,000, or upwards;
though it would not probably have commanded a rent of more
than XI 00 per annum. In this form the Bill passed through
two readings. The third reading proved that the tide had
suddenly changed,* for the Bill was thrown out by a large
majority. An attempt was next made to sell the land in ques
tion, and apply £2,000 of the money to the purchase of a Farm
for Mr. Paine. This was lost by a single vote. Whether a
* The change was produced by prejudices against Mr. Paine, thrown into cir
culation by Mr. Arthur Lee, [on account of Paine's pamphlet in opposition to
the Territorial claims of Virginia.]
gfl WORKS OF MADISON.
greater disposition to reward patriotic and distinguished exer
tions of genius will be found on any succeeding occasion is not
for me to predetermine. Should it finally appear that the
merits of the Man, whose writings have so much contributed to
infuse and foster the spirit of Independence in the people of
America, are unable to inspire them with a just beneficence, the
world, it is to be feared, will give us as little credit for our
policy as for our gratitude in this particular. The wish of Mr.
Paine to be provided for by separate acts of the States, rather
than by Congress, is, I think, a natural and just one. In the
latter case it might be construed into the wages of a mercenary
writer. In the former, it would look like the returns of grati
tude for voluntary services. Upon the same principle, the mode
wished by Mr. Paine ought to be preferred by the States them
selves.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
RICHMOND, July 3d, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — The Assembly adjourned the day before yester
day. I have been obliged to remain here since on private busi
ness for my Countrymen with the Auditor's and other depart
ments. I had allotted towards the close of the session to un
dertake a narration for you of the proceedings, but the hurry,
on which I did not sufficiently calculate, rendered it impossible,
and I now find myself so abridged in time that I cannot fulfil
iny intentions. It will, however, be the less material, as Mr.
Short, by whom this goes, will be possessed of almost every
thing I could say. I inclose you a list of the acts passed, ex
cepting a few which had not received the last solemnity when
the list went to the press. Among the latter is an Act under
which 1 per cent, of the land tax will be collected this fall, and
will be for Congress. This, with the 1 J per cent, added to the
impost on trade, will be all that Congress will obtain on their
last requisition for this year. It will be much short of what
they need, and of what might be expected from the declarations
1784. LETTERS. 87
with which we introduced the business of the Session. These
declarations will be seen in the Journal, a copy of which I take
for granted will be carried by Mr. Short. Another act not or,
the list lays duties on law proceedings, on alienations of land,
on probats of wills, administration, and some other transactions
which pass through official hands. This tax may be considered
as the basis of a stamp tax; it will probably yield fifteen or
twenty thousand pounds at present, which is set apart for the
foreign Creditors of this State.
We made a warm struggle for the establishment of Norfolk
and Alexandria as our only ports; but were obliged to add
York, Tappahannock, and Bermuda hundred, in order to gain
any thing and to restrain to these ports foreigners only. The
footing on which British debts are put will appear from the
Journal, noting only that a law is now in force which forbids
suits for them. The minority in the Senate have protested on
the subject. Having not seen the protest, I must refer to Mr.
Short, who will no doubt charge himself with it.
A trial was made for a State Convention, but in a form not
the most lucky. The adverse temper of the House, and partic
ularly of Mr. Henry, had determined me to be silent on the
subject. But a petition from Augusta, having among other
things touched on a Reform of the Government, and R. H. Lee
arriving with favorable sentiments, we thought it might not be
amiss to stir the matter. Mr. Stuart, from Augusta, accord
ingly proposed to the Committee of propositions the Resolutions
reported to the House, as per Journal. Unluckily, R. H. Lee
was obliged by sickness to leave us the day before the question
came on in committee of the whole, and Mr. Henry shewed a
more violent opposition than we expected. The consequence
was, that after two days' Debate the Report was negatived, and
the majority, not content with stopping the measure for the pres
ent, availed themselves of their strength to put a supposed bar
on the Journal against a future possibility of carrying it. The
members for a Convention with full powers were not consider
able for number, but included most of the young men of educa
tion and talents. A great many would have concurred in a
gg WORKS OF MADISON. 1781.
Convention for specified amendments, but they were not dis
posed to be active even for such a qualified plan.
Several petitions came forward in behalf of a General assess
ment, which was reported by the Committee of Religion to be
reasonable. The friends of the measure did not chuse to try
their strength in the House. The Episcopal Clergy introduced
a notable project for re-establishing their independence of the
laity. The foundation of it was, that the whole body should be
legally incorporated, invested with the present property of the
Church, made capable of acquiring indefinitely, empowered to
make canons and bye-laws not contrary to the laws of the land,
and incumbents, when once chosen by vestries, to be immoveable
otherwise than by sentence of the convocation. Extraordinary
as such a project was, it was preserved from a dishonorable death
by the talents of Mr. Henry. It lies over for another session.
The public lands at Richmond not wanted for public use are
ordered to be sold, and the money, aided by subscriptions, to be
applied to the erection of buildings on the Hill, as formerly
planned. This fixes the Government, which was near being
made as vagrant as that of the United States, by a coalition
between the friends of Williamsburg and Staunton. The point
was carried by a small majority only.
The lands about Williamsburg are given to the University,
and are worth, Mr. H. Tazewell thinks, £10,000 to it. For the
encouragement of Mr. Maury's School, licence is granted for a
lottery to raise not more than £2,000.
The revisal is ordered to be printed. A frivolous economy
restrained the number of copies to 500. I shall secure the num
ber you want and forward them by the first opportunity. The
three revisors' labour was recollected on this occasion, and
£500 voted for each. I have taken out your warrant in five
parts, that it may be the more easily converted to use. It is to
be paid out of the first unappropriated money in the Treasury,
which renders its value very precarious unless the Treasurer
should be willing to endorse it " receivable in taxes," which he
is not obliged to do. I shall await your orders as to the dis
position of it.
178k LETTERS. 89
An effort was made for Paine, and the prospect once flatter
ing. But a sudden opposition was brewed up, which put a neg
ative on every form which could be given to the proposed re
muneration. Mr. Short will give you particulars.
Col. Mason, the Attorney, Mr. Henderson, and myself, are to
negociate with Maryland, if she will appoint Commissioners to
establish regulations for the Potowmac.
Since the receipt of yours of May 8, I have made diligent en
quiry concerning the several schools most likely to answer for
the education of your nephews. My information has determined
me finally to prefer that of Mr. "W. Maury, as least exception
able. I have accordingly recommended it to Mrs. Carr, and
on receiving her answer shall write to Mr. Maury, pointing out
your wishes as to the course of study proper for Master Carr.
I have not yet made up any opinion as to the disposition of
your younger nephew, but shall continue my enquiries till I can
do so. I find a greater deficiency of proper schools than I
could have supposed, low as my expectations were on the sub
ject. All that I can assure you of is, that I shall pursue your
wishes with equal pleasure and faithfulness.
Your hint for appropriating the Slave tax to Congress fell in
precisely with the opinion I had formed and suggested to those
who are most attentive to our finances. The existing appro
priation of half of it, however, to the military debt, was deemed
a bar to such a measure. I wished for it because the slave
holders are Tobacco makers, and will generally have hard
money, which alone will serve for Congress. Nothing can ex
ceed the confusion which reigns throughout our revenue depart
ment. We attempted, but in vain, to ascertain the amount of
our debts and of our resources, as a basis for something like a
system. Perhaps by the next session the information may be
prepared. This confusion, indeed, runs through all our public
affairs, and must continue as long as the present mode of legis
lating continues. If we cannot amend the Constitution, we
must at least call in the aid of accurate penmen for extending
Resolutions into bills, which at present are drawn in a manner
90 WOUKS OF MADISON. 1754.
that -must soon bring our laws and our Legislature into con
tempt among all orders of Citizens.
I have communicated your request from Philadelphia, May
25, to Mr. Zane. He writes by Mr. Short, and tells me he is
possessed of the observations which he promised you. I found
no opportunity of broaching a scheme for opening the naviga
tion of the Potowmac under the auspices of General Washing
ton, or of providing for such occurrences as the case of Marbois.
With the aid of the Attorney, perhaps something may be done
on the 1-atter point next Session.
Adieu, my dear friend.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, August 20th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 1st July, written on the eve
of your embarcation from Boston, was safely delivered by your
servant Bob about the 20th of the same month. Along with it
I received the pamphlet on the West India trade, and a copy of
Deane's letters.
My last was written from Richmond on the adjournment of
the General Assembly, and put into the hands of Mr. Short. It
contained a cursory view of legislative proceedings, referring
to the bearer for a more circumstantial one. Since the adjourn
ment, I have been so little abroad that I am unable to say with
certainty how far those proceedings harmonize with the vox
populi. The opinion of some who have better means of infor
mation is, that a large majority of the people, either from a
sense of private justice or of national faith, dislike the footing
on which British debts are placed. The proceedings relative
to an amendment of the State Constitution seem to interest the
public much less than a friend to the scheme would wish.
The act which produces most agitation and discussion is that
which restrains foreign trade to enumerated ports. Those who
1784. LETTERS. 91
meditate a revival of it on the old plan of British monopoly
and diffusive credit, or whose mercantile arrangements might
be disturbed by the innovation, with those whose local situa
tions give them, or are thought to give them, an advantage in
large vessels coming up the rivers to their usual stations, are
busy in decoying the people into a belief that trade ought in
all cases to be left to regulate itself; that to confine it to par
ticular ports is to renounce the boon with which nature has
favoured our country; and that if one set of men are to be im
porters and exporters, another set to be carryers between the
mouths and heads of the rivers, and a third retailers, trade, as
it must pass through so many hands, all taking a profit, must
in the end come dearer to the people than if the simple plan
should be continued which unites these several branches in the
same hands.
These and other objections, tho' unsound, are not altogether
unplausible, and being propagated with more zeal and pains by
those who have a particular interest to serve than proper an
swers are by those who regard the general interest only, make
it very possible that the measure may be rescinded before it is
to -take effect. Should it escape such a fate, it will be owing
to a few striking and undeniable facts, namely, that goods are
much dearer in Virginia than in the States where trade is drawn
to a general mart; that even goods brought from Philadelphia
and Baltimore to Winchester, and other Western and South
Western parts of Virginia, are retailed cheaper than those im
ported directly from Europe are sold on tide water; that gen
erous as the present price of our Tobacco appears, the same
article has currently sold 15 or 20 per cent, at least higher in
Philadelphia, where, being as far from the ultimate market, it
cannot be intrinsically worth more; that scarce a single vessel
from any part of Europe, other than the British Dominions,
comes into our ports, whilst vessels from so many other parts
of Europe resort to other ports of America, almost all of them,
too, in pursuit of the staple of Virginia.
The exemption of our own citizens from the restrictions is
another circumstance that helps to parry attacks on the policy
92 WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
of it. The warmest friends to the law were averse to this dis
crimination, which not only departs from its principle, but gives
it an illiberal aspect to foreigners; but it was a necessary con
cession to prevailing sentiments. The like discrimination be
tween our own citizens and those of other States, contrary to
the federal articles, is an erratum which was omitted to be rec
tified, but will no doubt be so.
Notwithstanding the languor of our direct trade with Europe,
this country has indirectly tasted some of the fruits of Independ
ence. The price of our last crop of Tobacco has been, on
James River, from 36s. to 42s. tid. pr cwt., and has brought more
specie into the country than it ever before contained at one
time. The price of Hemp, however, has been reduced as much
by the peace as that of Tobacco has been raised, being sold, I
am told, as low as 20s. per cwt. beyond the Mountains. Our
crops of wheat have been rather scanty, owing partly to the
rigors of the Winter, partly to an insect,* which in many places
has destroyed whole fields of that grain. The same insect has,
since the harvest, fallen upon the Corn with considerable dam
age; but without some very unusual disaster to that article the
crop will be exuberant, and will afford plentiful supplies for
the W. India Islands, if their European Masters will no longer
deny themselves the benefit of such a trade with us. The crop
of the Tobacco now on the ground will, if the weather continues
favorable, be tolerably good, though much shortened on the
whole by the want of early seasons for transplanting, and an
uncommon number of the insects which prey upon it in its dif
ferent stages. It will be politic, I think, for the people here to
push the culture of this article whilst the price keeps up, it be
coming more apparent every day that the richness of soil and
fitness of climate on the Western waters will, in a few years,
both reduce the price and engross the culture of it. This event
begins to be generally foreseen, and increases the demand
greatly for land on the Ohio. What think you of a guinea an
acre being already the price for choice tracts, with sure titles?
* Chinch-bug.
1784. LETTERS. 93
Nothing can delay such a revolution with regard to our staple
but an impolitic and perverse attempt in Spain to shut the
mouth of the Mississippi against the inhabitants above. I say
delay, because she can no more finally stop the current of trade
down the river than she can that of the river itself. The im
portance of this matter is in almost every mouth. I am fre
quently asked what progress has been made towards a treaty
with Spain, and what may be expected from her liberality on
this point, the querists all counting on an early ability in the
western settlements to apply to other motives, if necessary.
My answers have, both from ignorance and prudence, been e^Ta-
sive. I have not thought fit, however, to cherish unfavorable
impressions, being more and more led by revolving the subject
to conclude that Spain will never be so mad as to persist in her
present ideas. For want of better matter for correspondence,
I will state the grounds on which I build my expectations.
First. Apt as the policy of nations is to disregard justice and
the general rights of mankind, I deem it no small advantage
that these considerations are in our favour. They must be felt
in some degree by the most corrupt councils on a question
whether the interest of millions shall be sacrificed to views con
cerning a distant and paltry settlement; they are every day
acquiring weight from, the progress of philosophy and civiliza
tion, and they must operate on those nations of Europe who
have given us a title to their friendly offices, or who may wish
to gain a title to ours.
Secondly. May not something be hoped from the respect which
Spain may feel for consistency of character on an appeal to the
doctrine maintained by herself in the year 1609, touching the
Sclield, or at least from the use which may be made of that fact
by the powers disposed to favor our views ?
Thirdly. The interest of Spain at least ought to claim her
attention. 1. A free trade down the Mississippi would make
New Orleans one of the most flourishing emporiums in the
world, and deriving its happiness from the benevolence of
Spain, it would feel a firm loyalty to her government. At present
it is an expensive establishment, settled chiefly by French, who
94 WORKS OF MADISON. 1734.
hate the government which oppresses them, who already covet
a trade with the upper country, will become every day more
sensible of the rigor which denies it to them, and will join in
any attempt which may be made against their masters. 2d. A
generous policy on the part of Spain towards the United States
will be the cement of friendship and lasting peace with them.
A contrary one will produce immediate heart burnings, and sow
the seeds of inevitable hostility. The United States are already
a power not to be despised by Spain; the time cannot be distant
when, in spite of all precautions, the safety of her possessions
in this quarter of the Globe must depend more on our peace-
ableness than her own power. 3. In another view, it is against
the interest of Spain to throw obstacles in the way of our West
ern settlements. The part she took during the late war shews
that she apprehended less from the power growing up in her
neighborhood in a state of independence than as an instrument
in the hands of Great Britain. If in this she calculated on the
impotence of the United States, when dismembered from the
British empire, she saw but little way into futurity; if on the
pacific temper of republics, unjust irritations on her part will
soon prove to her that these have like passions with other gov
ernments. Her permanent security seems to lie in the complexity
of our federal government, and the diversity of interests among
the members of it, which render offensive measures improbable
in council and difficult in execution. If such be the case, when
thirteen States compose the system, ought she not to wish to
see the number enlarged to three and twenty ? A source of
temporary security to her is our want of naval strength: ought
she not, then, to favor those emigrations to the Western land
which, as long as they continue, will leave no supernumerary
hands for the sea ?
Fourthly. Should none of these circumstances affect her
councils, she cannot surely so far disregard the usage of nations
as to contend that her possessions at the mouth of the Missis
sippi justify a total denial of the use of it to the inhabitants
above, when possessions much less disproportionate at the mouth
of other rivers have been admitted only as a title to a moderate
1784. LETTERS. 95
toll. The case of the Rhine, the Maese, and the Scheld, as well
as the Elbe and Oder, are, if I mistake not, in point here. How
far other Rivers may afford parallel cases, I cannot say. That
of the Mississippi is probably the strongest in the world.
Fifthly. Must not the general interest of Europe in all cases
influence the determinations of any particular nation in Europe,
and does not that interest in the present case clearly lie on our
side? 1. All the principal powers have, in a general view,
more to gain than to lose by denying a right of those who hold
the mouths of rivers to intercept a communication with them
above. France, Great Britain, and Sweden, have no opportu
nity of exerting such a right, and must wish a free passage for
their merchandize in every country. Spain herself has no such
opportunity, and has, besides, three of her principal rivers, one
of them the seat of her metropolis, running through Portugal.
Russia can have nothing to lose by denying this pretension, and
is bound to do so in favor of her great rivers, the Neiper, the
Niester, and the Don, which mouth in the Black sea, and of the
passage thro' the Dardanelles, which she extorted from the
Turks. The Emperor, in common with the inland States of
Germany, and, moreover, by his possessions on the Maese and
the Scheld, has a similar interest. The possessions of the King
of Prussia on the Rhine, the Elbe, and the Oder, are pledges
for his orthodoxy.
The United Provinces hold, it is true, the mouths of the
Maese, the Rhine, and the Scheld, but a general freedom of
trade is so much their policy, and they now carry on so much
of it through the channel of rivers flowing thro' different do
minions, that their weight can hardly be thrown into the wrong
scale. The only powers that can have an interest in opposing
the American doctrine are the Ottoman, which has already
given up the point to Russia; Denmark, which is suffered to re
tain the entrance of the Baltic; Portugal, whose principal rivers
head in Spain; Venice, which holds the mouth of the Po; and
Dantzick, which commands that of the Vistula, if it is yet to be
considered as a sovereign City. The prevailing disposition of
Europe on this point once frustrated an attempt of Denmark
96 WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
to exact a toll at the mouth of the Elbe by means of a fort on
the Holstein side, which commands it. The fact is mentioned
in Salmon's Gazetteer, under the head of Cluestadt. I have no
opportunity of ascertaining the circumstances of the case, or of
discovering like cases.
2. In a more important view, the settlement of the Western
country, which will much depend on the free use of the Missis
sippi, will be beneficial to all nations who either directly or in
directly trade with the United States. By a free expansion of
our people the establishment of internal manufactures will not
only be long delayed, but the consumption of foreign manufac
tures long continue increasing; and at the same time, all the
productions of the American soil, required by Europe in return
for her manufactures, will proportionably increase. The vacant
land of the United States lying on the waters of the Mississippi
is, perhaps, equal in extent to the land actually settled. If no
check be given to the emigrations from the latter to the former,
they will probably keep pace at least with the increase of our
people, till the population of both becomes nearly equal. For
twenty or twenty-five years we shall consequently have as few
internal manufactures in proportion to our numbers as at pres
ent, and at the end of that period our imported manufactures
will be doubled. It may be observed, too, that as the market
for their manufactures will first increase, and the provision for
'supplying it will follow, the price of supplies will naturally rise
in favor of those who manufacture them. On the other hand,
as the demand for the tobacco, indigo, rice, corn, <fec., produced
by America for exportation, will neither precede nor keep pace
with their increase, the price must naturally sink in favor also
of those who consume them.
Reverse the case by supposing the use of the Mississippi de
nied to us, and the consequence is, that many of our supernu
merary hands who, in the former case, would bo husbandmen on
the waters of the Mississippi, will, on the latter supposition, be
manufacturers on those of the Atlantic, and even those who may
not be discouraged from seating the vacant lands will be obliged,
by the want of vent for the produce of the soil, and of the means
1784. LETTERS. 97
of purchasing foreign manufactures, to manufacture in a great
measure for themselves.
Should Spain yield the point of the navigation of the Missis
sippi, but at the same time refuse us the use of her shores, the
benefit will be ideal only. I have conversed with several per
sons who have a practical knowledge of the subject, all of whom
assure me that not only the right of fastening to the Spanish
shore, but that of holding an entrepot in our own, or of using
New Orleans as a free port, is essential to a free trade through
that channel. It has been said that sea vessels can get up as
high as latitude thirty-two to meet the river craft, but it will
be with so much difficulty and disadvantage as to amount to a
prohibition.
The idea has also been suggested of large magazines con
structed for floating; but if this expedient were otherwise ad
missible, the hurrica'nes, which in that quarter frequently de
molish edifices on land, forbid the least confidence in those
which would have no foundation but water. Some territorial
privileges, therefore, seem to be as indispensable to the use of
the river as this is to the prosperity of the western country.
A place called " The Englishman's turn," on the island of
about six leagues below the town of New Orleans, is, I am told,
the fittest for our purpose, and that the lower side of the pen
insula is the best. Batonrouge is also mentioned as a conve
nient station; and Point Coupk as the highest to which vessels
can ascend with tolerable ease. Information, however, of this,
from men who judge from a general and superficial view only,
ran never be received as accurate. If Spain be sincerely dis
posed to gratify us, I hope she will be sensible it cannot be
done effectually without allowing a previous survey and delib
erate choice.
Should it be impossible to obtain from her a portion of ground
by other means, would it be unadvisable to attempt it by pur
chase ? The price demanded could not well exceed the benefit
to be obtained, and a reimbursement of the public advance
might easily be provided for by the sale to individuals, and the
conditions which might be annexed to their tenures. Such a
VOL. I 7
98 WORKS OF MADISON. 1734.
spot could not fail, in a little time, to equal in value tlie same
extent in London or Amsterdam.
The most intelligent of those with whom I have conversed
think that, on whatever footing our trade may be allowed, very
judicious provision will be necessary for a fair adjustment of
disputes between the Spaniards and the Americans — disputes
which must be not only noxious to trade, but tend to embroil
the two nations. Perhaps a joint tribunal, under some modifica
tion or other, might answer the purpose. There is a precedent,
I see, for such an establishment, in the twenty-first article of the
treaty of Minister, in 1648, between Spain and the United Neth
erlands.
I am informed that, sometime after New Orleans passed into
the hands of Spain, her Governor forbid all British vessels nav
igating under the treaty of Paris to fasten to the shore, and
caused such as did so to be cut loose. In consequence of this
practice a British frigate went up near the Town, fastened to
the shore, and set out guards to fire on any who might attempt
to cut her loose. The Governor, after trying in vain to remove
the frigate by menaces, acquiesced, after which British vessels
indiscriminately used the shore; and even the residence of British
Merchants in the town of New Orleans, trading clandestinely
with the Spaniards, as well as openly with their own people, was
winked at. The Treaty of 1763 stipulated to British subjects,
as well as I recollect, no more than the right of navigating the
river; and if that of using was admitted under that stipulation,
the latter right must have been admitted to be included in the
former.
*******
In consequence of my letter to Mrs. Carr, I have been called
on by your elder nephew, who is well satisfied with the choice
made of Williamsburg for his future studies. I have furnished
him with letters to my acquaintance there, and with a draught
on your steward for £12. He will be down by the opening of
Mr. Maury's school at the close of the vacation, which lasts
from the beginning of August to the end of September. I have
the greater hopes that the preference of this school will turn
1784. LETTERS. 99
out a proper one as it lias received the approbation of the lit
erary gentlemen of Williamsburg, and will be periodically ex
amined by Mr. Wythe and others. Your younger nephew is
with Major Callis, who will keep school some time longer. I
am at a loss as yet where to fix him, but will guard as much as
possible against any idle interval.
I am, very affectely, dear Sir, your friend and serv*
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, Sepr 7th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Some business, the need of exercise after a very
sedentary period, and the view of extending my ramble into the
Eastern States, which I have long had a curiosity to see. have
brought me to this place. ****** At Baltimore
I fell in with the Marquis de la Fayette, returning from a visit
to Mount Vernon. Wherever he passes he receives the most
flattering tokens of sincere affection from all ranks. He did
not propose to have left Virginia so soon, but General Wash
ington was about setting out on a trip to the Ohio, and could
not then accompany him on some visits, as he wished to do.
The present plan of the Marquis is to proceed immediately to
New York; thence, by Rhode Island, to Boston; thence thro'
Albany to Fort Schuyler, where a treaty with the Indians is to
be held the latter end of this month; thence to Virginia, so as
to meet the Legislature at Richmond. I have some thoughts
of making this tour with him, but suspend my final resolution
till I get to New York, whither I shall follow him in a day or
two.
The relation in which the Marquis stands to France and
America has induced me to enter into a free conversation with
him on the subject of the Mississippi. I have endeavored em
phatically to impress on him that the ideas of America and of
Spain irreconcileably clash; that unless the mediation of France
be effectually exerted, an actual rupture is near at hand; that
100 WORKS OF MADISON. i:Si.
in such an event, the connection between France and Spain will
give the enemies of the former in America the fairest opportu
nity of involving her in our resentments against the latter, and
of introducing Great Britain as a party with us against both;
that America cannot possibly be diverted from her object, and
therefore France is bound to set every engine at work to divert
Spain from hers; and that France has, besides, a great interest
in a trade with the western country through the Mississippi.
I thought it not amiss, also, to suggest to him some of the con
siderations which seem to appeal to the prudence of Spain. He
admitted the force of everything I said; told me he would write
in the most [favorable] terms to the Count de Vergennes by the
packet which will probably carry this, and let me see his letter
at New York before he sends it. He thinks that Spain is bent
on excluding us from the Mississippi, and mentioned several
anecdotes which happened while he was at Madrid in proof
of it.
The Committee of the States have dispersed. Several of the
Eastern members having, by quitting it, reduced the number
below a quorum, the impotent remnant thought it needless to
keep together. It is not probable they will be reassembled be
fore November, so that there will be an entire interregnum of
the federal Government for some time, against the intention of
Congress I apprehend, as well as against every rule of deco
rum.
The Marquis this moment stepped into my room, and, seeing
my cyphers before me, dropped some questions which obliged
me, in order to avoid reserve, to let him know that I was wri
ting to you. I said nothing of the subject, but he will probably
infer from our conversation that the Mississippi is most in my
thoughts.
Mrs. House charges me with a thousand compliments and
kind wishes for you and Miss Patsy. We hear nothing of
Mrs. Trist, since her arrival at the Falls of the Ohio, on her
way to N. Orleans. There is no doubt that she proceeded
down the river thence, unapprized of her loss. When and how
she will be able to get back, since the Spaniards have shut all
17&4. LETTERS. 101
their ports against the U. S., is uncertain, and gives much
anxiety to her friends. Browse has a windfall from his grand
mother of £1,000 sterling.
Present my regards to Miss Patsy and to Mr. Short, if he
should be with you, and accept yourself, Dear Sir, the sincerest
affection of
Your friend and servant.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSOX.
NEW YORK, Septr 15th, 1784.
DEAR Sin, — In pursuance of my intentions, as explained in
my last, dated in Philadelphia, I came to this City on Saturday
last. The information I have here received convinces me that
I cannot accomplish the whole route I had planned within the
time to which I am limited, nor go from this to Boston in the
mode which I had reckoned upon. I shall therefore decline
this part of my plan, at least for the present, and content my
self with a trip to Fort Schuyler, in which I shall gratify my
curiosity in several respects, and have the pleasure of the Mar
quis's company. We shall set off this afternoon in a Barge up
the Xorth River. The Marquis has received in this City a
continuation of those marks of cordial esteem and affection
which were hinted in my last. The Gazettes herewith enclosed
will give you samples of them. Besides the personal homage
he receives, his presence has furnished occasion for fresh mani
festations of those sentiments towards France which have been
so well merited by her, but which her Enemies pretended would
soon give way to returning affection for G. Britain. In this
view, a republication of those passages in the Gazettes of France
may be of advantage to us. They will at least give pleasure
to the Friends of the Marquis.
We have an account from Canada, how far to be relied on I
cannot say, that the Indians have surprised and plundered Micli-
illimackinac, where the English had a great amount of Stores
102 WOEKS OF MADISON. 1734.
and Merchandize, and that they have refused to treat with Sir
John Johnson.
**********
The Marquis has shewn me a passage in his letter to the
Count de Vergennes, in which he sketches the idea relative to
the Mississippi. He says he has not had time to dilate upon it,
but that his next letter will do it fully.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, October llth, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — My last, dated from this place on the 15th ultimo,
informed you of my projected trip to Fort Schuyler. I am this
moment arrived so far on my return to Virginia. My past de
lay requires so much hurry now, that I can only drop a few
lines for the packet which is to sail on the 15th instant. The
Marquis and myself were overtaken at Albany by Mr. de Mar-
bois, on the same errand with ourselves. We reached Fort
Schuyler on the 29th, and on the next day paid a visit to the
Oneida Nation, 18 miles distant. The Commissioners did not
get up till the Saturday following. We found a small portion
only of the six nations assembled; nor was the number much
increased when we quitted the scene of business. Accounts,
however, had come of deputies from more distant tribes being
on the way. The Marquis was received by the Indians with
equal proofs of attachment as have been shewn him elsewhere
in America. This personal attachment, with their supposed
predilection for his nation, and the reports propagated among
them that the Alliance between France and the United States
was transient only, led him, with the sanction of the Commis
sioners, to deliver a Speech to the Indian Chiefs, coinciding with
the object of the Treaty. The answers were very favorable in
their general tenor. Copies of both will be sent to Mon?.. de
Vcrgcnnes and the M. de Castries, by Mr. Marbois, and bo
within the reach of your curiosity. The originals were so much
1784. LETTERS. 10?
appropriated to this use during my stay with the Marquis, that
I had no opportunity of providing copies for you.
What the upshot of the Treaty will be is uncertain. The
possession of the posts of Niagara, &c., by the British is a very
inauspicious circumstance. Another is, that we are not likely
to make a figure otherwise that will impress a high idea of em
power or opulence. These obstacles will be rendered much
more embarrassing by the instructions to the Commissioners,
which, I am told, leave no space for negociation or concession,
and will consequently oblige them, in case of refusal in the In
dians to yield the ultimate hopes of Congress, to break up the
Treaty. But what will be the consequence of such an emer
gency? Can they grant a peace without cessions of territory; or
if they do, must not some other price hereafter purchase them ?
A Truce has never, I believe, been introduced with the Savages,
nor do I suppose that any provision has been made by Congress
for such a contingency.
The perseverance of the British in retaining the posts pro
duces various conjectures. Some suppose it is meant to enforce
a fulfilment of the Treaty of peace on our part. This interpre
tation is said to have been thrown out on the other side. Others,
that it is a salve for the wound given the Savages, who are
made to believe that the posts will not be given up till good
terms shall be granted them by Congress. Others, that it is
the effect merely of omission in the British Government to send
orders. Others, that it is meant to fix the fur trade in the
British channel, and it is even said that the Government of
Canada has a personal interest in securing a monopoly of at
least the crop of this season. I am informed by a person just
from Michilimackinac that this will be greater than it has been
for several seasons past, or perhaps any preceding season, and
that no part of it is allowed by the British Commanders to be
brought through the United States. From the same quarter I
learn that the posts have been lately well provisioned for the
winter, and that reliefs, if not reinforcements, of the garrisons
will take place. Col. Monroe had passed Oswego when last
heard of, and was likely to execute his plan. If I have time
104 WORKS OF MADISON. 1731.
and opportunity I will write again from Philadelphia, for
which I set out immediately; if not, from Richmond. The Mar
quis proceeded from Albany to Boston, from whence he will go,
via Rhode Island, to Virginia, and be at the Assembly. Thence
he returns into the Northern States to embark for Europe.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, October 17th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — On my arrival here I found that Mr. Short had
passed through on his way to New York, and was there at the
date of my last. I regret much that I missed the pleasure of
seeing him. The inclosed was put into my hands by Mrs. House,
who received it after he left Philadelphia. My two last, neither
of which were in cypher, were written, as will be all future
ones in the same situation, in expectation of their being read
by postmasters. I am well assured that this is the fate of all
letters, at least to and from public persons, not only in France
but all the other Countries of Europe. Having now the use of
my cypher, I can write without restraint.
In my last I gave you a sketch of what passed at Fort Schuy-
ler during my stay there; mentioning in particular that the
Marquis had made a speech to the Indians, with the sanction
of the Commissioners, Wolcot, Lee, and Butler. The question
will probably occur how a foreigner, and a private one, could
appear on the theatre of a public Treaty between the United
States and the Indian nations, and how the Commissioners
could lend a sanction to it. Instead of offering an opinion of
the measure, I will state the manner in which it was brought
about. It seems that most of the Indian tribes, particularly
those of the Iroquois, retain a strong predilection for the French,
and most of the latter an enthusiastic idea of the Marquis.
This idea has resulted from his being a Frenchman, the figure
he has made during the war, and the arrival of several impor
tant events which he foretold to them soon after he came to this
country. Before he went to Fort Schuyler, it had been sug-
1784. LETTERS. 105
gested, either in compliment or sincerity, that his presence and
influence might be of material service to the treaty. At Albany,
the same thing had been said to him by General Wolcot. On
his arrival at Fort Schuyler, Mr. Kirkland recommended an
exertion of his influence as of essential consequence to the treaty,
painting in the strongest colours the attachment of the Indians
to his person, which seemed indeed to be verified by their
caresses, and the artifices employed by the British partizans to
frustrate the objects of the treaty, among which was a pretext
that the alliance between the United States and France was
insincere and transitory, and, consequently, the respect of the
Indians for the latter ought to be no motive for their respecting
the former. Upon these circumstances, the Marquis grounded a
written message to the Commissioners before they got up, inti
mating his disposition to render the United States any service
his small influence over the Indians might put in his power, and
desiring to know what the Commissioners would chuse him to
say. The answer, in Mr. Lee's hand, consisted of polite ac
knowledgments, and information that the Commissioners would
be happy in affording him an opportunity of saying whatever
he- might wish, forbearing to advise or suggest what it would
be best for him to say. The Marquis perceived the caution,
but imputed it to Lee alone.
As his stay was to be very short, it was necessary for him to
take provisional measures before the arrival of the Commis
sioners, and particularly for calling in the Oneida Chiefs, who
were at their town. It fell to my lot to be consulted in his
dilemma. My advice was, that he should invite the Chiefs in
such a way as would give him an opportunity of addressing
them publicly, if on a personal interview with the Commission
ers it should be judged expedient, or of satisfying their expec
tations with a friendly entertainment in return for the civilities
his visit to their town had met with. This advice was ap
proved; but the Indians brought with them such ideas of his
importance as no private reception would probably have been
equal to. When the Commissioners arrived, the Marquis con
sulted them in person. They were reserved; he was embar-
WORKS OF MADISON. 1734.
rassed. Finally, they changed their plan, and concurred explicit
ly in his making a Speech in form. He accordingly prepared
one, communicated it to the Commissioners, and publickly pro
nounced it, the Commissioners premising such an one as was
thought proper to introduce his. The answer of the Sachems,
as well as the circumstances of the audience, denoted the high
est reverence for the orator. The Chief of the Oneidas said
that the word which he had spoken to them early in the war
had prevented them from being misled to the wrong side of it.
During this scene, and even during the whole stay of the Mar
quis, he was the only conspicuous figure. The Commissioners
were eclipsed. All of them probably felt it. Lee complained
to me of the immoderate stress laid on the influence of the Mar
quis, and evidently promoted his departure. The Marquis was
not insensible of it, but consoled himself with the service which
he thought the Indian Speech would witness that he had ren
dered to the United States. I am persuaded that the transac
tion is also pleasing to him in another view, as it will form a
bright column in the Gazettes of Europe. As it is blended
with the proceedings of the Commissioners, it will probably not
be published in America very soon.
The time I have lately passed with the Marquis has given me
a pretty thorough insight into his character. With great nat
ural frankness of temper, he unites much address and very con
siderable talents. In his politics, he says his three hobby-horses
are the alliance between France and the United States, the
union of the latter, and the manumission of the Slaves. The
two former are the dearer to him, as they are connected with
his personal glory. The last does him real honor, as it is a
proof of his humanity. In a word, I take him to be as amiable
a man as can be imagined, and as sincere an American as any
Frenchman can be; one whose past services gratitude obliges
us to acknowledge, and whose future friendship prudence re
quires us to cultivate.
The Committee of the States have never reassembled. The
case of Longchamps has been left both by the Legislative and
Executive of this State to its Judiciary course. He is sentenced
1784. LETTERS. 107
to a fine of 100 crowns, to two years7 imprisonment, and security
for good behaviour for seven years. On tuesday morning I set
off for Richmond, where I ought to be to-morrow, but some de
lays have put it out of my power.
The ramble I have taken has rather inflamed than extin
guished my curiosity to see the Northern and N. W. Country.
If circumstances be favorable, I may probably resume it next
summer. Present my compliments to Miss Patsy, for whom, as
well as yourself, Mrs. House charges me with hers. She has
lately had a letter from poor Mrs. Trist, every syllable of which
is the language of affection itself. She had arrived safe at the
habitation of her deceased Husband, but will not be able to
leave that country till the spring, at the nearest. The only
happiness she says she is capable of, is to receive proofs that her
friends have not forgotten her. I do not learn what is likely
to be the amount of the effects left by Mr. T.; former accounts
varied from 6 to 10,000 dollars.
I am, my dear Sir, yours very affect6'7.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, November — , 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor without date was brought by thurs-
day's post. It inclosed a cypher, for which I thank you, and
which I shall make use of as occasion may require, though, from
the nature of our respective situations, its chief value will be
derived from your use of it. General Washington arrived here
on Sunday last, and the Marquis on thursday. The latter came
from Boston in a French frigate. They have both been ad
dressed and entertained in the best manner that circumstances
would admit. These attentions, and the balloting for public
offices, have consumed the greatest part of the past week. Mr.
Jones is put into the place of Mr. Short; Mr. Roane and Mr. M.
Selden are to go into those of Mr. M. Smith and Col. Chris
tian, who are the victims to that part of the Constitution which
108 WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
directs a triennial purgation of the Council. The vote is not
to take effect till the Spring, but was made now in consequence
of the discontinuance of the spring session. The rejected Candi
dates were Col. Bland, Cyrus Griffin, G. Webb, W. C. Nicholas,
Mr. Breckenridge, Col. Carrington. The latter was within one
vote of Mr. Selden; Col. B., Mr. N., and Mr. B., had, as nearly
as I recollect, between 20 and 30 votes; Mr. G. & Mr. W.
very few. Mr. H. Innes, late Judge of the Kentucky Court,
is to succeed Walker Daniel, late Attorney General, in that
District. His competitor was Mr. Stuart, who was about 15
votes behind.
I am, dear sir, your's sincerely.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, November 14th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — I had intended by this post to commence our
correspondence with a narrative of what' has been done and is
proposed to be done at the present Session of the General As
sembly, but, by your last letter to Mr. Jones, I find that it is
very uncertain whether this will get to Trenton before you leave
it for Virginia. I cannot, however, postpone my congratula
tions on your critical escape from the danger which lay in am
bush for you, and your safe return to Trenton. My ramble ex
tended neither into the dangers nor gratifications of yours. It
was made extremely pleasing by sundry circumstances, but
would have been more so, I assure you, Sir, if we had been eo-
temporarys in the route we both passed.
The Indians begin to be unquiet, we hear, both on the North
West and South East sides of the Ohio. The Spaniards are
charged with spurring on the latter. As means of obviating
the dangers, the House of Delegates have resolved to authorize
the Executive to suspend the surveying of land within the un-
purchased limits, and to instruct the Delegation to urge in Con
gress Treaties with the Southern Indians, and negociations
1781. LETTERS. 109
with Spain touching the Mississippi. They also propose to set
on foot surveys of Potowmac and James Rivers, from their falls
to their sources. But their principal attention has been, and is
still, occupied with a scheme proposed for a General Assess
ment; 47 have carried it against 32. In its present form it ex
cludes all but Christian sects. The Presbyterian Clergy have
remonstrated against any narrow principles, but indirectly favor
a more comprehensive establishment. I think the bottom will
be enlarged, and that a trial will be made of the practicability
of the project. The successor to Mr. Harrison is not yet ap
pointed or nominated. It is in the option of Mr. Henry, and I
fancy he will not decline the service. There will be three va
cancies in the Council, for which no nominations have been
made. Mr. C. Griffith will probably be named, and Mr. W.
Nicholas. Mr. Roane is also spoken of.
I am, dear sir, your's sincerely.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, Nov* 27th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 15th instant came to hand by
thursday's post. Mine by the last post acknowledged your pre
ceding one. The umbrage given to the Commissioners of the
United States by the negociations of New York with the In
dians was not altogether unknown to me, though I am less ac
quainted with the circumstances of it than your letter supposes.
The idea which I at present have of the affair leads me to say,
that as far as New York may claim a right of treating with In
dians for the purchase of lands within her limits, she has the
Confederation on her side; as far as she may have exerted that
right in contravention of the General Treaty, or even unconfi-
dentially with the Commissioners of Congress, she has violated
both duty and decorum. The federal Articles give Congress the
exclusive right of managing all affairs with the Indians not mem-
WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
lers of any State, under a proviso, that the Legislative authority
of the State within its own limits be not violated. By Indians
not members of a State, must be meant those, I conceive, who
do not live within the body of the Society, or whose persons or
property form no objects of its laws. In the case of Indians of
this description, the only restraint on Congress is imposed by
the Legislative authority of the State.
If this proviso be taken in its full latitude, it must destroy
the authority of Congress altogether, since no act of Congress
within the limits of a State can be conceived which will not in
some way or other encroach upon the authority of the State.
In order, then, to give some meaning to both parts of the sen
tence, as a known rule of interpretation requires, we must re
strain this proviso to some particular view of the parties. What
was this view ? My answer is, that it was to save to the States
their right of pre-emption of lands from the Indians. My rea
sons are: 1. That this was the principal right formerly exerted
by the Colonies with regard to the Indians. 2. That it was a
right asserted by the laws as well as the proceedings of all of
them, and therefore, being most familiar, would be most likely
to be in contemplation of the parties. 3. That being of most
consequence to the States individually, and least inconsistent
with the general powers of Congress, it was most likely to be
made a ground of compromise. 4. It has been always said that
the proviso came from the Virginia Delegates, who would nat
urally be most vigilant over the territorial rights of their con
stituents. But whatever may be the true boundary between
the authority of Congress and that of New York, or however
indiscreet the latter may have been, I join entirely with you in
thinking that temperance on the part of the former will be the
wisest policy.
I concur with you equally with regard to the ignominious
secession at Annapolis. As Congress are too impotent to pun
ish such offences, the task must finally be left to the States, and
experience has shewn, in the case of Howell, that the interposi
tion of Congress against an offender, instead of promoting his
17,94. LETTERS. HI
chastisement, may give him a significaney which he otherwise
would never arrive at, and may induce a State to patronize an
act which of their own accord they would have punished.
I am sorry to find the affair of Mr. de Marbois taking so se
rious a face. As the insult was committed within the jurisdic
tion of Pennsylvania, I think you are right in supposing the
offender could not be transferred to another jurisdiction for
punishment. The proper questions, therefore, are: 1. Whether
the existing law was fully put in force against him by Pennsyl
vania? 2. Whether due provision has been made by that State
against like contingencies ? Nothing seems to be more difficult
under our new Governments than to impress on the attention
of our Legislatures a due sense of those duties which spring
from our relation to foreign nations.
Several of us have been labouring much of late in the General
Assembly here to provide for a case with which we are every
day threatened by the eagerness of our disorderly citizens for
Spanish plunder and Spanish blood. It has been proposed to
authorise Congress, whenever satisfactory proof shall be given
to them by a foreign power of such a crime being committed by
our citizens within its jurisdiction as by the law of Nations calls
for a surrender of the offender, and the foreign power shall
actually make the demand, [to require his surrender from the
Executive of the State,] and that the Executive may, at the in
stance of Congress, apprehend and deliver up the offender.
That there are offences of that class is clearly stated by Vattel
in particular, and that the business ought to pass through Con
gress is equally clear. The proposition was a few days ago
rejected in Committee of the whole. To-day, on the report of
the Committee, it has been agreed to by a small majority. This
is the most material question that has agitated us during the
week past.
The Bill for a Religious Assessment has not been yet brought
in. Mr. Henry, the father of the scheme, is gone up to his seat
for his family, and will no more sit in the House of Delegates —
a circumstance very inauspicious to his offspring. An attempt
112 WORKS OF MADISON. 1784
will be made for Circuit Courts, and Mr. Jones has it in contem
plation to try whether any change has taken place in the senti
ments of the House of Delegates on the subject of the Treaty.
He will write to you by this post, and I refer to him for what I
may have omitted.
With sincere regard and esteem, I am. dear sir, your friend
and serv1.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
RICHMOND, Novr 27th, 1784.
HOND SIR, — Having a moment's time to drop you a line, I in
form you that the Bill for confirming surveys against subsequent
entries has been negatived by a large majority, rather on the
principle that it was unnecessary and retrospective than that
it was unjust in itself. On the contrary, all the principal gen
tlemen were of opinion that it was just, but already provided for
by the law. Mr. limes, the late Judge of the Kentucky Court,
in particular, told me he thought such surveys could not be
overset. You will have heard of the vote in favor of the Gen
eral Assessment. The bill is not yet brought in, and I question
whether it will; or if so, whether it will pass. This day a vote
passed without a dissent for Circuit Courts. What opposition
may be made to its passage I know not.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, December 4th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — On Saturday last a proposition was agreed to
for establishing Circuit Courts throughout this Commonwealth,
and yesterday a bill for that purpose was reported. On Wednes
day next it will undergo a discussion of the Committee of
the whole. The circumstances under which it has passed thus
1784. LETTERS. 113
far seem to promise a favorable issue, but the dangers which it
is yet to go through are formidable. They proceed from latent
and interested objections, which have on several former occa
sions proved fatal to similar attempts. The plan is pretty
analogous to the Nisi prius established in England.
On Tuesday, sundry propositions were made by Mr. Jones
in favor of the 4th Article of the Treaty of peace. They passed
by a large majority, with blanks as to the length of time to be
given for the payment of the principal, and for disallowing the
interest. The former was filled up with seven years, in prefer
ence to 10, 8, 6, and 5, which were contended for on different
sides. The latter, with the period between April 19th, 1775,
and March 3d, 1783, in preference to the period between the
first date and May, 1784, the date of the exchange of ratifica
tions. The bill will probably pass, but not, I fear, without some
improper ingredients, and particularly some conditions relative
to the North Western posts, or the Negroes, which lye without
our province.
The bill for the Religious Assessment was reported yesterday,
and will be taken up in a Committee of the whole next week.
Its friends are much disheartened at the loss of Mr. Henry.
Its fate is, I think, very uncertain. Another Act of the House
of Delegates during the present week is a direction to the Exec
utive to carry into effect the vote of a Bust to [of?] the Marquis
de Lafayette, to be presented to the City of Paris, and to cause
another to be procured to be set up in tins Country. These
resolutions are so contrived as to hide as much as possible the
circumstance in the original vote of the bust being to be pre
sented to the Marquis himself. I find by a letter from General
Washington that he was on the 28 ult. just setting out to
accompany the Marquis to Annapolis, and thence to Baltimore.
The latter may therefore soon be expected at Trenton. He
has been much caressed here, as well as everywhere else on his
Tour, and I make no doubt he will leave Congress with equal
reason to be pleased with his visit. I meant to have sent you
a copy of the Resolutions touching the Busts, but have been
disappointed in getting one. They were offered by Mr. Jones,
VOL. i. 8
WORKS OF MADISON. 1784.
and agreed to unanimously, as they no doubt will also be in the
Senate.
Wishing you all happiness, I aui, dear sir, your's sincerely.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, December 17th, 1784.
DEAR SIR- * * * * *
Our progress in the Revisal has been stopped by the waste
of time produced by the inveterate and prolix opposition of its
adversaries, and the approach of Christmas. The Bill propor
tioning crimes and punishments was the one at which we stuck,
after wading through the most difficult parts of it. A few sub
sequent bills, however, were excepted from the postponement.
Among these was the Bill for establishing Religious freedom,
which has got through the House of Delegates without altera
tion, though not without warm opposition. Mr. Mercer and
Mr. Corbin were the principal Combatants against it.
Mr. Jones is well.
With sincerity, I am, your affectionate friend.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, December 24th, 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 14th instant came to hand on
thursday. A proposition was made a few days ago for this
State to empower Congress to carry into effect the imposts, as
soon as twelve States should make themselves parties to it. It
was rejected on the following grounds: 1. That it would pre
sent a disagreeable aspect of our affairs to foreign Nations. 2.
That it might lead to other combinations of lesser numbers of
the States. 3. That it would render Rhode Island an inlet for
clandestine trade. 4. That it would sour her temper still
1784. LETTERS. 115
further, at a crisis when her concurrence in some general and
radical amendment of the Confederation may be invited by
Congress. 5. That the chance is almost infinitely against a
union of twelve States on such new ground, and consequently
the experiment would be only a fresh display of the jarring
policy of the States, and afford a fresh triumph and irritation
to Rhode Island.
The act empowering Congress to surrender Citizens of this
State to the Sovereign demanding them, for certain crimes com
mitted within his jurisdiction, has passed. Congress are to
judge whether the crimes be such as according to the Law of
Nations warrant such demand, as well as whether the fact be
duly proven. Concurrent provision is made for punishing such
offences by our own laws, in case no such demand be made to
or be not admitted by Congress, and legal proof can be had.
The latter law extends to offences against the Indians. As
these tribes do not observe the law of Nations, it was supposed
neither necessary nor proper to give up citizens to them. The
act is not suspended on the concurrence of any other State, it
being judged favorable to the interest of this though no other
should follow the example, and a fit branch of the federal pre
rogative. The Bill for Assize Courts has passed the Senate
without any material amendment, is enrolled, and waits only to
be examined by the Committee and signed by the Speakers.
The General Assessment, on the question for engrossing it, was
yesterday carried by 44 against 42. To-day its third reading
was put off till November next, by 45 against 37, or there
abouts, and it is to be printed for consideration of the people.
Much business is still on the table, but we shall probably rise
about New-year's day.
I am, dear sir, with sincere regard, your friend and serv*.
WORKS OF MADISON.
[Notes of speech made by Mr. Madison in the House of Delegates of Virginia,
at the autumnal session of 1784, in opposition to the General assessment Bill for
support 01 Religious teachers:]
I. Rel. not within purview of civil authority.
Tendency of estab8 Xnty. 1. To project of uniformity. 2.
To penal laws for support15 it.
Progress of Gen1 Asses1 proves this tendency.
Difference between establish8 and tolerating error.
True question not, Is Relig. necess7 ? but —
II. Are Rel. Estabts necess7 for religion ? No.
1. Propensity of man to Religion.
2. Experience shews relig. corrupted by Estab*8.
3. Downfall of States mentioned by Mr. Henry happened
where there was estab*.
4. Experience gives no model of Gen1 Assess*.
5. Case of Pa. explained; not solitary; N. J. See Constn of
it; R. I, N. J., D.
6. Case of primitive Xnty; of reformation; of Dissenters for
merly.
7. Progress of Religious liberty.
III. Policy.
1. Promote emigrations from State.
2. Prevent immigration into it, as asylum.
IV. Necessity of Estab* inferred from state of country; true
causes of disease.
1. War. ) Common to other States, and produce same
2. Bad laws. ) complaints in N. E.
3. Pretext from taxes.
4. State of Administration of justice.
5. Transition from old to new plan.
6. Policy and hopes of friends to G1 Assess*.
True remedies: Not Estab1. — but bring out of war.
1. Laws to cherish virtue.
2. Administration of justice.
3. Personal example. Associations for Rel.
4. By present vote cut off hope of Gen. Assess*.
1784. LETTERS. 117
5. Education of youth.
V. Probable defects of Bill when prepared.
What is Xnty ? courts of law to decide.
Is it Trinitarianisra, arianism, socinianism ? Is it salvation by
faith, or works also? <fec., &c., &c.
Ends in what is orthodoxy, what Heresy.
VI. Dishonors Christianity.
Panegyric on it, on our side.
Declan of Rights.
TO RICH0 H. LEE.
RICHMOND. 25 Dec., 1784.
DEAR SIR, — Be pleased to accept my congratulations on the
event which has given to your talents a station in which they
cannot fail to be equally useful to the public and honorable to
yourself.* I offer them with the greater pleasure, too, as such
an event is a proof that Congress have unfettered themselves
from a rule which threatened to exclude merit from a choice in
which merit only ought to prevail.
The assize Bill has, since my last, past into a law. The Sen
ate made no material change in it, but gave an almost unani
mous suffrage to it. The only hesitation with them was between
that plan and another, which would have rendered the circuit
courts independent of the general court. The former, which
follows the English model, unites the advantages of a trial of
facts, where facts can be ascertained with greatest certainty and
cheapness, with a decision of law, where such decision can be
made with most wisdom and uniformity. The advantage of the
latter consisted in removing the inconveniency of making up
the issues and awarding the judgments in the general court,
which it was supposed would increase expense, if not delay, and
particularly require the service of a double number of lawyers.
Experience will probably shew that the latter supposition is
exaggerated, and that the system preferred is at least the best
to begin with.
Mr. Lee had just been elected President of Congress.
WORKS OF MADISON. 173 1.
The general assessment bill was ordered to be engrossed by
forty-four against forty-two, and has since, by forty-five against
thirty-seven, been postponed till November next, and is to be
printed for immediate consideration. An act incorporating the
Episcopal church has passed in a form less offensive than the
one proposed at the last Session. The Bill for payment of Brit
ish debts was under debate yesterday; its passage seems prob
able, but there is reason to fear that attempts will yet be made
to trammel it. It still takes seven years for payment, though
the Glasgow merchants have signified their assent to four years.
The merchants of this town and Petersburg have remonstrated
against the idea of giving the British merchants a summary re
covery at the periods of the instalments. The Bill for opening
the Potowmac is suspended on the result of a conference. Gen
eral Washington. General Gates, and Colonel Blackburn, are
commissioned to hold conferences with Maryland on the sub
ject. A Bill for opening James River, on a different plan, has
passed the House of Delegates. A Bill will also probably
pass for surveying the waters of those two rivers to their
sources, the country between them and the western waters, and
the latter down to the Ohio. It will also probably provide for
a survey of the different routes for a communication between
the waters of Elizabeth River and those of North Carolina.
In the course of last week a proposition was made to em
power Congress to collect the Impost within this State [Vir
ginia] as soon as twelve States should unite in the scheme. The
arguments which prevailed against it were the unfavorable as
pect it would present to foreigners; the tendency of the example
to inferior combinations; the field it would open for contraband
trade; its probable effect on the temper of Rhode Island, which
might thwart other necessary measures requiring the unanimity
of the States; the improbability of the union of twelve States
on this new ground, a failure of which would increase the ap
pearance of discord in their policy, and give fresh triumph and
irritation to Rhode Island.
I have not yet found leisure to scan the project of a Conti
nental Convention with so close an eye as to have made up any
178A. LETTERS.
observations worthy of being mentioned to you. In general, I
hold it for a maxim, that the Union of the States is essential to
their safety against foreign danger and internal contention;
and that the perpetuity and efficacy of the present system can
not be confided in. The question therefore is, in what mode
and at what moment the experiment for supplying the defects
ought to be made. The answer to this question cannot be given
without a knowledge greater than I possess of the temper and
views of the different States. Virginia seems, I think, to have
excellent dispositions towards the Confederacy, but her assent
or dissent to such a proposition would probably depend on the
chance of its having no opponent capable of rousing the preju
dices and jealousies of the Assembly against innovations, par
ticularly such as will derogate from their own power and im
portance. Should a view of the other States present no objec
tions against the experiment, individually, I would wish none
to be presupposed here.
With great esteem and regard, I am, dear sir, your obt and
hum. serv1.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, January 1, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — I was yesterday honored with yours of the 28th
ultimo, accompanying the Report of the Conferees, <fcc., &c.
The latter has been laid before the House of Delegates, and a
committee appointed to report a Bill and Resolutions corres
ponding with those of Maryland. The only danger of miscar
riage arises from the impatience of the members to depart, and
the bare competency of the present number. By great efforts
only they have been detained thus long. I am not without
hopes, however, that the business of the Potowmac at least will
be provided for before the adjournment, and some provision now
depending be compleated in favor of James River. Before the
receipt of your dispatches a Bill had been passed by the House
120 WORKS OF MADISON.
of Delegates for surveying the former as well as the latter river,
on a plan which we shall endeavour, by concert with the Sen
ate, to accommodate to the provisions of Maryland. A Reso
lution has passed both Houses instructing the Commissioners,
appointed in June last to settle with Maryland Commissioners
the jurisdiction of the Potowmac, to join in a representation to
Pennsylvania on the subject of the waters of the Ohio within her
limits. This instruction ought rather to have been committed to
the late conference; but when the Commission, under which you
attended it, passed, I was confined to my room, and it did not
occur to any other member. And, indeed, if I had been well, the
haste which necessarily prevailed might have precluded me from
comprehending the object within your mission, especially as I
had not previously digested my ideas on the subject, nor accu
rately examined the text of the Confederation. It were to be
wished too, I think, that the application to Pennsylvania on the
subject of the road could have been blended with that of the
River. As it is, it will, I think, be best to refer it, after the
example of Maryland, to the Executive. I beg you, Sir, to ex
cuse the brevity which our hurry has imposed upon me. As
soon as I have leisure, I will endeavour to make amends by a
fuller communication on this subject.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, 8th January. 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Yours of the 18th ultimo came to hand yester
day. The view which it gives of the operations of the Cabinet
portends, I fear, a revival of those intrigues and contests of
ambition which have more than once distracted and dishonoured
the National Councils. Foreign appointments have generally
been the parents of those mischiefs, and ought for that reason,
when no other reasons oppose, to be rendered as unfrcquent as
may be.
The union between R. H. Lee and R. R. Livingston* would
* On the appointment of Mr. Jefferson to the Court of Spain.
17S5. LETTERS. 121
have been among the last of my predictions, nor can I fathom
the principle on which it is founded.
The policy of healing the variance between the United States
and Great Britain is no doubt obvious; but I cannot enter into
the suspicions entertained of hostile designs in the latter. Her
internal situation renders them extremely improbable, and the
affairs of Ireland, as I conceive, absolutely incredible. What
could she hope for or aim at ? If the late war was folly, a new
one for the same object would be downright phrensy. Her ill-
humour is the natural consequence of disappointed and disarmed
ambition, and her disregard of the Treaty may, if not be justi
fied, at least be accounted for by what has passed in the United
States. Let both parties do what neither can deny its obliga
tion to do, and the difficulty is at an end.
The contest with Spain has a more dangerous root. Not
only the supposed interests, but the supposed rights of the par
ties are in direct opposition. I hope, however, that both par
ties will ponder the consequences before they suffer amicable
negociation to become abortive. The use of the Mississippi is
given by nature to our Western Country, and no power on
Earth can take it from them. Whilst we assert our title to it,
therefore, with a becoming firmness, let us not forget that we
cannot ultimately be deprived of it, and that, for the present,
war is more than all things to be deprecated. Let us weigh
well, also, the object and the price, not forgetting that the At
lantic States, &c., &c I join in your wish that we had a
better Cypher, but Richmond yields as few resources for amend
ing ours as Trenton. I have not leisure myself, and can com
mand the assistance of no other person.
[Here the writer gives the same detail of the circumstances which prevented
the passage of the Bill respecting British debts as is contained in his letter of the
following day to Mr. Jefferson.]
It was unlucky that one of the two Bills thus lost should be
that which will be most likely to involve our public character.
Before this accident, we had passed the Bill for opening the
122 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
Potomac and a similar one for James River, together with a
third, presenting to Gen1 Washington a handsome portion of
shares in each of the companies, and had taken some other
measures for opening the commercial channel to the Western
Waters. As I shall not be in Richmond to receive any letters
which may be written hereafter, you will be so good as to ad
dress your future favors to Orange.
I am, dear sir, with sincerity, your friend and servant.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
RICHMOND, January 9th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — My last was dated in Philadelphia, October 17th.
I reached this place on the 14th day after that fixed for the
meeting of the Assembly, and was in time for the commence
ment of business. Yesterday put an end to the tedious session.
According to my promise, I subjoin a brief review of its most
material proceedings.
This act was carried through the House
An act for the estab
lishment of Courts of of Delegates against much secret repug
nance, but without any direct and open op
position. It luckily happened that the latent opposition wanted
both a mouth and a head. Mr. Henry had been previously
elected Governor, and was gone for his family. From his con
versation since, I surmise that his presence might have been
fatal. The act is formed precisely on the English pattern, and
is nearly a transcript from the bill originally penned in 1776
by Mr. Pendleton, except that writs sent blank from the Clerk
of General Court are to issue in the district, but returned to
General Court. In the Senate it became a consideration whether
the Assize Courts ought not to be turned into so many Courts
of independent and complete jurisdiction, and admitting an
appeal only to the Court of Appeals. If the fear of endanger
ing the bill had not checked the experiment, such a proposition
would probably have been sent down to the House of Delegates,
1785. LETTERS 123
where it would have been better relished by many than the
Assize plan. The objections made to the latter were, that as it
required the issues to be made up and the judgments to be
awarded in the General Court, it was but a partial relief to
suitors, and might render the service of double sets of lawyers
necessary. The friends of the plan thought these inconveni
ences, as far as they were real, outweighed by the superior
wisdom and uniformity of decisions incident to the plan; not to
mention the difference in the frequency of appeals incident to
the different plans. In order to leave as few handles as possi
ble for cavil, the bill omitted all the little regulations which
would follow of course, and will therefore need a supplement.
To give time for this provision, as well as by way of collecting
the mind of the public, the commencement of the law is made
posterior to the next session of assembly. The places fixed for
the Assize Courts are Northumberland Court House, Willianis-
burg, Accomack Court House, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg,
Brunswick Court House, King and Queen Court House, Prince
Edward Court House, Bedford Court House, Montgomery and
Washington C* Houses alternately, Staunton, Charlottesville,
Fredericksburg, Dumfries, Winchester, and Monongalia Court
House. Besides the judicial advantages hoped from this inno
vation, we consider it as a means of reconciling to our Govern
ment the discontented extremities of the State.
The subject of clearing these great riv-
An act for opening . °
and extending the navi- ers was brought lorward early in the bes-
gationofPotowmacriv- sioilj undcr the auspices Of General Wash-
An act for do. do. of ington, who had written an interesting pri
vate letter on it to Governor Harrison,
which the latter communicated to the General Assembly. The
conversation of the General, during a visit paid to Richmond
in the course of the Session, still further impressed the magni
tude of the object on sundry members. Shortly after his de
parture, a joint memorial from a number of Citizens of Virginia
and Maryland, interested in the Potowmac, was presented to
the Assembly, stating the practicability and importance of the
work, and praying for an act of incorporation, and grant of
I
124 WORKS OF MADISON. 17S5.
perpetual toll to the undertakers of it. A bill had been pre
pared at the same meeting which produced the memorial, and
was transmitted to Richmond at the same time. A like memo
rial and bill went to Annapolis, where the Legislature of Mary
land were sitting.
The Assembly here lent a ready ear to the project; but a dif
ficulty arose from the height of the tolls proposed, the danger
of destroying the uniformity essential in the proceedings of the
two States by altering them, and the scarcity of time for nego-
ciating with Maryland a bill satisfactory to both States. Short
as the time was, however, the attempt was decided on, and the
negociation committed to General Washington himself. Gen
eral Gates, who happened to be in the way, and Col. Blackburn,
were associated with him. The latter did not act; the two
former pushed immediately to Annapolis, where the sickness of
General Gates threw the whole agency on General Washing
ton. By his exertions, in concert with Committees of the two
branches of the Legislature, an amendment of the plan was
digested in a few days, passed through both houses in one day,
with nine dissenting voices only, and despatched for Richmond,
where it arrived just in time for the close of the Session. A
corresponding act was immediately introduced, and passed with
out opposition.
The scheme declares that the subscribers shall be an incorpo
rated body; that there shall be 500 shares, amounting to about
220,000 dollars, of which the States of Virginia and Maryland
are each to take 50 shares; that the tolls shall be collected in
three portions, at the three principal falls, and with the works
vest as real estate in the members of the Company; and that the
works shall be begun within one year and finished within ten
years, under the penalty of entire forfeiture.
Previous to the receipt of the act from Annapolis, a bill on
a different plan had been brought in and proceeded on for
clearing James River. It proposed that subscriptions should
be taken by Trustees, and, under their management, solemnly
appropriated to the object in view; that they should be regarded
as a loan to the State, should bear an interest of 10 per cent.,
1785. LETTERS. 125
and should entitle the subscriber to the double of the principal
remaining undischarged at the end of a moderate period; and
that the tolls to be collected should stand inviolably pledged
for both principal and interest. It was thought better for the
public to present this exuberant harvest to the subscribers than
to grant them a perpetuity in the tolls. In the case of the
Potowmac, which depended on another authority as well as our
own, we were less at liberty to consider what would be best in
itself. Exuberant, however, as the harvest appeared, it was
pronounced by good judges an inadequate bait for subscriptions,
even from those otherwise interested in the work, and on the
arrival and acceptance of the Potowmac plan, it was found
advisable to pass a similar one in favor of James River. The
circumstantial variations in the latter are: 1. The sum to be
aimed at in the first instance is 100,000 Dollars only. 2. The
shares, which are the same in number with those of Potowmac,
are reduced to 200 dollars each, and the number of public shares
raised to 100. 3. The tolls are reduced to half of the aggre
gate of the Potowmac tolls. 4. In case the falls at this place,
where alone tolls are to be paid, shall be first opened, the Com
pany are permitted to receive the tolls immediately, and con
tinue to do so till the lapse of ten years, within which the whole
river is to be made navigable. 5. A right of pre-emption is
reserved to the public on all transfers of shares. These acts
are very lengthy, and having passed in all the precipitancy
which marks the concluding stages of a session, abound, I fear,
with inaccuracies.
In addition to these acts, joint resolutions have passed the
Legislatures of Maryland and Virginia for clearing a road from
the head of the Potowmac navigation to Cheat river, or if
necessary to Monongalia, and 3, 333^ Dollars are voted for the
work by each State.* Pennsylvania is also to be applied to by
the Governors of the two States for leave to clear a road
through her jurisdiction, if it should be found necessary, from
Potowmac to Yohogania; to which the Assembly here have
* Jour., p. 91.
126 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
added a proposition to unite with Maryland in representing to
Pennsylvania the advantages which will accrue to a part of her
citizens from opening the proposed communication with the Sea,
and the reasonableness of her securing to those who arc to be
at the expence the use of her waters as a thoroughfare to and
from the Country beyond her limits, free from all imposts and
restrictions whatever, and as a channel of trade with her citi
zens, free from greater imposts than may be levied on any other
channel of importation.* This Resolution did not pass till it
was too late to refer it to General Washington's negotiations
with Maryland. It now makes a part of the task allotted to
the Commissioners who are to settle with Maryland the juris
diction and navigation of Potowmac, below tide water. By
another Resolution of this State, persons are to be forthwith
appointed by the Executive to survey the upper parts of James
River, the country through which a road must pass to the navi
gable waters of New River, and these waters down to the
Ohio.t I am told by a member of the Assembly, who seems to
be well acquainted both with the intermediate ground and with
the western waters in question, that a road of 25 or 30 miles in
length will link these waters with James River, and will strike
a branch of the former which yields a fine navigation, and falls
into the main stream of the Kenhawa below the only obstruc
tions lying in this river down to the Ohio. If these be facts,
James River will have a great superiority over Potowmac, the
road from which to Cheat river is, indeed, computed by General
Washington at 20 miles only, but he thinks the expence of
making the latter navigable will require a continuation of the
road to Monongalia, which will lengthen it to 40 miles. The
road to Yohogania is computed by the General at 30 miles.
By another resolution, Commissioners are to be appointed to
survey the ground for a canal between the waters of Elizabeth
river and those of North Carolina, and in case the best course
for such a canal shall require the concurrence of that State, to
concert a joint plan and report the same to the next session of
* Jour., p. 101. f Idem, p. 102.
1785. LETTERS. 127
Assembly.* Besides the trade which will flow through this
channel from North Carolina to Norfolk, the large district of
Virginia watered by the Roanoake will be doubled in its value
by it.
An act vesting in G. The Treasurer is by this actf directed
Washington a certain in- to subscribe 50 shares in the Potowmac
terest in the Companies
for opening James and and 100 shares m the James River Com
panies, which shall vest in General Wash
ington and his heirs. This mode of adding some substantial to
the many honorary rewards bestowed on him was deemed least
injurious to his delicacy, as well as least dangerous as a prece
dent. It was substituted in place of a direct pension, urged on
the House by the indiscreet zeal of some of his friends. Though
it will not be an equivalent succour in all respects, it will save
the General from subscriptions which would have oppressed his
finances; and if the schemes be executed within the period fixed,
may yield a revenue for some years before the term of his. if At
all events, it will demonstrate the grateful wishes of his Country,
and will promote the object which he has so much at heart.
The earnestness with which he espouses the undertaking is
hardly to be described, and shews that a mind like his, capable
of great views, and which has long been occupied with them,
cannot bear a vacancy; and surely he could not have chosen an
occupation more worthy of succeeding to that of establishing
the political rights of his Country than the patronage of works
for the extensive and lasting improvement of its natural advan
tages; works which will double the value of half the lands
within the Commonwealth, will extend its commerce, link with
its interests those of the Western States, and lessen the emigra
tion of its citizens by enhancing the profitableness of situations
which they now desert in search of better.
An act to discharge Our successive postponements had thrown
the people of this Com- the whole tax of 1784 on the year 1785.
monwealtb from one . . "
half of the tax for the The remission, therefore, still leaves three
year 1785. halves to be collected. The plentiful crops
* Jour., p. 102. f Jour., p. 105-6-7. J Sic in MS.
128 WORKS OF MADISON 1785.
on hand both of Corn and Tobacco, and the price of the latter,
which is vibrating on this river between 36s. and 40s., seem
to enable the country to bear the burden. A few more plen
tiful years, with steadiness in our councils, will put our credit
on a decent footing. The payments from this State to the
Continental treasury between April, 1783, and November,
1784, amount to £123,202 11s. 1-Jd., Virginia currency. The
printed report herewith inclosed will give you a rude idea of
our finances.
J. Rumsey, by a memorial to the last
An act giving James * J
Rumsey the exclusive session, represented that he had invented
I±^J&££ * mechanism by which a boat might be
tain boats for a limited worked with little labor, at the rate of
from 25 to 40 miles a day, against a stream
running at the rate of 10 miles an hour, and prayed that the
disclosure of his invention might be purchased by the public.
The apparent extravagance of his pretensions brought a ridi
cule upon them, and nothing was done. In the recess of the
Assembly, he exemplified his machinery to General Washington
and a few other gentlemen, who gave a certificate of the reality
and importance of the invention, which opened the ears of the
Assembly to a second memorial. The act gives a monopoly for
ten years, reserving a right to abolish it at any time by paying
£10,000. The inventor is soliciting similar acts from other
States, and will not, I suppose, publish the secret till he either
obtains or despairs of them.
This act authorises the surrender of a
An act for punishing ... „ n . ... . .
certain offences injuri- citizen to a foreign Sovereign within whose
thTs Commomv^th7 °f ackno ^ledged jurisdiction the citizen shall
commit a crime, of which satisfactory proof
shall be exhibited to Congress, and for which, in the judgment
of Congress, the law of nations exacts such surrender. This
measure was suggested by the danger of our being speedily em
broiled with the nations contiguous to the United States, par
ticularly the Spaniards, by the licentious and predatory spirit
of some of our western people. In several instances gross out
rages are said to have been already practiced. The measure
1785. LETTERS. 129
was warmly patronized by Mr. Henry and most of the forensic
members, and no less warmly opposed by the Speaker and some
others. The opponents contended that such surrenders were
unknown to the law of nations, and were interdicted by our
declaration of rights. Yattel, however, is express as to the
case of Robbers, murderers, and incendiaries. Grotius quotes
various instances in which great offenders have been given up
by their proper Sovereigns to be punished by the offended Sov
ereigns. Puffendorf only refers to Grotius. I have had no
opportunity of consulting other authorities.
With regard to the Bill of rights, it was alledged to be no
more, or, rather, less violated by considering crimes committed
against other laws as not falling under the notice of our own, and
sending our citizens to be tried where the cause of trial arose,
than to try them under our own laws without a jury of the vicin
age, and without being confronted with their accusers or wit
nesses; as must be the case, if they be tried at all for such offences
under our own laws. And to say that such offenders should
neither be given up for punishment, nor be punished within their
own Country, would amount to a licence for every aggression,
and would sacrifice the peace of the whole community to the
impunity of the worst members of it. The necessity of a qual
ified interpretation of the bill of rights was also inferred from
the law of the Confederacy which requires the surrender of our
citizens to the laws of other States, in cases of treason, felony,
or other high misdemesnors. The act provides, however, for a
domestic trial in cases where a surrender may not be justified
or insisted upon, and in cases of aggressions on the Indians.
An act for incorpora- This act Declares the Ministers and Ves-
ting the Protestant Epis- tries, who are to be triennially chosen in
each parish, a body corporate, enables them
to hold property not exceeding the value of £800 per annum,
and gives sanction to a Convention, which is to be composed of
the clergy and a lay deputy from each parish, and is to regulate
the affairs of the Church. It was understood by the House of
Delegates that the Convention was to consist of two laymen for
VOL. i. 9
130 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
each clergyman, and an amendment was received for that ex
press purpose. It so happened that the insertion of the amend
ment did not produce that effect, and the mistake was never
discovered till the bill had passed and was in print. Another
circumstance still more singular is, that the act is so construed
as to deprive the vestries of the uncontrolled right of electing
Clergymen, unless it be referred to them by the canons of the
Convention, and that this usurpation actually escaped the eye
both of the friends and adversaries of the measure, both parties
taking the contrary for granted throughout the whole progress
of it. The former, as well as the latter, appear now to be dis
satisfied with what has been done, and will probably concur in
a revision, if not a repeal of the law. Independently of these
oversights, the law is in various points of view exceptionable.
But the necessity of some sort of incorporation for the purpose
of holding and managing the property of the Church could not
well be denied, nor a more harmless modification of it now ob
tained. A negative of the bill, too, would have doubled the
eagerness and the pretexts for a much greater evil, a general
Assessment, which, there is good ground to believe, was parried
by this partial gratification of its warmest votaries.
A Resolution for a legal provision for the "teachers of th-e
Christian Religion " had early in the session been proposed by
Mr. Henry, and, in spite of all the opposition that could be
mustered, carried by 47 against 32 votes. Many petitions from
below the blue ridge had prayed for such a law; and though
several from the Presbyterian laity beyond it were in a contrary
stile, the Clergy of that sect favored it. The other sects seemed
to be passive. The Resolution lay some weeks before a bill
was brought in, and the bill some weeks before it was called
for; after the passage of the incorporating act it was taken up,
and, on the third reading, ordered by a small majority to be
printed for consideration. The bill, in its present dress, pro
poses a tax of blank per cent, on all taxable property, for sup
port of Teachers of the Christian Religion. Each person when
he pays his tax is to name the society to which he dedicates it,
1785. LETTERS. 131
and in case of refusal to do so, the tax is to be applied to the
maintenance of a school in the County. As the bill stood for
some time, the application in such cases was to be made by the
Legislature to pious uses. In a committee of the whole it was
determined, by a majority of 7 or 8, that the word " Christian "
should be exchanged for the word " Religious." On the report
to the House, the pathetic zeal of the late Governor Harrison
gained a like majority for reinstating discrimination. Should
the bill pass into a law in its present form, it may and will be
easily eluded. It is chiefly obnoxious on account of its dishon
orable principle and dangerous tendency.
The subject of the British debts underwent a reconsideration
on the motion of Mr. Jones. Though no answer had been re
ceived from Congress to the Resolutions passed at the last ses
sion, a material change had evidently taken place in the mind
of the Assembly, proceeding in part from a more dispassionate
view of the question, in part from the intervening exchange of
the ratifications of the Treaty. Mr. Henry was out of the way.
His previous conversation, I have been told, favored the recon
sideration; the Speaker, the other champion at the last session
against the Treaty, was at least half a proselyte. The propo
sition rejected interest during the period of blank, and left the
periods of payment blank. In this form it was received with
little opposition, and by a very great majority. After much
discussion and several nice divisions, the first blank was filled
up with the period between the 19 of April, 1775, and the 3d
of March, 1783, the commencement and cessation of hostilities;
and the second, with seven annual payments. Whilst the bill
was depending, some proceedings of the Glasgow Merchants
were submitted to the House of Delegates, in which they signi
fied their readiness to receive their debts in four annual pay
ments, with immediate security and summary recoveries at the
successive periods, and were silent as to the point of interest.
Shortly after were presented memorials from the Merchants of
this Town and Petersburg, representing the advantage which a
compliance with the Glasgow overtures would give the foreign
over the domestic creditors. Very little attention seemed to be
132 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
paid by the House to the overtures, tho', as the Treaty was not
to be literally pursued, the shadow of assent from the other
party ,vas worthy of being attended to. In the Senate, the bill
met with a diversity of opinions. By a majority of one voice
only an attempt to put all our domestic debts on the same foot
ing with British debts was lost. Whether this was sincere, or
a side blow at the bill, I am unable to say. An attempt was
next made to put on the same footing all those who left this
Country and joined the other side, or who remained within the
British territories for one year at any time since the 19th April,
1775, or who refused a tender of paper money before January,
1779. These discriminations were almost unanimously disagreed
to by the House of Delegates. The Senate insisted. The former
proposed a conference. The Senate concurred. The Conference
produced a proposition from the House of Delegates, to which
the Senate assented; but before the assent was notified, an inci
dent happened which has left the bill in a very singular situa
tion.
The delays attending this measure had spun it out to the day
preceding the one prefixed for a final adjournment. Several
of the members went over to Manchester in the evening, with
an intention, it is to be presumed, of returning the next morn
ing. The severity of the night rendered their passage back the
next morning impossible. Without them there was no house.
The impatience of the members was such as might be supposed.
Some were for stigmatizing the absentees and adjourning. The
rest were some for one thing, some for another. At length it
was agreed to wait until the next day. The next day presented
the same obstructions in the river. A canoe was sent over for
enquiry by the Manchester party, but they did not chuse to
venture themselves. The impatience increased; warm resolu
tions were agitated. They ended, however, in an agreement to
wait one day more. On the morning of the third day the pros
pect remained the same. Patience could hold out no longer,
and an adjournment to the last day of March ensued. The
question to be decided is, whether a bill which has passed the
House of Delegates, and been assented to by the Senate, but
LETTERS. 133
not sent down to the House of Delegates, nor enrolled, nor ex
amined, nor signed by the two Speakers, and consequently not
of record, is or is not a law? A bill for the better regulation
of the customs is in the same situation.
After the passage of the Bill for British debts through the
House of Delegates, a bill was introduced for liquidating the
depreciated payments into the Treasury, and making the debtors
liable for the deficiency. A foresight of this consequential step
had shewn itself in every stage of the first bill. It was opposed
by Governor Harrison principally, and laid asleep by the refu
sal of interested members to vote on the question, and the want
of a quorum without them.
Among the abortive measures may be mentioned, also, a prop
osition to authorise the collection of the impost by Congress as
soon as the concurrence of twelve States should be obtained.
Connecticut had set the example in this project. The proposi
tion was made by the Speaker, and supported by the late Gov
ernor. It was disagreed to by a very large majority on the
following grounds: 1. The appearance of a schism in the Con
federacy which it would present to foreign eyes. 2. Its ten
dency to combinations of smaller majorities of the States. 3.
The channel it would open for smuggling; goods imported into
Rhode Island in such case might not only be spread by land
through the adjacent States, but if slipped into any neighbour
ing port, might thence be carried, duty-free, to any part of the
associated States. 4. The greater improbability of a union of
twelve States on such new ground than of the conversion of
Rhode Island to the old one. 5. The want of harmony among
the other States which would be betrayed by the miscarriage
of such an experiment, and the fresh triumph and obstinacy
which Rhode Island would derive from it.
The French vice Consul in this State has complained to the
Assembly that the want of legal power over our Sheriffs, Goal-
ers, and prisons, both renders his decrees nugatory, and ex
poses his person to insults from dissatisfied litigants. The As
sembly have taken no step whatever on the subject, being at a
loss to know what ought to be done, in compliance either with
134 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
general usage or that of France in particular. I have often
wondered that the proposed Convention between France and
the United States for regulating the consular functions has
never been executed. The delay may prove unfriendly both to
their mutual harmony and their commerce.
Mr. Henry was elected successor to Mr. Harrison without
competition or opposition. The victims to the article requiring
a triennial removal of two counsellors were Merriwether Smith
and General Christian. Young Mr. Roane and Mr. Miles Sel-
den take their places. Mr. Short's place is filled by Mr. Joseph
Jones.
Nothing has passed during the session concerning an amend
ment of the State Constitution. The friends of the undertaking
seem to be multiplying rather than decreasing. Several Peti
tions from the Western side of the Blue ridge appeared in favor
of it, as did some from the Western side of the Alleghany pray
ing for a separate Government. The latter may be considered
all of them as the children of Arthur Campbell's ambition. The
Assize Courts and the opening of our rivers are the best answers
to them.
The Revisal has but just issued from the press. It consists
of near 100 folio pages in a small type. I shall send you six
copies by the first opportunity. £500 was voted at the Spring
Session to each of the acting members of the Committee, but no
fund having been provided for payment, no use could be made
of the warrants. I drew yours, however, and carried them up
to Orange, where they now lye. A vote of this Session has pro
vided a fund which gives them immediate value. As soon as I
get home I shall send the dead warrants to Mr. Nich8 Lewis,
who may exchange them for others, and draw the money from
the Treasury.
1785. LETTERS. 135
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
ORANGE, March 10th. 1785.
MY DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 12th ult. canie safe to
hand through the conveyance of Capt. Barber, together with
the several articles inclosed. The letter from Mr. Jefferson
speaks of the state of things on the llth of November on the
other side of the Atlantic as follows: "The lamp of war is
kindled here, not to be extinguished but by torrents of blood.
The firing of the Dutch on an Imperial vessel going down the
Scheld has been followed by the departure of the Imperial Min
ister from the Hague without taking leave. Troops are in mo
tion on both sides towards the Scheld, but probably nothing
will be done till the Spring. This Court has been very silent
as to the part they will act. Yet their late Treaty with Hol
land, as well as a certainty that Holland would not have pro
ceeded so far without assurance of aid, furnish sufficient ground
to conclude they will side actively with the Republic. The
King of Prussia, it is believed, will do the same. He has
patched up his little disputes with Holland and Dantzic. The
prospect is, that Holland, France, Prussia, and the Porte, will
be engaged against the two Imperial Courts. England, I think,
will remain neutral. Their hostility has attained an incredible
height. Notwithstanding this, they expect to keep our trade
and cabotage to themselves by the virtue of their proclamation.
They have no idea that we can so far act in concert as to estab
lish retaliating measures. Their Irish affairs will puzzle them
extremely. Should things get into confusion there, perhaps they
will be more disposed to wish a friendly connection with us.
The Congress which met on the 25th of October consisted of
deputies from 8 Counties only. They came to resolutions on
the reform of Parliament and adjourned to the 20th of January,
recommending to the other Counties to send deputies then."
I learn from an intelligent person lately from Kentucky, that
the Convention there produced nothing but a statement of griev
ances and a claim of redress. The topic of independence was
not regularly brought forward at all, and scarcely agitated
WORKS OF MADISON.
without doors. It is supposed that the late extension of the
tax on patents, which, as it stood before, is on the list of griev
ances, will turn the scale in favor of that measure.
TO MARQUIS FAYETTE.
ORANGE, March 20th, 178.3.
MY DEAR SIR. — Your favour of the 15th, continued on the
17th of December, came very slowly, but finally safe to hand.
The warm expressions of regard which it contains are extremely
flattering to me; and the more so as they so entirely correspond
with my own wishes for everything which may enter into your
happiness.
You have not erred in supposing me out of the number of
those who have relaxed their anxiety concerning the navigation
of the Mississippi. If there be any who really look on the use
of that river as an object not to be sought or desired by the
United States, I cannot but think they frame their policy on
both very narrow and very delusive foundations. It is true, if
the States which are to be established on the waters of the Mis
sissippi were to be viewed in the same relation to the Atlantic
States as exists between the heterogeneous and hostile Societies
of Europe, it might not appear strange that a distinction, or
even an opposition of interests, should be set up. But is it
true that they can be viewed in such a relation? Will the set
tlements which are beginning to take place on the branches of
the Mississippi be so many distinct societies, or only an expan
sion of the same society? So many new bodies, or merely the
growth of the old one ? Will they consist of a hostile or a for
eign people, or will they not be bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh ? Besides the confederal band within which they will
be comprehended, how much will the connection be strength
ened by the ties of friendship, of marriage, and consanguinity ?
ties which, it may be remarked, will be even more numerous
between the ultramontane and the Atlantic States than between
1785. LETTERS. 137
any two of the latter. But viewing this subject through the
medium least favorable to my ideas, it still presents to the
United States sufficient inducements to insist on the navigation
of the Mississippi. Upon this navigation depends essentially
the value of that vast field of territory which is to be sold for
the benefit of the common Treasury; and upon the value of this
territory, when settled, will depend the portion of the public
burdens of which the old States will be relieved by the new.
Add to this the stake which a considerable proportion of those
who remain in the old States will acquire in the new by adven
tures in land, either on their own immediate account or that of
their descendants.
Nature has given the use of the Mississippi to those who may
settle on its waters, as she gave to the United States their
independence. The impolicy of Spain may retard the former,
as that of Great Britain did the latter. But as Great Britain
could not defeat the latter, neither will Spain the former. Na
ture seems on all sides to be reasserting those rights which have
so long been trampled on by tyranny and bigotry. Philosophy
and Commerce are the auxiliaries to whom she is indebted for
her triumphs. Will it be presumptuous to say, that those na
tions will shew most wisdom, as well as acquire most glory,
who, instead of forcing her current into artificial channels, en
deavour to ascertain its tendency and to anticipate its effects?
If the United States were to become parties to the occlusion of
the Mississippi, they would be guilty of treason against the
very laws under which they obtained and hold their national
existence.
The repugnance of Spain to an amicable regulation of the
use of the Mississippi is the natural offspring of a system which
everybody but herself has long seen to be as destructive to her
interest as it is dishonorable to her character. An extensive
desert seems to have greater charms in her eye than a flourish
ing but limited empire: nay, than an extensive, flourishing em
pire. Humanity cannot suppress the wish that some of those
gifts which she abuses were placed by just means in hands that
would turn them to a wiser account. What a metamorphosis
138 WORKS OP MADISON. 1785.
would the liberal policy of France work in a little time on the
Island of New Orleans? It would to her be a fund of as much
real wealth as Potosi has been of imaginary wealth to Spain.
It would become the Grand Cairo of the new World.
The folly of Spain is not less displayed in the means she em
ploys than in the ends she prefers. She is afraid of the growth
and neighbourhood of the United States, because it may endan
ger the tranquility of her American possessions; and to obviate
this danger she proposes to shut up the Mississippi. If her
prudence bore any proportion to her jealousy, she would sec
that if the experiment were to succeed it would only double
the power of the United States to disturb her, at the same time
that it provoked a disposition to exert it; she would see that
the only offensive weapon which can render the United States
truly formidable to her is a navy, and that if she could keep their
inhabitants from crossing the Appalachian ridge, she would only
drive to the Sea most of those swarms which would otherwise
direct their course to the Western Wilderness. She should re
flect, too, that as it is impossible for her to destroy the power
which she dreads, she ought only to consult the means of pre
venting a future exertion of it. What are those means? Two,
and two only. The first is a speedy concurrence in such a
treaty with the United States as will produce a harmony, and
remove all pretexts for interrupting it. The second, which
would in fact result from the first, consists in favouring the ex
tension of their settlements. As these become extended, the
members of the Confederacy must be multiplied, and along with
them the wills which are to direct the machine. And as the
wills multiply, so will the chances against a dangerous union
of them. We experience every day the difficulty of drawing
thirteen States into the same plans. Let the number be doubled,
and so will the difficulty. In the multitude of our Counsellors,
Spain may be told, lies her safety.
If the temper of Spain be unfriendly to the views of the Uni
ted States, they may certainly calculate on the favorable senti
ments of the other powers of Europe, at least of all such of them
as favored our Independence. The chief advantages expected
1783. LETTERS. 139
in Europe from that event center in the revolution it was to
produce in the commerce between the new and the old World.
The commerce of the United States is advantageous to Europe
in two respects: first, by the unmanufactured produce which
they export; secondly, by the manufactured imports which they
consume. Shut up the Mississippi and discourage the settle
ments on its waters, and what will be the consequence? First, a
greater quantity of subsistence must be raised within the ancient
settlements, the culture of tobacco, indigo, and other articles for
exportation, be proportionably diminished, and their price pro-
portionably raised on the European consumer. Secondly, the
hands without land at home being discouraged from seeking it
where alone it could be found, must be turned in a great degree
to manufacturing, our imports proportionably diminished, and a
proportional loss fall on the European manufacturer. Establish
the freedom of the Mississippi, and let our emigrations have free
course, and how favorably for Europe will the consequence be
reversed? First, the culture of every article for exportation
will be extended, and the price reduced in favor of her con
sumers. Secondly, our people will increase without an increase
of our manufacturers, and in the same proportion will be in
creased the employment and profit of hers.
These consequences would affect France, in common with the
other commercial nations of Europe; but there are additional
motives which promise the United States her friendly wishes and
offices. Not to dwell on the philanthropy which reigns in the
heart of her Monarch, and which has already adorned his head
with a crown of laurels, he cannot be inattentive to the situa
tion into which a controversy between his antient and new
allies would throw him, nor to the use which would be made
of it by his watchful adversary. Will not all his councils, then,
be employed to prevent this controversy; will it not be seen, as
the pretensions of the parties directly interfere, it can be pre
vented only by a dissuasive interposition on one side or the
other; that on the side of the United States such an interposi
tion must, from the nature of things, be unavailing; or if their
pretensions for a moment be lulled, they would but awake with
140 WORKS OF MADISON.
fresh energy, and, consequently, that the mediating influence of
France ought to be turned wholly on the side of Spain? The
influence of the French Court over that of Spain is known to
be great. In America it is supposed to be greater than per
haps it really is. The same may be said of the intimacy of the
Union between the two nations. If this influence should not
be exerted, this intimacy may appear to be the cause. The
United States consider Spain as the only favorite of their Ally
of whom they have ground to be jealous; and whilst France
continues to hold the first place in their affections, they must at
least be mortified at any appearance that the predilection may
not be reciprocal.
The Mississippi has drawn me into such length, that I fear
you will have little patience left for anything else. I will spare
it as much as possible. I hear nothing from Congress except
that Mr. Jay has accepted his appointment, and that no successor
has yet been chosen to Doctor Franklin. Our Legislature made
a decent provision for remittances due for 1785 from Virginia
to the Treasury of the United States, and very extensive pro
vision for opening our inland navigation. They have passed
an act vesting in General Washington a considerable interest
in each of the works on James River and Potowmac, but with
an honorary rather than lucrative aspect. Whether he will
accept it or not I cannot say. I meant to have sent you a copy
of the Act, but have been disappointed in getting one from Rich
mond. They also passed an act for reforming our juridical
System, which promises salutary effects; and did not pass the
act for the corrupting our Religious s}T?tem. Whether they
passed an act for paying British debts or not they do not know
themselves. Before the bill for that purpose had got through
the last usual forms, the want of members broke up the House.
It remains, therefore, in a situation which has no precedent, and
without a precedent lawyers and legislators are as much at a
loss as a mariner without his compass.
The subjects in which you interested yourself were all re
ferred to the Executive with power to do, what I hope they
will do better than the Assembly. I understood before I left
1785. LETTERS. 141
Richmond that you would receive officially from the Governor
a copy of the Resolutions which I sent you. I received a letter
a few days ago from Mr. Mercer, written in the bosom of wed
lock at Mr. Sprigg's; another at the same time from Monroe,
who was well at New York. I have nothing to say of myself
but that I have exchanged Richmond for Orange, as you will
have seen by the above date; that I enjoy a satisfactory share
of health; that I spend the chief of my time in reading, and the
chief of my reading, on Law; that I shall hear with the great
est pleasure of your being far better employed; and that I am.
with most affectionate esteem, your obt friend and serv*.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORAXGE, March 21st. 1785.
DEAR SIR — **********
I do not wonder at the paragraph which you have copied from
Mr. Jay's letter to Congress. His feelings are such as every
one must possess who is worthy of the station which he holds.
If the Office of foreign affairs be a proper one, and properly
filled, a reference of all foreign despatches to it in the first in
stance is so obvious a course, that any other disposition of them
by Congress seems to condemn their own establishment, to af
front the Minister in office, and to put on him a label of caution
against that respect and confidence of the Ministers of foreign
powers which are essential to his usefulness. I have always
conceived the several ministerial departments of Congress to
be provisions for aiding their counsels as well as executing
their resolutions, and that consequently, whilst they retain the
right of rejecting the advice which may come from either of
them, they ought not to renounce the opportunity of making use
of it. The foreign department is, I am sensible, in several re
spects the most difficult to be regulated, but I cannot think the
question arising on Mr. Jay's letter is to be numbered among
the difficulties. The practice of Congress during the adminis-
142 WORKS OF MADISON.
tration of his predecessor was never fixed, and frequently im
proper, and I always suspected that his indifference to the place
resulted, in part at least, from the mortifications to which this
unsteadiness subjected him.
You will not be disappointed at the barrenness which is hence
to mark the correspondence on my part. In the recess of the
Legislature few occurrences happen which can be interesting,
and, in my retired situation, few even of these fall within my
knowledge. The situation of Mr. Jones will probably make
his correspondence a more productive one. He has probably
already mentioned to you the advances which Kentucky was
said to be making towards an independent Government. It is
certain that a Convention has been held, which might have been
set on foot with an eye to such an event; but I learn from an
intelligent person lately from that district, that its deliberations
turned altogether on the pressure of certain acts of the General
Assembly, and terminated in a vote of application for redress.
He supposes, however, that the late extension of the tax on
patents will give a successful handle to those who wish to accel
erate a separation. This tax as it stood before was in the first
class of their grievances.
You will, I expect, receive this from the hands of Mr. Burn
ley, a young gentleman of my neighborhood, who has passed
with reputation thro7 Mr. Wythe's School, and has since taken
out his forensic diploma. Your civilities to him will be well
placed, and will confer an obligation on me. If Col. Grayson
has recovered from the gout, which, I hear, arrested him in the
moment of his intended departure, and is with you, be so kind
as to make my best respects to him.
1 am, dear sir, with sincere regard and esteem, your obedient
friend and serv.
1785. LETTERS. 143
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, April 12th, 1785.
DEAR SIR — *
The appointment of Mr. Adams to the Court of Great Britain
is a circumstance which does not contradict my expectations;
nor can I say that it displeases me. Upon Geographical con
siderations New England will always have one of the principal
appointments, and I know of no individual from that quarter
who possesses more of their confidence, or would possess more
of that of the other States; nor do I think him so well fitted
for any Court of equal rank as that of London. I hope it has
removed all obstacles to the establishment of Mr. Jefferson at
the Court of France.
Will not Congress soon take up the subject of Consular ar
rangements? I should suppose them at least of equal moment
at present with some of the higher appointments which are likely
to occupy them. Our friend Mr. Maury is waiting, with a very
inconvenient suspension of his other plans, the event of the offer
he has made of his services. I find he considers Ireland as the
station next to be desired after that of England. He conceives,
and I believe very justly, that the commercial intercourse be
tween that Country and this will be very considerable, and
merits our particular cultivation.
I suppose, from your silence on the subject, that the Western
posts are still in the hands of Great Britain. Has the subject
of the vacant lands to be disposed of been revived? What
other measures are on foot or in comtemplation for paying off
the public debts? What payments have been made of late into
the public Treasury? It is said here that Massachusetts is
taking measures for urging Rhode Island into the Impost, or
rendering the Scheme practicable without her concurrence. Is
it so?
How many of the States have agreed to change the 8th Article
of the Confederation? The Legislature of this State passed a
law for complying with the provisional Act of Congress for
executing that article as it now stands; the operation of which
114 WORKS OF MADISON. 178,3.
confirms the necessity of changing the article. The law re
quires, as the Act of Congress does among other things, a list
of the Houses. If the list does not discriminate the several
kinds of Houses, how can Congress collect from it the value of
the improvements, how do justice to all their constituents?
And how can a discrimination be made in this country, where
the variety is so infinite and so unsusceptible of description ?
If Congress govern themselves by number alone, this Country
will certainly appeal to a more accurate mode of carrying the
present rule of the confederation into practice. The average
value of the improvements in Virginia is not one-fourth, perhaps
not one-tenth, of that of the improvements in Pennsylvania or
New England. Compare this difference with the proportion
between the value of improvements and that of the soil, and
what an immense loss shall we be taxed with? The number of
buildings will not be a less unjust rule than the number of acres
for estimating the respective abilities of the States.
The only proceeding of the late Session of Assembly which
makes a noise through the Country is that which relates to a
General Assessment. The Episcopal people are generally for
it, though I think the zeal of some of them has cooled. The
laity of the other sects are equally unanimous on the other side.
So are all the Clergy, except the Presbyterian, who seem as
ready to set up an establishment which is to take them in as
they were to pull down that which shut them out. I do not
know a more shameful contrast than might be found between
their memorials on the latter and former occasion.
In one of your letters received before I left Richmond you
expressed a wish for a better cypher. Since my return to
Orange I have been able to get one made out, which will answer
every purpose. I will either enclose it herewith or send it by
the gentleman who is already charged with a letter for you. I
wish much to throw our correspondence into a more regular
course. I would write regularly every week if I had a regular
conveyance to Fredericksburg. As it is, I will write as often
as I can find conveyances. The business of this neighborhood
which used to go to Fredericksburg is in a great measure
1785. LETTERS. 145
turned towards Richmond, which is too circuitous a channel.
Opportunities in every direction, however, will be henceforward
multiplied by the advance of the season. If you are not afraid
of too much loading the mail, I could wish you to enclose in
your letters the last N. Y. or Philadelphia paper.
I am, dear Sir, yours most sincerely.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, April 27th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — I have received your two favors of Novr llth
and December 8th. Along with the former I received the two
pamphlets on animal magnetism and the last aeronautic expe
dition, together with the phosphoretic matches. These articles
were a great treat to my curiosity. As I had left Richmond
before they were brought thither by Col. Le Maire, I had no
opportunity of attending myself to your wishes with regard to
him; but I wrote immediately to Mr. Jones, and desired him to
watch over the necessities of Le Maire. He wrote me for an
swer that the Executive, though without regular proof of his
claims, were so well satisfied from circumstances of the justice
of them, that they had voted him <£150 for his relief 'till the
Assembly could take the whole into consideration. This infor
mation has made me easy on the subject, though I have not
withdrawn from the hands of Mr. Jones the provisional re
source.
I thank you much for your attention to my literary wants.
All the purchases you have made for me are such as I should
have made for myself with the same opportunities. You will
oblige me by adding to them the Dictionary, in 13 vol., 4°, by
Felice and others. Also, de Thou, in French. If the utility of
Moreri be not superseded by some better work, I should be glad
to have him, too. I am afraid, if I were to attempt a catalogue
of my wants, I should not only trouble you beyond measure, but
VOL. i. 10
146 WORKS OF MADISON. ITS').
exceed the limits which other considerations ought to prescribe
to me. I cannot, however, abridge the commission you were
so kind as to take on yourself in a former letter, of procuring
me from time to time such books as may be either "old and
curious, or new and useful." Under this description will fall
those particularized in my former letters, to wit : Treatises on
the ancient or modern Federal Republics, on the Law of Na
tions, and the History, natural and political, of the new World;
to which I will add such of the Greek and Roman authors,
where they can be got very cheap, as are worth having, and
are not on the common list of school classics. Other books
which particularly occur are the translation (French) of the
historians of the Roman Empire during its decline, by - — ;
Pascal's provincial letters; Don Ulloa in the original; Lin
naeus' best edition; Ordonnauces ^Jarines; Collection of Tract,?
in French on the economies of different nations, I forget the full
title. It is much referred to by Smith on the Wealth of Nations.
I am told a Monsr Amelot has lately published his travels into
China, which, if they have any merit, must be very entertaining.
Of Buffon, I have his original work of 31 vols., 10 vols. of sup
plement, and 16 vols. on birds. I shall be glad of the contin
uation as it may from time to time be published.
I am so pleased with the new invented lamp that I shall not
grudge two guineas for one of them. I have seen a pocket
compass of somewhat larger diameter than a watch, and which
may be carried in the same way. It has a spring for stopping
the vibration of the needle when not in use. One of these would
be very convenient in case of a ramble into the Western coun
try. In my walks for exercise or amusement objects frequently
present themselves which it might be matter of curiosity to in
spect, but which it is difficult or impossible to approach. A
portable glass would consequently be a source of many little
gratifications. I have fancied that such an one might be fitted
into a case without making it too heavy. On the outside of
the tube might be engraved a scale of inches, &c. If such a
project could be executed for a few guineas, I should be willing
1785. LETTERS. 147
to submit to the price; if not, the best substitute, I suppose,
will be a pocket telescope, composed of several tubes so con
structed as to slide the lesser into the greater.
I should feel great remorse at troubling you with so many
requests if your kind and repeated offers did not stifle it in
some measure. Your proposal for my replacing here advances
for me without regard to the exchange is liable to no objec
tion, except that it will probably be too unequal in my favour.
I beg that you will enable me as much as you can to keep these
little matters balanced.
The papers from Le Grand were sent, as soon as I got them,
to Mr. Jones, with a request that he would make the use of
them which you wished me to do.
Your remarks on the tax on transfers of land in a general
view appear to me to be just, but there were two circumstances
which gave a peculiarity to the case in which our law adopted
it. One was, that the tax will fall much on those who are eva
ding their quotas of other taxes by removing to Georgia and
Kentucky; the other, that as such transfers are more frequent
among those who do not remove in the Western than the East
ern part of the Country, it will fall heaviest where direct taxes
are least collected. With regard to the tax in general on law
proceedings, it cannot, perhaps, be justified, if tried by the strict
rule which proportions the quota of every man to his ability;
time, however, will gradually in some measure equalize it, and
if it be applied to the support of the Judiciary establishment,
as was the ultimate view of the periods of the tax, it seems to
square very well with the Theory of taxation.
The people of Kentucky had lately a Convention, which it
was expected would be the mother of a separation. I am in
formed they proceeded no farther than to concert an address to
the Legislature on some points in which they think the laws
bear unequally upon them. They will be ripe for that event, at
least as soon as their interest calls for it. There is no danger
of a concert between them and the Counties West of the Al-
leghany, which we mean to retain. If the latter embark in
a scheme for independence, it will be on their own bottom.
148 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
They are more disunited in every respect from Kentucky than
from Virginia.
I have not learnt with certainty whether General Washing
ton will accept or decline the shares voted him by the Assembly
in the companies for opening our rivers. If he does not chuse
to take to himself any benefit from the donation, he has, I think,
a fine opportunity at once of testifying his disinterested pur
poses, of shewing his respect for the Assembly, and of render
ing a service to his Country. He may accept the gift so far as
to apply it to the scheme of opening the rivers, and may then
appropriate the revenue which it is hereafter to produce to some
patriotic establishment. I lately dropped a hint of this sort to
one of his friends, and was told that such an idea had been sug
gested to him. The private subscriptions for Potowmac, I hear,
amount to £1 0,000 Sterling. I cannot discover that those for
James River deserve mention, or that the undertaking is pushed
with any spirit. If those who are most interested in it let slip
the present opportunity, their folly will probably be severely
punished for the want of such another. It is said the under
taking on the Susquehannah by Maryland goes on with great
spirit and expectations. I have heard nothing of Rumsey or
his boats since he went into the Northern States. If his ma
chinery for stemming the current operates on the water alone,
as is given out, may it not supply the great desideratum for
perfecting the balloons?
I understand that Chase and Jenifer on the part of Maryland,
Mason and Henderson on the part of Virginia, have had a meet
ing on the proposition of Virginia for settling the navigation
and jurisdiction of Potowmac below the falls, and have agreed
to report to the two Assemblies the establishment of a concur
rent jurisdiction on that river and Chesapeake. The most am
icable spirit is said to have governed the negociation.
The Bill for a general Assessment has produced some fer
mentation below the mountains, and a violent one beyond them.
The contest at the next session on this question will be a warm
and precarious one. The port bill will also undergo a fiery
trial. I wish the Assize Courts may not partake of the dan-
1785. LETTERS. 149
ger. The elections, as far as they have come to my knowledge,
are likely to produce a great proportion of new members. In
Albemarle, young Mr. Fry has turned out Mr. Carter. The late
Governor Harrison, I hear, has been baffled in his own county,
but meant to be a Candidate in Surry, and in case of a rebuif
there, to throw another die for the borough of Norfolk. I do
not know how he construes the doctrine of residence. It is
surmised that the machinations of Tyler, who fears a rivalship
for the Chair, are at the bottom of his difficulties. Arthur Lee
is elected in Prince William. He is said to have paved the way
by promises to overset the port bill, which is obnoxious to Dum
fries, and to prevent the removal of the Assize Court from this
town to Alexandria.
I received a letter from the Marquis Fayette, dated on the
eve of his embarcation, which has the following paragraph: " I
have much conferred with the General upon the Potowmac sys
tem. Many people think the navigation of the Mississippi is
not an advantage, but it may be the excess of a very good thing,
viz: the opening of your rivers. I fancy it has not changed
your opinion, but beg you will write me on the subject; in the
meanwhile I hope Congress will act coolly and prudently by
Spain, who is such a fool that allowances must be made." It
is unlucky that he should have left America with such an idea
as to the Mississippi. It may be of the worst consequence, as
it is not wholly imaginary, the prospect of extending the Com
merce of the Atlantic States to the Western waters having
given birth to it. I cannot believe that many minds are tainted
with so illiberal and short-sighted a policy. I have thought it
not amiss to write the Marquis according to the request of his
letter, and have stated to him the motives and obligations which
must render the United States inflexible on the subject of the
Mississippi, the folly of Spain in contesting it, and our expec
tations from the known influence of France over Spain, and her
friendly dispositions toward the United States. It is but jus
tice to the Marquis to observe that, in all our conversations on
the Mississippi, he expressed with every mark of sincerity a zeal
for our claims and a pointed dislike to the National Character
150 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
and policy of Spain; and that if his zeal should be found to
abate, I should construe it to be the effect of a supposed revolu
tion in the sentiments of America.
This would have been of somewhat earlier date, but I
postponed it that I might be able to include some information
relative to your Nephews. My last informed you that your
eldest was then with Mr. Maury. I was so assured by Mr.
Underwood, from his neighborhood, who I supposed could not
be mistaken; I afterwards discovered that he was so, but could
get no precise information 'till within a few days. One of my
brothers being called into that part of country by business, I
wrote to Mrs. Carr, and got him to wait on her. The answer
with which I have been favored imports that " her eldest son
was taken last fall with a fever, which, with repeated relapses,
kept him extremely weak and low 'till about the 1st of January,
from which time he was detained at home by delays in equip
ping him for Williamsburg 'till the 1st of April, when he set
out with promises to make up his lost time; that her youngest
son had also been detained at home by ill health till very lately,
but that he would certainly go to the academy as soon as a va
cation on hand was over; that his time had not been entirely
lost, as his brother was capable of instructing him whenever his
health would admit." Mr. Maury's school is said to be very
flourishing. Mr. Wythe and the other gentlemen of the Univer
sity have examined it from time to time, and published their
approbation of its management. I cannot speak with the same
authority as to the Academy in Prince Edward. The informa
tion which I have received has been favorable to it. In the
recommendation of these seminaries I was much governed by
the probable permanency of them; nothing being more ruinous
to education than the frequent interruptions and change of
masters and methods incident to the private schools of this
country.
Our winter has been full of vicissitudes, but, on the whole, far
from being a severe one. The spring has been uncommonly cold
and wet, and vegetation, of course, very backward, till within a
few days, during which it has been accelerated by very uncom-
1785. LETTERS 151
mon heat. A pocket thermometer which stands on the second
floor and the N. W. side of the house was, on the 24th inst., at
4 o'clock, at 77°; on the 25th, at 78; on the 26th, at 81J; to-day,
the 27th, at 82. The weather during this period has been fair,
and the wind S; the atmosphere thick N. W.; our wheat in the
ground is very unpromising throughout the country. The price
of that article on tide-water is about 6.9. Corn sells in this part
of the country at 10s. and under; below, at 15s.; and where the
insect prevailed, as high as 20s. It is said to have been raised
by a demand for exportation. Tobacco is selling on Rappahan-
nock at 32s., and Richmond at 37s. 6c£. It is generally ex
pected that it will at least get up to 40s. Some of our peaches
are killed, and most of our cherries; our apples are as yet safe.
I cannot say how it is with the fruit in other parts of the coun
try. The mischief to the cherries, &c., was done on the night
of the 20th, when we had a severe black frost.
I cannot take my leave of you without making my acknowl
edgements for the very friendly invitation contained in your
last. If I should ever visit Europe, I should wish to do it less
stinted in time than your plan proposes. This crisis, too, would
be particularly inconvenient, as it would break in upon a
course of reading which, if I neglect now, I shall probably never
resume. I have some reason, also, to suspect that crossing the
sea would be unfriendly to a singular disease of my constitu
tion. The other part of your invitation has the strongest bias
of my mind on its side, but my situation is as yet too dependent
on circumstances to permit my embracing it absolutely. It
gives me great satisfaction to find that you are looking forward
to the moment which is to restore you to your native country,
though considerations of a public nature check my wishes that
such an event may be expedited.
Present my best respects to Mr. Short and Miss Patsy, and
accept of the affectionate regards of, Dear Sir, your sincere
friend.
What has become of the subterraneous city discovered in
Siberia?
152 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
Deaths: — Thompson Mason, Bartholomew Dandridge, Ryland
Randolph, Joseph Reed of Philadela.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, April 28th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — I have written several letters within a little time
past, which were sent to you partly by the post, partly by Mr.
Burnley, a young gentleman of this county. In one of the let
ters I enclosed a cypher, which will serve all the purposes of
our future correspondence. This covers a letter from Mr. Jef
ferson, which you will be so good as to forward by the first
packet or other equally eligible conveyance. Our elections, as
far as I hear, are likely to produce a great proportion of new
members. In some counties they are influenced by the Bill for
a general assessment. In Culpeper, Mr. Pendleton, a worthy
man, and acceptable in his general character to the people, was
laid aside in consequence of his vote for the Bill, in favor of an
adversary to it. The delegates from Albemarle are your friend
Mr. W. C. Nicholas and Mr. Fry. Mr. Carter stood a poll, but
fell into the rear. The late Governor Harrison, I am told, has
been baffled in his own County, meant to be a candidate for
Surry, and in case of a rebuff there to throw another die for
the Borough of Norfolk. I do not know how he proposes to
satisfy the doctrine of residence.
I hear frequent complaints of the disorders of our coin, and
the want of uniformity in the denominations of the States. Do
not Congress think of a remedy for these evils? The regula
tion of weights and measure seem also to call for their atten
tion. Every day will add to the difficulty of executing these
works. If a mint be not established and a recoinage effected
-while the federal debts carry the money through the hands of
Congress, I question much whether their limited powers will
ever be able to render this branch of their prerogative effectual.
With regard to the regulation of weights and measures, would
it not be highly expedient, as well as honorable to the federal
1785. LETTERS. 153
administration, to pursue the hint which has been suggested by
ingenious and philosophical men, to wit: that the standard of
measure should be first fixed by the length of a pendulum vibra
ting seconds at the Equator or any given latitude; and that the
standard of weights should be a cubical piece of gold, or other
homogeneous body, of dimensions fixed by the standard of
measure? Such a scheme appears to be easily reducible to prac
tice; and as it is founded on the division of time, which is the
same at all times and in all places, and proceeds on other data
which are equally so, it would not only secure a perpetual uni
formity throughout the United States, but might lead to univer
sal standards in these matters among nations. Next to the in-
conveniency of speaking different languages, is that of using
different and arbitrary weights and measures.
I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, May 29th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of May — came to hand a few days
ago. It is fortunate that the variant ideas have been so easily
accommodated touching the mode of surveying and selling the
territorial fund. It will be equally so, I think, if you can dis
possess the British of the Western posts before the land office
is opened. On this event and the navigation of the Mississippi
will much depend the fiscal importance of the back country to
the United States. The amount of the proposed requisition
will, I fear, startle those to whom it will be addressed. The
use of certificates as a medium for discharging the interest of
the home debt is a great evil, though I suppose a necessary
one. The advantage it gives to Sharpers and Collectors can
scarcely be described, and what is more noxious, it provokes
violations of public faith more than the weight of the Burden
itself. The 1,000,000 dollars to be paid in specie, and the
greatest part of it to be sent abroad, will equally try the virtue
154 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
of the States. If they do not flinch, however, they will have
the satisfaction of coming out of the trial with more honor,
though with less money.
I have lately heard that the Kentucky Delegates will be in
structed to propose to the next session the separation of that
Country from this, and its being handed over to Congress for
admission into the Confederacy. If they pursue their object
through this channel, they will not only accomplish it without
difficulty, but set a useful example to other Western settlements
which may chuse to be lopped off from other States. My in
formation as to this matter is not authentic, but such as I am
inclined to believe true. I hear, also, that a State is actually
set up in the back country of North Carolina, that it is organ
ized, named, and has deputed representatives to Congress.
It gives me much pleasure to observe by 2 printed reports
sent me by Col. Grayson, that, in the latter, Congress had ex
punged a clause contained in the first, for setting apart a dis
trict of land in each Township for supporting the Religion of
the majority of inhabitants. How a regulation so unjust in
itself, so foreign to the authority of Congress, so hurtful to the
sale of the public land, and smelling so strongly of an anti
quated Bigotry, could have received the countenance of a Com
mittee, is truly matter of astonishment. In one view it might
have been no disadvantage to this State, in case the General
Assessment should take place, as it would have given a repel
lent quality to the new Country in the estimation of those whom
our own encroachments on Religious liberty would be calcu
lated to banish to it. But the adversaries to the assessment
begin to think the prospect here flattering to their wishes. The
printed bill has excited great discussion, and is likely to prove
the sense of the community to be in favor of the liberty now
enjoyed. I have heard of several Counties where the late rep
resentatives have been laid aside for voting for the Bill, and
not of a single one where the reverse has happened. The Pres
byterian Clergy, too, who were in general friends to the scheme,
are already in another tone, either compelled by the laity of
that sect, or alarmed at the probability of further interferences
1785. LETTERS. 155
of the Legislature if they once begin to dictate in matters of
Religion.
I am, dear sir, your's affectionately.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, 21 June, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Finding from a letter of Mr. Mazzei that you
have never been furnished with a copy of the Bill for establish
ing the Christian Religion in this State, I now inclose one,
regretting that I had taken it for granted that you must have
been supplied through some other channel. A very warm op
position will be made to this innovation by the people of the
middle and back Counties, particularly the latter. They do
not scruple to declare it an alarming usurpation on their fun
damental rights, and that though the General Assembly should
give it the form, they will not give it the validity of a law. If
there be any limitation to the power of the Legislature, partic
ularly if this limitation is to be sought in our Declaration of
Rights or form of Government. I own the Bill appears to me to
warrant this language of the people.
A gentleman of credit lately from Kentucky tells me that he
fell in with two persons on the Ohio, who were going down the
River in the character of Commissioners from Georgia, author
ized to demand from the Spanish Governor of New Orleans the
posts within the limits of that State, and a settlement of the
boundary in general between it and the Spanish possessions.
The Gentleman did not see their Commission, but entertains no
doubt of their having one. He was informed that two others
were joined in it, who had taken a different route. Should
there be no mistake in this case, you will no doubt be able to
get a full account of the Embassy. I would willingly suppose
that no State could be guilty either of so flagrant an outrage
on the federal Constitution, or of so imprudent a mode of pur-
puing their claims against a foreign nation.
WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
I observe in a late Newspaper that the commercial discon
tents of Boston are spreading to New York and Philadelphia.
Whether they will reach Virginia or not, I am unable to say.
If they should, they must proceed from a different interest; from
that of the planters, not that of the Merchants. The present
system here is as favorable to the latter as it is ruinous to the
former. Our trade was never more compleatly monopolized by
Great Britain, when it was under the direction of the British
Parliament, than it is at this moment. But as our Merchants
are almost all connected with that Country, and that only, and
as we have neither ships rior seamen of our own, nor likely to
have any in the present course of things, no mercantile com
plaints are heard. The planters are dissatisfied, and with rea
son; but they enter little into the science of commerce, and
rarely of themselves combine in defence of their interests. If
any thing could rouse them to a proper view of their situation,
one might expect it from the contrast of the market here with
that of other States. Our staple has of late been as low as a
guinea per hundred on Rappahannock, and not above 32 or 33
Shillings on James River. The current prices in Philadelphia
during the same period have been 44 shillings of this currency
for tobacco of the latter inspections, and in like proportion for
that of the former.
The prices of imports of every kind in those two markets
furnish a contrast equally mortifying to us. I have not had the
same information from other States northward of us, but I have
little doubt that it would teach us the same lesson. Our planters
cannot suffer a loss of less than fifty per cent, on the staple of
the country, if to the direct loss in the price of the staple be
added their indirect loss in the price of what they purchase
with their staple. It is difficult, notwithstanding, to make them
sensible of the utility of establishing a Philadelphia or* a Bal
timore among ourselves, as one indispensable step towards re
lief; and the difficulty is not a little increased by the pains
taken by the merchants to prevent such a reformation, and by
* By concentrating our commerce at Alexandria and Norfolk, the objoct of
the port Bill.
178:.. LETTERS. 157
the opposition arising from local views. I have been told that
Arthur Lee paved the way to his election in Prince William by
promising that, among other things, he would overset the Port
bill. Mr. Jefferson writes me that the Port Bill has been pub
lished in all the Gazettes in Europe, with the highest approba
tion every where except in Great Britain. It would indeed be
as surprising if she should be in favor of it, as it is that any
among ourselves should be against it. I see no possibility of
engaging other nations in a rivalship with her without some
such regulation of our commerce.
TO R. H. LEE.
ORANGE, July 7th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Your favonr of the 30th of May came to hand
yesterday only, having lain some time in Fredericksburg, and
finally came to Orange, via Albemarle.
I agree perfectly with you in thinking it the interest of this
country to embrace the first decent opportunity of parting with
Kentucky, and to refuse with firmness to part with any more
of our settlements beyond the Alleghany. It seems necessary,
however, that this first instance of a voluntary dismemberment
of a State should be conducted in such a manner as to form a
salutary precedent. As it is an event which will indirectly
affect the whole Confederacy, Congress ought clearly to be
made a party to it, either immediately, or by a proviso that the
partition act shall not take effect till the actual admission of
the new State into the Union. No interval whatever should be
suffered between the release of our hold on that Country and
its taking on itself the obligations of a member of the federal
body. Should it be made a separate State without this precau
tion, it might possibly be tempted to remain so, as well with
regard to the U. S. as to Virginia, by two considerations: 1.
The evasion of its share of the general debt. 2. The allure
ment which an exemption from taxes would prove to the citizens
of States groaning under them. It is very possible that such a
158 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
policy might in the end prove a disadvantageous one, but the
charms of ambition, and, at present, interest, too, often prevail
against the cool remonstrances of true policy. May we not,
also, with justice, require that a reasonable portion of the par
ticular debt of Virginia should be assumed by that part of Vir
ginia which is to set up for itself?
The arrival of Mr. Gardoqui will turn out, I hope, an auspi
cious step towards conciliating explanations and overtures with
regard to the Mississippi. Besides the general motives for ex
pediting an adjustment of this matter, the prodigious effect of
it on the sale of the back lands makes it of peculiar importance.
The same consideration presses for such arrangements with G.
B. as will give us speedy possession of the Western posts. As
to the commercial arrangements which we wish from her, I own
my expectations are far from being sanguine. In fact, what
could she get from us by concessions, which she is unwilling to
make, which she does not now enjoy?
I cannot speak with certainty as to all the States, but sure I
am that the trade of this was never more completely monopo
lized by her when it was under the direction of her own laws
than it is at this moment. Our present situation, therefore,
precisely verifies the doctrine held out in Deane's intercepted
letters. The revolution has robbed us of our trade with the
West Indies, the only one which yielded us a favorable balance,
without opening any other channels to compensate for it. What
makes the British monopoly the more mortifying, is the abuse
which they make of it. Not only the private planters, who
have resumed the practice of shipping their own Tobacco, but
many of the merchants, particularly the natives of the country,
who have no connections with G. B., have received accts of sales
this season, which carry the most visible and shameful frauds
in every article.
In every point of view, indeed, the trade of this country is in
a deplorable condition. A comparison of current prices here
with those in the Northern States, either at this time or at any
time since the peace, will shew that the loss direct on our pro
duce, and indirect on our imports, is not less than fifty per cent.
1785. LETTERS. 159
Till very lately the price of our staple has been down at 32 and
33s 3n James River; at 28s. on Rappahannock. During the
same period, the former was selling in Philadelphia, and I sup
pose in other Northern ports, at 44s. of this currency, and the
latter in proportion; though it cannot be denied that Tobacco
in the Northern ports is intrinsically worth less than it is here,
being at the same distance from its ultimate market, and bur
dened with the freight from this to the other States. The price
of merchandize here is at least as much above as that of To
bacco is below the Northern standard. *
We have had throughout the month of June, and until this
time, very hot and very wet weather. The effect of it on upland
corn has been favorable, but much the reverse on that of the
flats. It has given full opportunity to the planters to pitch
their crops of Tobacco, but though many of them have repeated
this operation several times, the grasshoppers and other noxious
insects have been so uncommonly troublesome that in many
places the prospect is likely to be much abridged. Should this
not be the case, the efforts of the country must produce the
greatest crop that has been seen since the peace. Our Wheat
in this part of the country is very indifferent. How it may be
in others I cannot say, but believe the complaints are pretty
general.
With the highest esteem and regard, Dear Sir, your obt and
very humble serv.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
ORANGE, July 26th, 1785.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your favour of the 17th inst., inclosing a
letter from Mr. Jones and a copy of the ecclesiastical Journal,
came safe to hand. If I do not dislike the contents of the lat
ter, it is because they furnish, as I conceive, fresh and forcible
arguments against the General Assessment. It may be of little
consequence what tribunal is to judge of clerical misdemeanors
160 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
o~ \ow firmly the incumbent may be fastened on the parish,
whilst the vestry and people may hear and pay him or not, as
they like. But should a legal salary be annexed to the title,
this phantom of power would be substantiated into a real mon
ster of oppression. Indeed, it appears to be so at present as
far as the Glebes and donations extend. I had seen some par
cels of these proceedings before I received your letter, and had
remarked the sprinklings of liberality to which you allude.
My conjectures, I believe, did not err as to the quarter from
which -they came.
The urgency of General Washington in the late negociation
with Maryland makes it probable, I think, that he will feel
some chagrin at the inattention to that with Pennsylvania,
which has a much nearer connection with his favorite object,
and was, moreover, suggested by himself. Shortly after the
date of my last I dropped a few lines to Col. Mason, reminding
him that some report will be expected from the Commissioners
by the Assembly, as well as of the real importance of the busi
ness. I have not yet received any answer, and begin to sus
pect that my letter may have miscarried. Your information
leads me to doubt whether he has ever been furnished with a
copy of the Resolution under which he is to proceed. I will
write to him again, and inclose one which Mr. Jones sent me.
I have a letter from the Marquis, but dated as far back as
March. It was accompanied with a Copy of a French memo
rial to the Emperor, which seems to have stifled the War in its
birth; and an Extract from a late work of Mr. Neckar, which
has made him the idol of one party in France and the execra
tion of the other. To avoid the trouble of transcribing, I send
them as they came to me. You can peruse and return them by
my brother, who is the bearer of this, or by any future oppor
tunity. The Marquis says he is doing all he can to forward our
claim to the Mississippi; that the French Ministry understand
the matter and are well disposed; but that they are apprehen
sive " Spain knows not how to give up what she once has."
I had heard of the strictures on the incorporating Act, but
without being able to pick up any of the papers in which they
1785. LETTERS. 161
are published. I have desired my brother to search them out
if he can. Perhaps you can refer him to the proper press and
numbers.
At the instance of Col. Nicholas, of Albemarle, I undertook
the draught of the inclosed remonstrance against the General
Assessment. Subscriptions to it are on foot, I believe, in sun
dry Counties, and will be extended to others. My choice is,
that my name may not be associated with it. I am not sure
that I know precisely your ideas on this subject; but were they
more variant from mine than I take them to be, I should not be
restrained from a confidential communication.
I keep up my attention, as far as I can command my time, to
the course of reading which I have of late pursued, and shall
continue to do so. I am, however, far from being determined
ever to make a professional use of it. My wish is, if possible,
to provide a decent and independent subsistence, without en
countering the difficulties which I foresee in that line. Another
of my wishes is to depend as little as possible on the labour of
slaves. The difficulty of reconciling these views has brought
into my thoughts, several projects from which advantage seemed
attainable. I have, in concert with a friend here, one at pres
ent on the anvil, which we think cannot fail to yield a decent
reward for our trouble. Should we persist in it, it will cost
me a ride to Philadelphia, after which it will go on without my
being ostensibly concerned. I forbear to particularize till I
can do it ore tenus. Should I take this ride I may possibly con
tinue it into the Eastern States; Col. Monroe having given me
an invitation to take a ramble of curiosity this fall, which I
have half a mind to accept, and among outher routes named
this. I recollect that you talked yourself of a trip last spring
as far as Lancaster. Have you laid it aside totally? Or will
your domestic endearments forbid even the trip to Bath, from
which I promised myself the happiness of taking you by the
hand in Orange? Give my warmest respects to Mrs. Randolph,
and be assured that I remain, with sincere affection, your
friend.
VOL. i. 11
1G2 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
Was the Royal assent ever given to the act of 1769, entitled
" an act to amend an act entitled, an act declaring the law con
cerning Executions and for relief of insolvent debtors."
To the Honorable the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Virginia :
A MEMORIAL AND REMONSTRANCE.
We, the subscribers, citizens of the said Commonwealth, hav
ing taken into serious consideration a Bill printed by order of
the last session of General Assembly, entitled "A Bill establish
ing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion," and
conceiving that the same, if finally armed with the sanctions of
a law, will be a dangerous abuse of power, are bound as faithful
members of a free State to remonstrate against it, and to de
clare the reasons by which we are determined. We remonstrate
against the said Bill —
1. Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable
truth, " that Religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator,
and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by rea
son and conviction, not by force or violence."* The Religion,
then, of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience
of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it, as
these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable
right. It is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depend
ing only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds,
cannot follow the dictates of other men. It is unalienable, also,
because what is here a right towards men is a duty towards the
Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator
such homage, and such only, as he believes to be acceptable to
him. This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in de
gree of obligation, to the claims of Civil society. Before any
man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must
be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe;
and if a member of Civil Society who enters into any subordi-
* Declaration Rights, Article 16.
1785> MEMORIAL, ETC.
nate Association must always do it with a reservation of his
duty to the General Authority, much more must every man who
becomes a member of any particular Civil Society do it with a
saving of his allegiance to the Universal Sovereign, We main
tain, therefore, that in matters of Religion no man's right is
abridged by the institution of Civil Society, and that Religion
is wholly exempt from its cognizance. True it is, that no other
rule exists by which any question which may divide a Society
can be ultimately determined than the will of the majority; but
it is also true that the majority may trespass on the rights of
the minority.
2. Because, if Religion be exempt from the authority of the
Society at large, still less can it be subject to that of the Legis
lative Body. The latter are but the creatures and vicegerents
of the former. Their jurisdiction is both derivative and lim
ited. It is limited with regard to the co-ordinate departments;
more necessarily is it limited with regard to the constituents.
The preservation of a free Government requires, not merely
that the metes and bounds which separate each department of
power be invariably maintained, but more especially that
neither of them be suffered to overleap the great Barrier which
defends the rights of the people. The rulers who are guilty of
such an encroachment exceed the commission from which they
derive their authority, and are Tyrants. The people who sub
mit to it are governed by laws made neither by themselves nor
by an authority derived from them, and are slaves.
3. Because it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment
on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first
duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the
late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till
usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entan
gled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences
in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying
the principle. We revere this lesson too much soon to forget
it. Who does not see that the same authority which can estab
lish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may estab
lish, with the same ease, any particular sect of Christians, in
WORKS OF MADISON.
1785
exclusion of all other sects? that the same authority which can
force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property
for the support of any one establishment, may force him to con
form to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever?
4. Because the Bill violates that equality which ought to be
the basis of every law, and which is more indispensable in pro
portion as the validity or expediency of any law is more liable
to be impeached. "If all men are by nature equally free and
independent,"* all men are to be considered as entering into
Society on equal conditions; as relinquishing no more, and
therefore retaining no less, one than another, of their natural
rights. Above all, are they to be considered as retaining an
"equal title to the free exercise of Religion according to the
dictates of conscience. "f Whilst we assert for ourselves a free
dom to embrace, to profess, and to observe, the Religion which
we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal free
dom to them whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence
which has convinced us. If this freedom be abused, it is an
offence against God, not against man. To God, therefore, not
to man, must an account of it be rendered. As the bill violates
equality by subjecting some to peculiar burdens, so it violates
the same principle by granting to others peculiar exemptions.
Are the Quakers and Menonists the only Sects who think a com
pulsive support of their Religions unnecessary and unwarrant
able? Can their piety alone be entrusted with the care of
public worship ? Ought their Religions to be endowed above
all others with extraordinary privileges, by which proselytes
may be enticed from all others? We think too favourably of
the justice and good sense of these denominations to believe
that they either covet pre-eminences over their fellow-citizens,
or that they will be seduced by them from the common opposi
tion to the measure.
5. Because the Bill implies, either that the civil Magistrate
is a competent Judge of Religious truths, or that he may em
ploy Religion as an engine of civil policy. The first is an arro-
* Declaration Rights, article 1. f Article 16.
MEMORIAL, ETC. 165
/
gant pretension, falsified by the contradictory opinions of Rulers
in all ages, and throughout the world; the second, an unhal
lowed perversion of the means of salvation.
6. Because the establishment proposed by the Bill is not
requisite for the support of the Christian Religion. To say
that it is, is a contradiction to the Christian Religion itself, for
every page of it disavows a dependence on the powers of this
world. It is a contradiction to fact, for it is known that this
Religion both existed and flourished, not only without the sup
port of human laws, but in spite of every opposition from them;
and not only during the period of miraculous aid, but long after
it had been left to its own evidence and the ordinary care of
providence. Nay, it is a contradiction in terms; for a Religion
not invented by human policy must have pre-existed and been
supported before it was established by human policy. It is,
moreover, to weaken in those who profess this Religion a pious
confidence in its innate excellence and the patronage of its
Author; and to foster in those who still reject it a suspicion
that its friends are too conscious of its fallacies to trust it to its
own merits.
7. Because experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical estab
lishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Re
ligion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen
Centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on
trial. What have been its fruits? More or less, in all places,
pride and indolence in the Clergy; ignorance and servility in
the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution. En
quire of the Teachers of Christianity for the ages in which it
appeared in its greatest lustre; those of every Sect point to the
ages prior to its incorporation with civil policy. Propose a
restoration of this primitive state, in which its Teachers de
pended on the voluntary rewards of their flocks; many of them
predict its downfall. On which side ought their testimony to
have greatest weight; when for or when against their interest?
8. Because the establishment in question is not necessary for
the support of Civil Government. If it be urged as necessary
for the support of Civil Government only as it is a means of
WORKS OF MADISON. 1785>
supporting Religion, and it be not necessary for the latter pur
pose, it cannot be necessary for the former. If Religion be not
within the cognizance of Civil Government, how can its legal
establishment be necessary to Civil Government? What in
fluence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on Civil
Society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a
spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; in many
instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political
tyranny; in no instance have they been seen the guardians of
the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the
public liberty may have found an established Clergy convenient
auxiliaries. A just Government, instituted to secure and per
petuate it, needs them not. Such a Government will be best
supported by protecting every citizen in the enjoyment of his
Religion with the same equal hand which protects his person
and his property ; by neither invading the equal rights of any
Sect, nor suffering any sect to invade those of another.
Because the proposed establishment is a departure from that
generous policy which, offering an Asylum to the persecuted
and oppressed of every Nation and Religion, promised a lustre
to our country, and an accession to the number of its citizens.
What a melancholy mark is the Bill of sudden degeneracy!
Instead of holding forth an Asylum to the persecuted, it is it
self a signal of persecution. It degrades from the equal rank
of Citizens all those whose opinions in Religion do not bend to
those of the Legislative authority. Distant as it may be in its
present form from the Inquisition, it differs from it only in de
gree. The one is the first step, the other the last, in the career
of intolerance. The magnanimous sufferer under this cruel
scourge in foreign Regions must view the Bill as a Beacon on
our Coast warning him to seek some other haven, where lib
erty and philanthropy, in their due extent, may offer a more
certain repose from his troubles.
Because it will have a like tendency to banish our citizens.
The allurements presented by other situations are every day
thinning their number. To superadd a fresh motive to emigra
tion by revoking the liberty which they now enjoy would be
ITS').
MEMORIAL, ETC. 167
the same species of folly which has dishonoured and depopulated
flourishing kingdoms.
Because it will destroy that moderation and harmony which
the forbearance of our laws to intermeddle with Religion has
produced among its several Sects. Torrents of blood have been
spilt in the old world in consequence of vain attempts of the
secular arm to extinguish Religious discord by proscribing all
differences in Religious opinion. Time has at length revealed
the true remedy. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous
policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assuage
the disease. The American theatre has exhibited proofs that
equal and complete liberty, if it does not wholly eradicate it,
sufficiently destroys its malignant influence on the health and
prosperity of the State. If, with the salutary effects of this
system under our own eyes, we begin to contract the bounds of
Religious freedom, we know no name which will too severely
reproach our folly. At least, let warning be taken at the first
fruits of the threatened innovation. The very appearance of
the Bill has transformed "that Christian forbearance, love, and
charity/'* which of late mutually prevailed, into animosities
and jealousies, which may not soon be appeased. What mis
chiefs may not be dreaded, should this enemy to the public quiet
be armed with the force of a law?
Because the policy of the Bill is adverse to the diffusion of
the light of Christianity. The first wish of those who enjoy
this precious gift ought to be, that it may be imparted to the
whole race of mankind. Compare the number of those who
have as yet received it with the number still remaining under
the dominion of false Religions, and how small is the former!
Does the policy of the Bill tend to lessen the disproportion ?
No; it at once discourages those who are strangers to the light
of revelation from coming into the Region of it, and counte
nances by example the nations who continue in darkness in
shutting out those who might convey it to them. Instead of
levelling, as far as possible, every obstacle to the victorious
* Declaration Rights, Article 16.
1(58 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
progress of truth, the Bill, with an ignoble and unchristian ti
midity, would circumscribe it with a wall of defence against the
encroachments of error.
Because attempts to enforce, by legal sanctions, acts obnox
ious to so great a proportion of citizens, tend to enervate the
laws in general, and to slacken the bands of Society. If it be
difficult to execute any law which is not generally deemed neces
sary or salutary, what must be the case where it is deemed in
valid and dangerous? And what may be the effect of so striking
an example of impotency in the Government on its general au
thority?
Because a measure of such singular magnitude and delicacy
ought not to be imposed without the clearest evidence that it is
called for by a majority of citizens; and nt) satisfactory method
is yet proposed by which the voice of the majority in this case
may be determined, or its influence secured. "The people of
the respective Counties are, indeed, requested to signify their
opinion respecting the adoption of the Bill to the next Session
of the Assembly." But the representation must be made equal
before the voice either of the Representatives or of the Counties
will be that of the people. Our hope is, that neither of the for
mer will, after due consideration, espouse the dangerous prin
ciple of the Bill. Should the event disappoint us, it will still
leave us in full confidence that a fair appeal to the latter will
reverse the sentence against our liberties.
Because, finally, "the equal right of every Citizen to the free
exercise of his Religion, according to the dictates of conscience."
is held by the same tenure with all our other rights. If we
recur to its origin, it is equally the gift of nature; if we weigh
its importance, it cannot be less dear to us; if we consult the
Declaration of those rights "which pertain to the good people
of Virginia as the basis and foundation of Government,"* it is
enumerated with equal solemnity, or rather with studied empha
sis. Either, then, we must say, that the will of the Legislature
is the only measure of their authority, and that in the plenitude
* Declaration Rights, title.
1785. LETTERS. 169
of that authority they may sweep away all our fundamental
rights, or that they are bound to leave this particular right
untouched and sacred. Either we must say, that they may con-
troul the freedom of the press, may abolish the trial by jury,
may swallow up the Executive and Judiciary powers of the
State; nay, that they may despoil us of our very right of suf
frage, and erect themselves into an independent and hereditary
Assembly; or we must say, that they have no authority to enact
into a law the Bill under consideration.
We, the subscribers, say that the General Assembly of this
Commonwealth have no such authority. And in order that no
effort may be omitted on our part against so dangerous an usur
pation, we oppose to it this remonstrance; earnestly praying,
as we are in duty bound, that the Supreme Lawgiver of the
Universe, by illuminating those to whom it is addressed, may,
on the one hand, turn their councils from every act which would
affront his holy prerogative, or violate the trust committed to
them; and on the other, guide them into every measure which
may be worthy of his blessing, redound to their own praise, and
establish more firmly the liberties, the prosperity, and the hap
piness of the Commonwealth.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, August 7th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — I received the day before yesterday your favour
of the 26th July. I had previously received the Report on the
proposed change of the 9th article of the Confederation, trans
mitted by Col. Grayson; and in my answer to him offered such
ideas on the subject as then occurred.
I still think the probability of success or failure ought to
weigh much with Congress in every recommendation to the
States; of which probability Congress, in whom information
from every State centers, can alone properly judge. Viewing
in the abstract the question whether the power of regulating
trade, to a certain degree at least, ought to be vested in Con-
170 WORKS OF MADISON. 17S5.
gress, it appears to me not to admit of a doubt but that it
should be decided in the affirmative. If it be necessary to reg
ulate trade at all, it surely is necessary to lodge the power
where trade can be regulated with effect; and experience has
confirmed what reason foresaw, that it can never be so regula
ted by the States acting in their separate capacities. They can
no more exercise this power separately than they could separ
ately carry on war, or separately form treaties of alliance or
commerce. The nature of the thing, therefore, proves the for
mer power, no less than the latter, to be within the reason of
the federal Constitution.
Much, indeed, is it to be wished, as I conceive, that no regu
lations of trade, that is to say, no restrictions on imposts what
ever, were necessary. A perfect freedom is the system which
would be my choice. But before such a system will be eligible,
perhaps, for the United States, they must be out of debt; before
it will be attainable, all other nations must concur in it. Whilst
any one of these imposes on our vessels, seamen, <fcc., in their
ports, clogs from which they exempt their own, we must either
retort the distinction, or renounce, not merely a just profit, but
our only defence against the danger which may most easily be
set us. Are we not at this moment under this very alternative?
The policy of Great Britain (to say nothing of other nations)
has shut against us the channels without which our trade with
her must be a losing one; and she has consequently the triumph,
as we have the chagrin, of seeing accomplished her prophetic
threats, that our independence should forfeit commercial advan
tages for which it would not recompence us with any new chan
nels of trade.
What is to be done? Must we remain passive victims to for
eign politics, or shall we exert the lawful means which our in
dependence has put into our hands of extorting redress? The
very question would be an affront to every citizen who loves
his country. What, then, are these means? Retaliating regu
lations of trade only. How are these to be effectuated ? Only
by harmony in the measures of the States. How is this harmony
to be obtained? Only by an acquiescence of all the States in
1785. LETTERS. 171
the opinion of a reasonable majority. If Congress, as they are
now constituted, cannot be trusted with the power of digesting
and enforcing this opinion, let them be otherwise constituted;
let their numbers be increased, let them be chosen oftener, and
let their period of service be shortened; or if any better medium
than Congress can be proposed by which the wills of the States
may be concentered, let it be substituted; or lastly, let no reg
ulation of trade adopted by Congress be in force until it shall
have been ratified by a certain proportion of the States. But
let us not sacrifice the end to the means; let us not rush on cer
tain ruin in order to avoid a possible danger.
I conceive it to be of great importance that the defects of the
federal system should be amended, not only because such amend
ments will make it better answer the purpose for which it was
instituted, but because I apprehend danger to its very existence
from a continuance of defects which expose a part, if not the
whole, of the empire to severe distress. The suffering part,
even when the minor part, cannot long respect a Government
which is too feeble to protect their interests: but when the suf
fering part comes to be the major part, and they despair of see
ing a protecting energy given to the General Government, from
what motives is their allegiance to be any longer expected?
Should Great Britain persist in the machinations which distress
us, and seven or eight of the States be hindered by the others
from obtaining relief by federal means, I own I tremble at the
anti-federal expedients into which the former may be tempted.
As to the objection against entrusting Congress with a power
over trade, drawn from the diversity of interests in the States,
it may be answered: 1. That if this objection had been listened
to, no confederation could have ever taken place among the
States. 2. That if it ought now to be listened to, the power
held by Congress of forming commercial treaties, by whicji 9
States may indirectly dispose of the Commerce of the residue,
ought to be immediately revoked. 3. That the fact is, that a
case can scarcely be imagined in which it would be the interest
of any two-thirds of the States to oppress the remaining one-
third. 4. That the true question is, whether the commercial
172 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
interests of the States do not meet in more points than they
differ. To me it is clear that they do; and if they do, there are
so many more reasons for than against submitting the commer
cial interest of each State to the direction and care of the ma
jority.
Put the West India trade alone, in which the interest of every
State is involved, into the scale against all the inequalities which
may result from any probable regulation by nine States, and
who will say that the latter ought to preponderate? I have
heard the different interest which the Eastern States have as
carriers pointed out as a ground of caution to the Southern
States, who have no bottoms of their own, against their con
curring hastily in retaliations on Great Britain. But will the
present system of Great Britain ever give the Southern States
bottoms? and if they are not their own carriers, I should sup
pose it no mark either of folly or incivility to give our custom
to our brethren, rather than to those who have not yet entitled
themselves to the name of friends.
In detailing these sentiments, I have nothing more in view
than to prove the readiness with which I obey your request.
As far as they are just, they must have been often suggested in
the discussions of Congress on the subject. I cannot even give
them weight by saying that I have reason to believe they would
be relished in the public Councils of this State. From the trials
of which I have been a witness, I augur that great difficulties
will be encountered in every attempt to prevail on the Legisla
ture to part with power. The thing itself is not only unpala
table, but the arguments which plead for it have not their full
force on minds unaccustomed to consider the interests of the
State as they are interwoven with those of the Confederacy,
much less as they may be affected by foreign politics; whilst
those which plead against it are not only specious, but in their
nature popular, and for that reason sure of finding patrons.
Add to all this, that the Mercantile interest, which has taken
the lead in rousing the public attention of other States, is in
this so exclusively occupied in British Commerce, that what
little weight they have will be most likely to fall into the oppo-
1785. LETTERS. 173
site scale. The only circumstance which promises a favorable
hearing to the meditated proposition of Congress is, that the
power which it asks is to be exerted against Great Britain, and
the proposition will consequently be seconded by the animosities
which still prevail in a strong degree against her.
I am, my dear sir, very sincerely, your friend and serv.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, August 20th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Yours of the 18th of March never reached me
till the 4th instant. It came by post from New York, which it
did not leave till the 21 of July. My last was dated in April,
and went by Mr. Mazzei, who picked it up at New York and
promised to deliver it with his own hand.
The machinations of Great Britain, with regard to commerce,
have produced much distress and noise in the Northern States,
particularly in Boston, from whence the alarm has spread to
New York and Philadelphia. Your correspondence with Con
gress will no doubt have furnished you with full information on
this head. I only know the general fact, and that the sufferers
are everywhere calling for such augmentation of the power of
Congress as may effect relief. How far the Southern States,
and Virginia in particular, will join in this proposition, cannot
be foreseen. It is easy to foresee that the circumstances which,
in a confined view, distinguish our situation from that of our
brethren, will be laid hold of by the partizans of Great Britain,
by those who are or affect to be jealous of Congress, and those
who are interested in the present course of business, to give a
wrong bias to our councils. If anything should reconcile Vir
ginia to the idea of giving Congress a power over her trade, it
will be that this power is likely to annoy Great Britain, against
whom the animosities of our citizens are still strong. They
seem to have less sensibility to their commercial interests, which
174 WORKS OF MADISON 1785.
they very little understand, and which the mercantile class here
have not the same motives, if they had the same capacity, to lay
open to the public, as that class have in the States North of us.
The price of our Staple since the peace is another cause of
inattention in the planters to the dark side of our commercial
affairs. Should these or any other causes prevail in frustrating
the scheme of the Eastern and Middle States of a general retal
iation on Great Britain, I tremble for the event. A majority
of the States, deprived of a regular remedy for their distresses
by the want of a federal spirit in the minority, must feel the
strongest motives to some irregular experiments. The danger
of such a crisis makes me surmise that the policy of Great
Britain results as much from the hope of effecting a breach in
our Confederacy as of monopolizing our trade.
Our internal trade is taking an arrangement from which I
hope good consequences. Retail Stores are spreading all over
the Country; many of them carried on by native adventurers,
some of them branched out from the principal Stores at the
heads of navigation. The distribution of the business, however,
into the importing and the retail departments, has not yet taken
place. Should the port bill be established, it will, I think,
quickly add this amendment, which indeed must in a little time
follow of itself. It is the more to be wished for. as it is the
only radical cure for credit to the consumer, which continues to
be given to a degree which, if not checked, will turn the diffu
sive retail of Merchandize into a nuisance. When the Shop
keeper buys his goods of the wholesale Merchant, he must buy
at so short a credit that he can venture to give none at all.
You ask me to unriddle the dissolution of the Committee of
the States at Annapolis. I am not sure that I am myself pos
sessed fully of the causes, different members of Congress having
differed in their accounts of the matter. My conception of it
is, that the abrupt departure of some of the Eastern delegates,
which destroyed the quorum, and which Dana is said to have
been at the bottom of, proceeded partly from irritations among
the committee, partly from dislike to the place of their session,
1785. LETTERS. 175
and partly from an impatience to get home, which prevailed
over their regard for their private characters, as well as for
their public duty.
Subsequent to the date of mine in which I gave my idea of
Fayette, I had further opportunities of penetrating his charac
ter. Though his foibles did not disappear, all the favorable
traits presented themselves in a stronger light on closer inspec
tion. He certainly possesses talents which might figure in any
line. If he is ambitious, it is rather of the praise which virtue
dedicates to merit, than of the homage which fear renders to
power; his disposition is naturally warm and affectionate, and
his attachment to the United States unquestionable. Unless I
am grossly deceived, you will find his zeal sincere and useful,
whenever it can be employed in behalf of the United States
without opposition to the essential interests of France.
The opposition to the General Assessment gains ground. At
the instance of some of its adversaries, I drew up the remon
strance herewith inclosed. It has been sent through the me
dium of confidential persons in a number of the upper Counties,
and I am told will be pretty extensively signed. The Presby
terian clergy have at length espoused the side of the opposition,
being moved either by a fear of their laity or a jealousy of the
Episcopalians. The mutual hatred of these sects has been much
inflamed by the late act incorporating the latter. I am far from
being sorry for it, as a coalition between them could alone en
danger our religious rights, arid a tendency to such an event
had been suspected. The fate of the Circuit Courts is uncertain.
They are threatened with no small danger from the diversity
of opinions entertained among the friends of some reform in
that department. But the greatest danger is to be feared from
those who mask a secret aversion to any reform under a zeal
for such a one as they know will be rejected. The Potowmac
Company are going on with very flattering prospects. Their
subscriptions some time ago amounted to upward of four-fifths
of the whole sum. I have the pleasure, also, to find, by an ad
vertisement from the managers for James River, that more than
half the sum is subscribed for that undertaking, and that the
J76 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785<
subscribers are to meet shortly for the purpose of organizing
themselves and going to work. I despair of seeing the Revisal
taken up at the ensuing session. The number of copies struck
are so deficient, (there being not above three for each Count}7,)
and there has been such delay in distributing them, (none of the
Counties having received them till very lately, and some prob
ably not yet, though they were ready long ago.) that the prin
cipal end of their being printed has been frustrated.
Our fields promise very short crops both of corn and Tobacco.
The latter was much injured by the grasshopper and other in
sects; the former, somewhat by the bug in the southern parts of
the State; but both have suffered most from dry weather, which
prevails at present in this part of the country, and has generally
prevailed, I understand, in most other parts. It seems certain
that no future weather can make a great crop of either, partic
ularly of Tobacco, so great a proportion of the hills being
without plants in them, and so many more with plants in them
which must come to nothing. Notwithstanding this prospect,
its price has fallen from 36s. to 30s. on James River, and 28s.
on Rappahannock. The scarcity of cash is one cause.
Harrison, late Governor, was elected in Surrey, whither he
previously removed with his family. A contest for the chair
will no doubt ensue; should he fail, he will be for Congress.
I have not yet received any of the books which you have been
so kind as to pick up for me, but expect their arrival daily, as
you were probably soon after the date of your last apprised
that 1 was withdrawn from the nomination, which led you to
suspend the forwarding them. I am invited by Col. Monroe to
an option of rambles this fall, one of which is into the Eastern
States. I wish much to accept so favorable an opportunity of
executing the plan from which I was diverted last fall, but can
not decide with certainty whether it will be practicable or not.
I have, in conjunction with a friend here, a project of interest
on the anvil, which will carry me at least as far as Phila or New
York, where I shall be able to take my final resolution.
Adieu. Yrs sincerely.
1785. LETTERS. 177
TO JOHN BEOWN, (KENTUCKY.)
ORANGE. Augnst 23, 1785.
DEAE Sra, — Your favour of the 12th of July was safely de
livered to me by Mr. Craig. I accept with pleasure your pro
posed exchange of Western for Eastern intelligence, and though
I am a stranger to parental ties, can sufficiently conceive the
happiness of which they are a source to congratulate you on
your possession of two fine sons and a daughter. I do not smile
at the idea of transplanting myself into your wilderness. Such
a change of my abode is not. indeed, probable, yet I have no
local partialities which can keep me from any place which prom
ises the greatest real advantages. But if such a removal was
not even possible, I should nevertheless be ready to communi
cate, as you desire, my Ideas towards a constitution of Govern
ment for the State in embryo.
I pass over the general policy of the measure which calls for
such a provision. It has been unanimously embraced by those
who, being most interested in it, must have best considered it,
and will, I dare say, be with equal unanimity acceded to by the
other party, [Congress,] which is to be consulted. I will first
offer some general remarks on the subject, and then answer
your several queries.
1. The Legislative Department ought by all means, as I
think, to include a Senate, constituted on such principles as will
give tvisdom and steadiness to legislation. The want of these
qualities is the grievance complained of in all our republics.
The want of fidelity in the administration of power having been
the grievance felt under most governments, and by the Amer
ican States themselves under the British government, it was
natural for them to give too exclusive an attention to this pri
mary attribute. The Senate of Maryland, with a few amend
ments, is a good model. Trial has, I am told, verified the ex
pectations from it. A similar one made a part of our Consti
tution as it was originally proposed, but the inexperience and
jealousy of our then Councils rejected it in favor of our present
Senate; a worse could hardly have been substituted; and yet,
VOL. i. 12
178 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
Lad as it is, it is often a useful bit in the mouth of the House
of Delegates. Not a single Session passes without instances of
sudden resolutions by the latter, of which they repent in time
to intercede privately with the Senate for their negative. For
the other branch, models enough may be found; care ought,
however, to be taken against its becoming too numerous, by fix
ing the number which it is never to exceed. The quorum, wages,
and privileges, of both branches, ought also to be fixed. A ma
jority seems to be the natural quorum. The wages of the mem
bers may be made payable for years to come, in the medium
value of wheat for years preceding, as the same shall from
period to period be rated by a respectable jury appointed for that
purpose by the Supreme Court. The privileges of the members
ought not, in my opinion, to extend beyond an exemption of their
persons and equipage from arrests during the time of their
actual service. If it were possible, it would be well to define
the extent of the Legislative power; but the nature of it seems
in many respects to be indefinite. It is very practicable, how
ever, to enumerate the essential exceptions. The Constitution
may expressly restrain them from meddling with religion; from
abolishing Juries; from taking away the Habeas Corpus; from
forcing a citizen to give evidence against himself; from controul-
ing the press; from enacting retrospective laws, at least in crim
inal cases; from abridging the right of suffrage; from taking
private property for public use without paying its full value;
from licensing the importation of slaves; from infringing the
confederation, <fec., &c.
As a further security against fluctuating and indigested laws,
the Constitution of New York has provided a Council of Re
vision. I approve much of such an institution, and believe it is
considered by the most intelligent citizens of that State as a
valuable safeguard both to public interests and to private rights.
Another provision has been suggested for preserving system in
Legislative proceedings, which to some may appear still better.
It is that a standing committee, composed of a few select and
and skilful individuals, should be appointed to prepare bills on
all subjects which they may judge proper to be submitted to the
1785. LETTERS. 179
Legislature at their meetings, and to draw bills for them during
their Sessions. As an antidote both to the jealousy and danger
of their acquiring an improper influence, they might be made
incapable of holding any other office, Legislative, Executive, or
Judiciary. I like this suggestion so much that I have had
thoughts of proposing it to our Assembly, who give almost as
many proofs as they pass laws of their need of some such assist
ance.
2. The Executive Department. Though it claims the second
place, it is not in my estimation entitled to it by its importance,
all the great powers which are properly executive being trans
ferred to the Federal Government. I have made up no final
opinion whether the first Magistrate should be chosen by the
Legislature or the people at large, or whether the power should
be vested in one man, assisted by a Council, or in a Council, of
which the President shall be only primus inter pares. There
are examples of each in the United States; and probably ad
vantages and disadvantages attending each. It is material, I
think, that the number of members should be small, and that
their Salaries should be either unalterable by the Legislature,
or alterable only in such manner as will not affect any individ
ual in place. Our Executive is the worst part of a bad Con
stitution. The members of it are dependent on the Legislature
not only for their wages, but for their reputation, and therefore
are not likely to withstand usurpations of that branch; they
are, besides, too numerous and expensive; their organization
vague and perplexed; and to crown the absurdity, some of the
members may, without any new appointment, continue in Office
for life, contrary to one of the Articles of the Declaration of
Rights.
3. The Judiciary Department merits every care. Its efficacy
is demonstrated in Great Britain, where it maintains private
right against all the corruptions of the two other Departments,
and gives a reputation to the whole government which it is not
in itself entitled to. The main points to be attended to are:
I. That the Judges should hold their places during good be
haviour. 2. That their Salaries should be either fixed like the
WORKS OF MADISON. ns-,.
wages of the Representatives, or not be alterable so as to affect
the Individuals in Office. 3. That their Salaries be liberal.
The first point is obvious; without the second, the independence
aimed at by the first will be ideal only; without the third, the
bar will be superior to the bench, which destroys all security
for a systematic administration of justice. After securing these
essential points, I should think it unadvisable to descend so far
into detail as to bar any future modification of this department
which experience may recommend. An enumeration of the prin
cipal Courts, with power to the Legislature to institute inferior
Courts, may suffice. The Admiralty business can never be ex
tensive in your situation, and may be referred to one of the
other Courts. With regard to a Court of Chancery, as distinct
from a Court of Law, the reasons of Lord Bacon on the affirma
tive side outweigh, in my judgment, those of Lord Kaimes on the
other side; yet I should think it best to leave this important
question to be decided by future lights, without tying the hands
of the Legislature one way or the other. I consider our County
Courts as on a bad footing, and would never, myself, consent to
copy them into another Constitution.
All the States seem to have seen the necessity of providing
for Impeachments, but none of them to have hit on an unexcep
tionable tribunal. In some the trial is referred to the Senate,
in others to the Executive, in others to the Judiciary depart
ment. It has been suggested that a tribunal composed of mem
bers from each department would be better than either, and
I entirely concur in that opinion. I proceed next to your
queries.
1. "Whether is a representation according to numbers, or
" property, or in a joint proportion to both, the most safe? Or
" is a representation by Counties preferable to a more equitable
" mode that will be difficult to adjust?" Under this question
may be considered: 1. The right of suffrage. 2. The mode of
suffrage. 3. The plan of representation. As to the first, I
think the extent which ought to be given to this right a matter
of great delicacy and of critical importance. To restrain it to
the land holders will in time exclude too great a proportion of
LETTERS. 181
citizens; to extend it to all citizens without regard to property,
or even to all who possess a pittance, may throw too much
power into hands which will either abuse it themselves or sell
it to the rich who will abuse it. I have thought it might be a
good middle course to narrow this right in the choice of the
least popular, and to enlarge it in that of the more popular
branch of the Legislature. There is an example of this distinc
tion in North Carolina, if in none of the other States. How it
operates or is relished by the people I cannot say. It would
not be surprising if in the outset, at least, it should offend the
sense of equality which reigns in a free country. In a general
view, I see no reason why the rights of property, which chiefly
bears the burden of Government, and is so much an object of
Legislation, should not be respected as well as personal rights
in the choice of Rulers. It must be owned, indeed, that prop
erty will give influence to the holder, though it should give him
no legal privileges, and will in general be safe on that as well
as on other accounts, especially if the business of legislation be
guarded with the provisions hinted at. 2. As to the mode of
suffrage, I lean strongly to that of the ballot, notwithstanding
the objections which lie against it. It appears to me to be the
only radical cure for those arts of electioneering which poison
the very fountain of Liberty. The States in which the ballot
has been the standing mode are the only instances in which
elections are tolerably chaste and those arts in disgrace. If it
should be thought improper to fix this mode by the Constitu
tion, I should think it at least necessary to avoid any constitu
tional bar to a future adoption of it.* 3. By the plan of rep
resentation I mean: 1. The classing of the electors. 2. The
proportioning of the representatives to each class. The first
cannot be otherwise done than by geographical description, as
by Counties. The second may easily be done, in the first in
stance, either by comprising within each County an equal num
ber of Electors, or by proportioning the number of representa
tives of each County to its number of Electors. The difficulty
* The Constitution of New York directs an experiment on this subject.
182 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
arises from the disproportionate increase of electors in different
Counties. There seem to be two methods only by which the
representation can be equalized from time to time. The first is
to change the bounds of the Counties; the second, to change the
number of representatives allotted to them, respectively. As
the former would not only be most troublesome and expensive,
but would involve a variety of other adjustments, the latter
method is evidently the best. Examples of a Constitutional
provision for it exists in several of the States. In some it is to
be executed periodically; in others, pro re nata. The latter
seems most accurate and very practicable. I have already in
timated the propriety of fixing the number of representatives,
which ought never to be exceeded; I should suppose one hun
dred and fifty, or even one hundred, might safely be made the
ne plus ultra for Kentucky.
2. "Which is to be preferred; an annual, triennial, or septen-
" nial succession to offices, or frequent elections without limita-
" tions in choice, or that officers when chosen should continue
" quamdiu se bene gesserint?" The rule ought no doubt to be
different in the different departments of power. For one part
of the Legislature annual elections will, I suppose, be held in
dispensable; though some of the ablest Statesmen and soundest
Republicans in the United States are in favor of triennial. The
great danger in departing from annual elections in this case
lies in the want of some other natural term to limit the depar
ture. For the other branch, four or five years may be the period.
For neither branch does it seem necessary or proper to prohibit
an indefinite re-eligibility. With regard to the Executive, if
the elections be frequent, and particularly if made as to any
member of it by the people at large, a re-eligibility cannot, I
think, be objected to. If they be unfrequent, a temporary or
perpetual incapacitation, according to the degree of unfrequency,
at least in the case of the first Magistrate, may not be amiss.
As to the Judiciary department, enough has been said; and as
to the subordinate officers, civil and military, nothing need be
said more than that a regulation of their appointments may,
under a few restrictions, be safely trusted to the Legislature.
1785.
LETTERS. 183
3. "How far may the same person with propriety be em-
u ployed in the different departments of Government in an in-
" fant country, where the counsel of every individual may be
" needed?" Temporary deviations from fundamental principles
are always more or less dangerous. When the first pretext
fails, those who become interested in prolonging the evil will
rarely be at a loss for other pretexts. The first precedent, too,
familiarises the people to the irregularity, lessens their venera
tion for those fundamental principles, and makes them a more
easy prey to ambition and self interest. Hence it is that abuses
of every kind, when once established, have been so often found
to perpetuate themselves. In this caution, I refer chiefly to an
improper mixture of the three great Departments within the
State. A delegation to Congress is, I conceive, compatible
with either.
4. " Should there be a periodical review of the Constitution? "
Nothing appears more eligible in theory, nor has sufficient trial,
perhaps, been yet made to condemn it in practice. Pennsylva
nia has alone adopted the expedient. Her citizens are much
divided on the subject of their Constitution in general, and
probably on this part of it in particular. I am inclined to think,
though am far from being certain, that it is not a favorite part
even with those who are fondest of their Constitution. Another
plan has been thought of, which might, perhaps, succeed better,
and would at the same time be a safeguard to the equilibrium
of the constituent departments of Government. This is, that a
majority of any two of the three departments should have au
thority to call a plenipotentiary convention whenever they may
think their constitutional powers have been violated by the
other department, or that any material part of the Constitution
needs amendment. In your situation, I should think it both
imprudent and indecent not to leave a door open for at least
one revision of your first establishment — imprudent, because
you have neither the same resources for supporting nor the
same lights for framing a good establishment now as you will
have fifteen or twenty years hence — indecent, because an hand
ful of early settlers ought not to preclude a populous country
WORKS OF MADISON. 1755.
from a choice of the Government under which they and their
posterity are to live. Should your first Constitution be made
thus temporary, the objections against an intermediate union of
offices will be proportionally lessened. Should a revision of it
not be made thus necessary and certain, there will be little
probability of its being ever revised. Faulty as our Constitu
tion is, as well with regard to the authority which formed it as
to the manner in which it is formed, the issue of an experiment
has taught us the difficulty of amending it. And although the
issue might have proceeded from the unseasonableness of the
time, yet it may be questioned whether, at any future time, the
greater depth to which it will have stricken its roots will not
counterbalance any more auspicious circumstances for overturn
ing it.
5 & G. " Or will it be better unalterably to fix some leading
44 principles in government, and make it consistent for the Legis-
11 lature to introduce such changes in lesser matters as may
''become expedient? Can Censors be provided that will im-
" partially point out deficiences in the Constitution and the
" violations that may happen?"
Answers on these points may be gathered from what has been
already said.
I have been led to offer my sentiments in this loose form
rather than to attempt a delineation of such a plan of govern
ment as would please myself, not only by my ignorance of many
local circumstances and opinions which must be consulted in
such a work, but also by the want of sufficient time for it. At
the receipt of your letter I had other employment, and what I
now write is in the midst of preparations for a journey of busi
ness, which will carry me as far as Philadelphia at least, and
on which I shall set out in a day or two.
I am sorry that it is not in my power to give you some satis
factory information concerning the Mississippi. A Minister
from Spain has been with Congress for some time, and is au
thorised, as I understand, to treat on whatever subjects may
concern the two nations. If any explanations or propositions
have passed between him and the Minister of Congress, they
1785. JEFFERSON'S DRAUGHT, ETC. 185
are as yet in the list of Cabinet secrets. As soon as any such
shall be made public and come to my knowledge, I shall take
the first opportunity of transmitting them. Wishing you and
your family all happiness,
I am, Dr Sir, your friend and servant.
The Constitutions of the several States were printed in a
small volume a year or two ago, by order of Congress. A peru
sal of them need not be recommended to you. Having but a
single copy, I cannot supply you. It is not improbable that
you may be already possessed of one. The revisal of our laws
by Jefferson, Wythe, and Pendleton, beside their value in im
proving the legal code, may suggest something worthy of being
attended to in framing a Constitution.
[Remarks on Mr. Jefferson's ''Draught of a Constitution for Virginia,"* sent
from New York to Mr. John Brown, Kentucky, October 1788 :]
The term of two years is too short. Six
Senate.
years are not more than sufficient. A
Senate is to withstand the occasional impetuosities of the more
numerous branch. The members ought, therefore, to derive a
firmness from the tenure of their places. It ought to supply
the defect of knowledge and experience incident to the other
branch; there ought to be time given, therefore, for attaining the
qualifications necessary for that purpose. It ought, finally, to
maintain that system and steadiness in public affairs without
which no government can prosper or be respectable. This can
not be done by a body undergoing a frequent change of its mem
bers. A Senate for six years will not be dangerous to liberty;
on the contrary, it will be one of its best guardians. By cor
recting the infirmities of popular government, it will prevent
that disgust against that form which may otherwise produce a
* Contained in appendix to ''Notes on Virginia."
WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
sudden transition to some very different one. It is no secret
to any attentive and dispassionate observer of the political situ
ation of the United States, that the real danger to republican
liberty has lurked in that cause.
The appointment of Senators by districts seems to be objec
tionable. A spirit of locality is inseparable from that mode.
The evil is fully displayed in the County representations, the
members of which are everywhere observed to lose sight of the
aggregate interests of the community, and even to sacrifice them
to the interests or prejudices of their respective constituents.
In general, these local interests are miscalculated. But it is
not impossible for a measure to be accommodated to the partic
ular interests of every County or district, when considered by
itself, and not so, when considered in relation to each other
and to the whole State; in the same manner as the interests of
individuals may be very different in a state of nature and in a
political union. The most effectual remedy for the local bias
is to impress on the minds of the Senators an attention to the
interest of the whole society, by making them the choice of the
whole Society, each citizen voting for every Senator. The objec
tion here is, that the fittest characters would not be sufficiently
known to the people at large. But, in free governments, merit
and notoriety of character are rarely separated; and such a
regulation would connect them more and more together. Should
this mode of election be on the whole not approved, that estab
lished in Maryland presents a valuable alternative. The latter
affords, perhaps, a greater security for the selection of merit.
The inconveniences chargeable on it are two: first, that the
Council of electors favors cabal. Against this, the shortness
of its existence is a good antidote. Secondly, that in a large
State the meeting of the electors must be expensive if they be
paid, or badly attended if the service is onerous. To this it
may be answered that, in a case of such vast importance, the
expense, which could not be great, ought to be disregarded.
Whichever of these modes may be preferred, it cannot be amiss
so far to admit the plan of districts as to restrain the choice to
persons residing in different parts of the State. Such a regula-
178.3. JEFFERSON'S DRAUGHT, ETC. 187
tion will produce a diffusive confidence in the body, which is
not less necessary than the other means of rendering it useful.
In a State having large towns which can easily unite their
votes, the precaution would be essential to an immediate choice
by the people at large. In Maryland no regard is paid to resi
dence, and, what is remarkable, vacancies are filled by the Sen
ate itself. This last is an obnoxious expedient, and cannot in
any point of view have much effect. It was probably meant to
obviate the trouble of occasional meetings of the electors. But
the purpose might have been otherwise answered by allowing
the unsuccessful candidates to supply vacancies according to the
order of their standing on the list of votes, or by requiring pro
visional appointments to be made along with the positive ones.
If an election by districts be unavoidable, and the ideas here
suggested be sound, the evil will be diminished in proportion
to the extent given to the districts, taking two or more Sena
tors from each district.
The first question arising here is how
Electors. ,
far property ought to be made a qualifica
tion. There is a middle way to be taken, which corresponds at
once with the theory of free government and the lessons of ex
perience. A freehold or equivalent of a certain value may be
annexed to the right of voting for Senators, and the right left
more at large in the election of the other House. Examples of
this distinction may be found in the Constitutions of several
States, particularly, if I mistake not, of North Carolina and
New York. This middle mode reconciles and secures the two
cardinal objects of government, the rights of persons and the
rights of property. The former will be sufficiently guarded by
one branch, the latter more particularly by the other. Give all
power to property, and the indigent will be oppressed. Give it
to the latter, and the effect may be transposed. Give a defen
sive share to each, and each will be secure. The necessity of
thus guarding the rights of property was, for obvious reasons,
unattended to in the commencement of the Revolution. In all
the governments which were considered as beacons to republi-
138 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
can patriots and lawgivers, the rights of persons were subjected
to those of property. The poor were sacrificed to the rich. In
the existing state of American population and of American
property, the two classes of rights were so little discriminated,
that a provision for the rights of persons was supposed to in
clude of itself those of property; and it was natural to infer,
from the tendency of republican laws, that these different inter
ests would be more and more identified. Experience and in
vestigation have, however, produced more correct ideas on this
subject. It is now observed that in all populous countries the
smaller part only can be interested in preserving the rights of
property. It must be foreseen that America, and Kentucky it
self, will by degrees arrive at this state of society; that in some
parts of the Union a very great advance is already made to
wards it. It is well understood that interest leads to injustice,
as well where the opportunity is presented to bodies of men as
to individuals; to an interested majority in a Republic, as to
the interested minority in any other form of government. The
time to guard against this danger is at the first forming of the
Constitution, and in the present state of population, when the
bulk of the people have a sufficient interest in possession or in
prospect to be attached to the rights of property, without being
insufficiently attached to the rights of persons. Liberty, not
less than justice, pleads for the policy here recommended. If
all power be suffered to slide into hands not interested in the
rights of property, which must be the case whenever a majority
fall under that description, one of two things cannot fail to hap
pen; either they will unite against the other description and
become the dupes and instruments of ambition, or their poverty
and dependence will render them the mercenary instruments of
wealth. In either case liberty will be subverted: in the first,
by a despotism growing out of anarchy; in the second, by an
oligarchy founded on corruption.
The second question under this head is, whether the ballot
be not a better mode than that of voting viva voce. The com
parative experience of the States pursuing the different modes
178>. JEFFERSON'S DRAUGHT, ETC. 189
is in favor of the first. It is found less difficult to guard against
fraud in that than against bribery in the other.
Does not the exclusion of Ministers of
the Gospel, as such, violate a fundamental
principle of liberty, by punishing a religious profession with the
privation of a civil right? Does it not violate another article
of the plan itself, which exempts religion from the cognizance
of Civil power? Does it not violate justice, by at once taking
away a right and prohibiting a compensation for it? Does it
not, in line, violate impartiality, by shutting the door against the
Ministers of one religion and leaving it open for those of every
other?
The re-eligibility of members after accepting offices of profit
is so much opposed to the present way of thinking in America,
that any discussion of the subject would probably be a waste of
time.
It is at least questionable whether death
Limits of power. i . i r> T , -,
ought to be confined to treason and mur
der." It would not, therefore, be prudent to tie the hands of
government in the manner here proposed. The prohibition of
pardon, however specious in theory, would have practical con
sequences which render it inadmissible. A single instance is a
sufficient proof. The crime of treason is generally shared by a
number, and often a very great number. It would be politically
if not morally wrong to take away the lives of all, even if every
individual were equally guilty. What name would be given to
a severity which made no distinction between the legal and the
moral offence; between the deluded multitude and their wicked
leaders? A second trial would not avoid the difficulty: because
the oaths of the jury would not permit them to hearken to any
voice but the inexorable voice of the law.
The power of the Legislature to appoint any other than their
own officers departs too far from the theory which requires a
separation of the great departments of government. One of the
best securities against the creation of unnecessary offices or ty
rannical powers is an exclusion of the authors from all share
in filling the one, or influence in the execution of the other.
190 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
The proper mode of appointing to offices will fall under another
head.
An election by the Legislature is liable
Executive Governor. . J '
to insuperable objections. It not only
tends to faction, intrigue, and corruption, but leaves the Exec
utive under the influence of an improper obligation to that De
partment. An election by the people at large, as in this* and
several other States, or by electors, as in the appointment of
the Senate in Maryland, or, indeed, by the people, thro' any other
channel than their legislative representatives, seems to be far
preferable. The ineligibility a second time, tho' not perhaps
without advantages, is also liable to a variety of strong objec
tions. It takes away one powerful motive to a faithful and
useful administration, the desire of acquiring that title to a re-
appointment. By rendering a periodical change of men neces
sary, it discourages beneficial undertakings, which require per
severance and system, or, as frequently happened in the Roman
Consulate, either precipitates or prevents the execution of them.
It may inspire desperate enterprises for the attainment of what
is not attainable by legitimate means. It fetters the judgment
and inclination of the community; and in critical moments
would either produce a violation of the Constitution or exclude
a choice which might be essential to the public safety. Add to
the whole, that by putting the Executive Magistrate in the sit
uation o.f the tenant of an unrenewable lease, it would tempt
him to neglect the constitutional rights of his department, and
to connive at usurpations by the Legislative department, with
which he may connect his future ambition or interest.
The clause restraining the first magistrate from the immedi
ate command of the military force would be made better by
excepting cases in which he should receive the sanction of the
two branches of the Legislature.
Council of State. The following variations are suggested :
1. The election to be made by the people
immediately, or thro' some other medium than the Legislature.
* New York, where these remarks were penned.
ITS.'). JEFFERSON'S DRAUGHT, ETC. 191
2. A distributive choice should perhaps be secured, as in the
case of the Senate. 3. Instead of an ineligibility a second
time, a rotation in the Federal Senate, with an abridgment of
the term, to be substituted.
The appointment to offices is, of all the functions of Republi
can, and perhaps every other form of government, the most dif
ficult to guard against abuse. Give it to a numerous body, and
you at once destroy all responsibility, and create a perpetual
source of faction and corruption. Give it to the Executive
wholly, and it may be made an engine of improper influence and
favoritism. Suppose the power were divided thus : let the Ex
ecutive alone make all the subordinate appointments, and the
Governor and Seriate, as in the Federal Constitution, those of
the superior order. It seems particularly fit that the Judges,
who are to form a distinct department, should owe their offices
partly to each of the other departments, rather than wholly to
either.
. Much detail ought to be avoided in the
Constitutional regulation of this Depart
ment, that there may be room for changes which may be de
manded by the progressive changes in the state of our popula
tion. It is at least doubtful whether the number of courts, the
number of Judges, or even the boundaries of jurisdiction, ought
to be made unalterable but by a revisal of the Constitution.
The precaution seems no otherwise necessary than as it may
prevent sudden modifications of the establishment, or addition
of obsequious judges, for the purpose of evading the checks of
the Constitution and giving effect to some sinister policy of the
Legislature. But might not the same object be otherwise at
tained? by prohibiting, for example, any innovations in those
particulars without the consent of that department? or without
the annual sanction of two or three successive Assemblies, over
and above the other pre-requisites to the passage of a law ?
The model here proposed for a Court of Appeals is not rec
ommended by experience. It is found, as might well be pre
sumed, that the members are always warped in their appellate
decisions by an attachment to the principles and jurisdiction of
192 WORKS OF MADISON. 178'..
their respective Courts, and still more so by the previous de
cision on the case removed by appeal. The only efficient cure
for the evil is to form a Court of Appeals of distinct and select
Judges. The expense ought not to be admitted as an objection :
1. Because the proper administration of justice is of too essen
tial a nature to be sacrificed to that consideration. 2. The
number of inferior judges might, in that case, be lessened. 3.
The whole department may be made to support itself by a judi
cious tax on law proceedings.
The excuse for non-attendance would be a more proper sub
ject of enquiry somewhere else than in the Court to which the
party belonged. Delicacy, mutual convenience, &c., would soon
reduce the regulation to mere form; or if not, it might become
a disagreeable source of little irritations among the members.
A certificate from the local Court, or some other local author
ity, where the party might reside or happen to be detained from
his duty, expressing the cause of absence, as well as that it was
judged to be satisfactory, might be safely substituted. Few
Judges would improperly claim their wages if such a formality
stood in the way. These observations are applicable to the
Council of State.
A Court of Impeachment is among the most puzzling articles
of a Republican Constitution; and it is far more easy to point
out defects in any plan than to supply a cure for them. The
diversified expedients adopted in the Constitutions of the sev
eral States prove how much the compilers were embarrassed on
this subject. The plan here proposed varies from all of them,
and is, perhaps, not less than any, a proof of the difficulties
which pressed the ingenuity of its author. The remarks arising
on it are: 1. That it seems not to square with reason that the
right to impeach should be united to that of trying the impeach
ment, and consequently, in a proportional degree, to that of
sharing in the appointment of or influence on the Tribunal to
which the trial may belong. 2. As the Executive and Judi
ciary would form a majority of the Court, and either have a
right to impeach, too much might depend on a combiuation of
these departments. This objection would be still stronger if
1785. JEFFERSON'S DRAUGHT, ETC. 193
the members of the Assembly were capable, as proposed, of
holding offices, and were amenable in that capacity to the
Court. 3. The House of Delegates and either of those depart
ments could appoint a majority of the Court. Here is another
danger of combination, and the more to be apprehended, as that
branch of the Legislature would also have the right to impeach,
a right in their hands of itself sufficiently weighty; and as the
power of the Court would extend to the head of the Executive,
by whose independence the constitutional rights of that Depart
ment are to be secured against legislative usurpations. 4. The
dangers in the two last cases would be still more formidable,
as the power extends not only to deprivation, but to future in
capacity of office. In the case of all officers of sufficient impor
tance to be objects of factious persecution, the latter branch of
power is, in every view, of a delicate nature. In that of the
Chief Magistrate, it seems inadmissible if he be chosen by the
Legislature, and much more so if immediately by the people
themselves. A. temporary incapacitation is the most that could
be properly authorised.
The two great desiderata in a Court of Impeachments are:
1. Impartiality. 2. Respectability; the first in order to a right,
the second in order to a satisfactory decision. These character
istics are aimed at in the following modification: Let the Sen
ate be denied the right to impeach. Let one-third of the mem
bers be struck out, by alternate nominations of the prosecutors
and party impeached; the remaining two-thirds to be the stamen
of the Court. When the House of Delegates impeach, let the
Judges, or a certain proportion of them, and the Council of
State, be associated in the trial; when the Governor or Council
impeaches, let the Judges only be associated; when the Judges
impeach, let the Council only be associated. But if the party
impeached by the House of Delegates be a member of the Ex
ecutive or Judiciary, let that of which he is a member not
be associated. If the party impeached belong to one and
be impeached by the other of these branches, let neither of
them be associated, the decision being in this case left with the
Senate alone; or if that be thought exceptionable, a few mem-
VOL. i. 13
194 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785
bers might be added by the House of Delegates. Two-thirds
of the Court should in all cases be necessary to a conviction,
and the Chief Magistrate, at least, should be exempt from a sen
tence of perpetual, if not of temporary incapacity. It is ex
tremely probable that a critical discussion of this outline may
discover objections which do not occur. Some do occur; but
appear not to be greater than are incident to any different mod
ification of the Tribunal.
The establishment of trials by jury and viva voce testimony,
in all cases and in all Courts, is, to say the least, a delicate ex
periment; and would most probably be either violated, or be
found inconvenient.
A revisionary power is meant as a check
Council of Revision. .
to precipitate, to unjust, and to unconsti
tutional laws. These important ends would, it is conceded, be
more effectually secured, without disarming the Legislature of
its requisite authority, by requiring bills to be separately com
municated to the Executive and Judiciary departments. If
either of these object, let two-thirds, if both, three-fourths, of
each House be necessary to overrule the objection; and if either
or both protest against a bill as violating the Constitution, let
it moreover be suspended, notwithstanding the overruling pro
portion of the Assembly, until there shall have been a subse
quent election of the House of Delegates and a re-passage of
the bill by two-thirds or three-fourths of both houses, as the case
may be. It should not be allowed the Judges or the Executive
to pronounce a law thus enacted unconstitutional and invalid.
In the State Constitutions, and, indeed, in the Federal one
also, no provision is made for the case of a disagreement in ex
pounding them; and as the Courts are generally the last in
making the decision, it results to them, by refusing or not re
fusing to execute a law, to stamp it with its final character.
This makes the Judiciary department paramount in fact to the
Legislature, which was never intended and can never be proper.
The extension of the Habeas Corpus to the cases in which it
has been usually suspended merits consideration at least. If
there be emergencies which call for such a suspension, it can
1785. LETTERS. 195
have no effect to prohibit it, because the prohibition will as
suredly give way to the impulse of the moment; or rather, it
will have the bad effect of facilitating other violations that may
be less necessary. The exemption of the press from liability in
every case for true facts is also an innovation, and, as such,
ought to be well considered. This essential branch of liberty
is, perhaps, in more danger of being interrupted by local tumults,
or the silent awe of a predominant party, than by any direct
attacks of power.
TO THOMAS JEFFEBSON.
PHILADELPHIA, October 3d, 1785.
DEAR Sra, — In pursuance of the plan intimated in my last, I
came to this city about three weeks ago, from which I contin
ued my trip to New York. I returned last night, and in a day
or two shall start for Virginia. Col. Monroe had left Phil
adelphia a few days before I reached it, on his way to a treaty
to be held with the Indians about the end of this month on the
Wabash. If a visit to the Eastern States had been his choice,
short as the time would have proved, I should have made an
effort to attend him. As it is, I must postpone that gratifica
tion, with a purpose, however, of embracing it on the first con
venient opportunity.
Your favor of the 11 May, by Monsr Doradour, inclosing
your cypher, arrived in Virginia after I left it, and was sent
after me to this place. Your notes which accompanied it re
mained behind, and consequently I can only now say on that
subject that I shall obey your request on my return, which iny
call to Richmond will give me an early opportunity of doing.
During my stay at New York I had several conversations
with the Virginia Delegates, but with few others, on the affairs
of the confederacy. I find with much regret that these are, as
yet, little redeemed from the confusion which has so long mor
tified the friends to our national honor and prosperity. Con
gress have kept the vessel from sinking, but it has been by
196 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
standing constantly at the pump, not by stopping the leaks
which have endangered her. All their efforts for the latter
purpose have been frustrated by the selfishness or perverseness
of some part or other of their constituents. The desiderata
most strongly urged by our past experience and our present
situation are: 1. A final discrimination between such of the
unauthorised expences of the States as ought to be added to the
common debt, and such as ought not. 2. A constitutional ap
portionment of the common debt, either by a valuation of the
lands, or a change of the article which requires it. 3. A rec
ognition by the States of the authority of Congress to enforce
payment of their respective quotas. 4. A grant to Congress
of an adequate power over trade.
It is evident to me that the first object will never be effected
in Congress, because it requires in those who are to decide it
the spirit of impartial judges, whilst the spirit of those who
compose Congress is rather that of advocates for the respective
interests of their constituents. If this business were referred
to a commission filled by a member chosen by Congress out of
each State, and sworn to impartiality, I should have hopes of
seeing an end of it. The 2d object affords less ground of hope.
The execution of the 8th article of Confederation is generally
held impracticable, and Rhode Island, if no other State, has put
its veto on the proposed alteration of it. Until the 3d object
can be obtained, the Requisitions of Congress will continue to
be mere calls for voluntary contributions, which every State
will be tempted to evade, by the uniform experience that those
States have come off best which have done so most. The pres
ent plan of federal Government reverses the first principle of
all Government. It punishes not the evil-doers, but those that
do well. It may be considered, I think, as a fortunate circum
stance for the United States, that the use of coercion, or such
provision as would render the use of it unnecessary, might be
made at little expence and perfect safety. A single frigate
under the orders of Congress could make it the interest of any
one of the Atlantic States to pay its just quota. With regard
to such of the ultramontane States as depend on the trade of
1785. LETTERS. 197
the Mississippi, as small a force would have the same effect;
whilst the residue trading through the Atlantic States might be
wrought upon by means more indirect, indeed, but perhaps suf
ficiently effectual.
The fate of the 4tb object is still suspended. The Recom
mendations of Congress on this subject, past before your depart
ure, have been positively complied with by few of the States, I
believe; but I do not learn that they have been rejected by any.
A proposition has been agitated in Congress, and will, I am
told, be revived, asking from the States a general and perma
nent authority to regulate trade, with a proviso that it shall in
no case be exercised without the assent of eleven States in Con
gress. The Middle States favor the measure; the Eastern are
zealous for it; the Southern are divided. Of the Virginia del
egation, the president* is an inflexible adversary, Grayson un
friendly, and Monroe and Hardy warm on the opposite side.
If the proposition should pass Congress, its fate will depend
much on the reception it may find in Virginia, and this will de
pend much on the part which may be taken by a few members
of the Legislature. The prospect of its being levelled against
Great Britain will be most likely to give it popularity.
In this suspence of a general provision for our commercial
interests, the more suffering States are seeking relief from par
tial efforts, which are less likely to obtain it than to drive their
trade into other channels, and to kindle heart-burnings on all
sides. Massachusetts made the beginning; Pennsylvania has
followed with a catalogue of duties on foreign goods and ton
nage, which could scarcely be enforced against the smuggler, if
New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, were to co-operate with
her. The avowed object of these duties is to encourage domes
tic manufactures, and prevent the exportation of coin to pay
for foreign. The Legislature had previously repealed the in
corporation of the Bank, as the cause of the latter and a great
many other evils. South Carolina, I am told, is deliberating
on the distresses of her commerce, and will probably concur in
* R. H. Lee.
198 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
some general plan, with a proviso, no doubt, against any re
straint from importing slaves, of which they have received from
Africa since the peace about twelve Thousand. She is also de
liberating on the emission of paper money, and it is expected
she will legalize a supension of Judicial proceedings, which has
been already effected by popular combinations. The pretext
for these measures is the want of specie occasioned by the un
favorable balance of trade.
Your introduction of Mr. T. Franklin has been presented to
me. The arrival of his Grandfather has produced an emulation
among the different parties here in doing homage to his char
acter. He will be unanimously chosen president of the State,
and will either restore to it an unexpected quiet or lose his
own. It appears, from his answer to some applications, that he
will not decline the appointment.
On my journey I called at Mount Vernon, and had the pleas
ure of finding the General in perfect health. He had just re
turned from a trip up the Potomac. He grows more and more
sanguine as he examines further into the practicability of open
ing its navigation. The subscriptions are completed within a
few shares, and the work is already begun at some of the lesser
obstructions. It is overlooked by Rumsey, the inventor of the
boats, which I have in former letters mentioned to you. He
has not yet disclosed his secret. He had of late nearly finished
a boat of proper size, which he meant to have exhibited, but the
House which contained it and materials for others was con
sumed by fire. He assured the General that the enlargement
of his machinery did not lessen the prospect of utility afforded
by the miniature experiments. The General declines the shares
voted him by the Assembly, but does not mean to withdraw the
money from the object which it is to aid, and will even appro
priate the future tolls, I believe, to some useful public estab
lishment, if any such can be devised that will both please him
self and be likely to please the State.
This is accompanied by a letter from our amiable friend, Mrs.
Trist, to Miss Patsy. She got back safe to her friends in Au
gust, and is as well as she has generally been; but her cheerful-
1785. LETTERS. 199
ness seems to be rendered less uniform than it once was by the
scenes of adversity through which fortune has led her. Mrs.
House is well, and charges me not to omit her respectful ana
affectionate compliments to you.
I remain, dear sir, yours.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, Novr llth, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — I received your favor of the 29th ultimo on Thurs
day. That by Col. Lee had been previously delivered. Your
letter for the Assembly was laid before them yesterday. I have
reason to believe that it was received with every sentiment
which could correspond with yours. Nothing passed from which
any conjecture could be formed as to the objects which would
be most pleasing for the appropriation of the fund. The dispo
sition is, I am persuaded, much stronger to acquiesce in your
choice, whatever it may be, than to lead or anticipate it. I see
no inconveniency in your taking time for a choice that will
please yourself. The letter was referred to a committee, which
will no doubt make such a report as will give effect to your
wishes.
Our Session commenced very inauspiciously with a contest
for the chair, which was followed by a rigid scrutiny into Mr.
Harrison's election in his County. He gained the chair by a
majority of six votes, and retained his seat by a majority of still
fewer. His residence was the point on which the latter ques
tion turned. Doctor Lee's election was questioned on a simi
lar point, and was also established; but it was held to be va
cated by his acceptance of a lucrative post under the United
States. The House have engaged with some alacrity in the
consideration of the Revised Code, prepared by Mr. Jefferson.
Mr. Pendleton, and Mr. Wythe. The present temper promises
an adoption of it in substance. The greatest danger arises
from its length, compared with the patience of the members. If
200 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
it is persisted in, it must exclude several matters which are of
moment, but, I hope, only for the present Assembly. The pulse
of the House of Delegates was felt on Thursday with regard to
a general manumission, by a petition presented on that subject.
It was rejected without dissent, but not without an avowed
patronage of its principle by sundry respectable members. A
motion was made to throw it under the table, which was treated
with as much indignation on one side as the petition itself was
on the other. There are several petitions before the House
against any step towards freeing the Slaves, and even praying
Tor a repeal of the law which licences particular manumissions.
The merchants of several of our towns have made representa
tions on the distress of our commerce, which have raised the
question whether relief shall be attempted by a reference to
Congress, or by measures within our own compass. On a pretty
full discussion, it was determined by a large majority that the
power over trade ought to be vested in Congress, under certain
qualifications. If the qualifications suggested, and no others,
should be annexed, I think they will not be subversive of the
principle; tho' they will, no doubt, lessen its utility. The
Speaker, Mr. M. Smith, and Mr. Braxton, are the champions
against Congress. Mr. Thruston and Mr. White have since
come in, and I fancy I may set down both as auxiliaries.
They are not a little puzzled, however, by the difficulty of
substituting any practicable regulations within ourselves. Mr.
Braxton proposed two, that did not much aid his side of the
question. The first was, that all British vessels from the West
Indies should be excluded from our ports; the second, that no
merchant should carry on trade here until he should have been
a resident years. Unless some plan free from objection
can be devised for this State, its patrons will be reduced clearly
to the dilemma of acceding to a general one, or leaving our
trade under all its present embarrassments. There was some
little skirmishing on the ground of public faith, which leads me
to hope that its friends have less to fear than was surmised.
The Assize and Port Bills have not yet been awakened. Tho
Senate will make a House to-day for the first time.
1785. REGULATION OF COMMERCE. 201
Inclosed herewith are two Reports from the commissioners
for examining the head of James River, &c., and the ground
between the waters of Elizabeth River and North Carolina;
also, a sensible pamphlet said to be written by St. George
Tucker.
[Notes of a speech made by Mr. Madison in the House of Delegates of Vir
ginia, in the month of November, 1785, on the question of vesting in Congress
the general power of regulating commerce for all the States :]
I. General regulations necessary, whether the object be to —
1. Counteract foreign plans.
2. Encourage ships and seamen.
3. manufactures.
4. Revenue.
5. Frugality; [articles of luxury most easily run from State
to State.]
6. Embargo's in war — Case of Delaware in late war.
II. Necessary to prevent contention among States.
1. Case of French Provinces; Neckar says 23,000 patrols
employed against internal contrabands.
2. Case of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
3. Case of New York and New Jersey.
4. Pennsylvania and Delaware.
5. Virginia and Maryland, late regulation.
6. Irish propositions.
III. Necessary to justice and true policy.
1. Connecticut and New Hampshire.
2. New Jersey.
3. North Carolina.
4. Western Country.
IV. Necessary as a system convenient and intelligible to for
eigners trading to the United States.
V. Necessary as within reason of Federal Constitution, the
regulation of trade being as impracticable by States as peace,
war, ambassadors, &c.
9Q2 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
Treaties of commerce ineffectual without it.
VI. Safe with regard to the liberties of the States.
1. Congress may be trusted with trade as well as war, &c.
2. Power of Treaties involve the danger, if any.
3. Controul of States over Congress.
4. Example of Amphyctionic League, Achaean, <fcc., Switzer
land, Holland, Germany.
5. Peculiar situation of United States increases the repellant
power of the States.
VII. Essential to preserve federal Constitution.
1. Declension of federal Government.
2. Inadequacy to end must lead States to substitute some
other policy — no institution remaining long when it ceases to
be useful, &c.
3. Policy of Great Britain to weaken Union.
VIII. Consequences of dissolution of confederacy.
1. Appeal to sword in every petty squabble.
2. Standing armies, beginning with weak and jealous States.
3. Perpetual taxes.
4. Sport of foreign politics.
5. Blast glory of Revolution.
TO THOS JEFFERSON.
RICHMOND, Nov. 15th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — I acknowledged from Philadelphia your favor
of the llth May. On my return to Orange, I found the copy
of your notes brought along with it by Mr. Doradour. I have
looked them over carefully myself, and consulted several judi
cious friends in confidence. We are all sensible that the free
dom of your strictures on some particular measures and opinions
will displease their respective abettors. But we equally con
cur in thinking that this consideration ought not to be weighed
against the utility of your plan. We think both the facts and
remarks which you have assembled too valuable not to be made
known, at least to those for whom you destine them, and speak
1785. LETTERS. 203
of them to one another in terms which I must not repeat to y@u.
Mr. "Wythe suggested that it might be better to put the number
you may allot to the University into the library, rather than to
distribute them among the students. In the latter case, the
stock will be immediately exhausted. In the former, the dis
cretion of the professors will make it serve the students as they
successively come in. Perhaps, too, an indiscriminate gift might
offend some narrow-minded parents.
Mr. Wythe desired me to present you with his most friendly
regards. He mentioned the difficulty he experiences in using
his pen as an apology for not giving these assurances himself.
I postpone my account of the Assembly till I can make it more
satisfactory, observing only that we are at work on the Revi-
sal, and I am not without hopes of seeing it pass this session,
with as few alterations as could be expected. Some are made
unavoidable by a change of circumstances. The greatest dan
ger is to be apprehended from the impatience which a certain
lapse of time always produces.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, December 9th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Supposing that you will be at New York by the
time this reaches it, I drop a few lines for the post of to-day.
Mr. Jones tells me he informed you that a substitute had been
brought forward to the commercial propositions which you left
on the carpet. The subject has not since been called up. If
any change has taken place in the mind of the House, it has not
been unfavorable to the idea of confiding to Congress a power
over trade. I am far from thinking, however, that a perpetual
power can be made palatable at this time. It is more probable
that the other idea of a Convention of Commissioners to An
napolis, from the States, for deliberating on the state of com
merce and the degree of power which ought to be lodged in
Congress, will be attempted. Should it fail in the House, it is
possible that a revival of the printed propositions, with an ex-
204 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
tension of their term to twenty-five years, will be thought on
by those who contend that something of a general nature ought
to be done. My own opinion is unaltered. The propositions
for a State effort have passed, and a bill is ordered in, but the
passage of the bill will be a work of difficulty and uncertainty;
many having acquiesced in the preliminary stages who will
strenuously oppose the measure in its last stages.
No decisive vote has been yet taken on the assize bill. I
conceive it to be in some danger, but that the chance is in its
favour. The case of the British debts will be introduced in a
day or two. We have got through more than half of the Revi-
sal. The criminal bill has been assailed on all sides. Mr.
Mercer has proclaimed unceasing hostility against it. Some
alterations have been made, and others probably will be made,
but I think the main principle of it will finally triumph over all
opposition. I had hoped that this session would have finished
the code, but a vote against postponing the further considera
tion of it till the next was carried by so small a majority, that
I perceive it will be necessary to contend for nothing more
than a few of the more important bills, leaving the residue of
them for another year.
My proposed amendment to the report on the Memorial of
Kentucky was agreed to in a Committee of the whole without
alteration, and with very few dissents. It lies on the table for
the ratification of the House. The members from that district
have become extremely cold on the subject of an immediate sep
aration. The half tax is postponed till March, and the Septem
ber tax till November next. Not a word has passed in the
House as to a paper emission. I wish to hear from you on your
arrival at New York, and to receive, in particular, whatever
you may be at liberty to disclose with regard to the Treaty of
peace, &c., with Great Britain.
1785. LETTERS. 205
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, December 9th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of November 30 was received a few
days ago. This would have followed much earlier the one
which yours acknowledges, had I not wished it to contain some
final information relative to the commercial propositions. The
discussion of them has consumed much time, and though the
absolute necessity of some such general system prevailed over
all the efforts of its adversaries in the first instance, the strata
gem of limiting its duration to a short term has ultimately dis
appointed our hopes. I think it better to trust to further ex
perience, and even distress, for an adequate remedy, than to try
a temporary measure, which may stand in the way of a perma
nent one, and confirm that transatlantic policy which is founded
on our supposed distrust of Congress and of one another.
Those whose opposition in this case did not spring from illib
eral animosities towards the Northern States seem to have been
frightened, on one side, at the idea of a perpetual and irrevocable
grant of power, and, on the other, nattered with a hope that a
temporary grant might be renewed from time to time, if its
utility should be confirmed by the experiment. But we have
already granted perpetual and irrevocable powers of a more
extensive nature than those now proposed, and for reasons not
stronger than the reasons which urge the latter. And as to the
hope of renewal, it is the most visionary one that perhaps ever
deluded men of sense.
Nothing but the peculiarity of our circumstances could ever
have produced those sacrifices of sovereignty on which the fed
eral Government now rests. If they had been temporary, and
the expiration of the term required a renewal at this crisis,
pressing as the crisis is, and recent as is our experience of the
value of the Confederacy, sure I am that it would be impossible
to revive it. What room have we, then, to hope that the expira
tion of temporary grants of commercial powers would always
find a unanimous disposition in the States to follow their own
example ?
206 WORKS OF MADISON. 1785.
It ought to be remembered, too, that besides the caprice, jeal
ousy, and diversity of opinions, which will be certain obstacles
in our way, the policy of foreign nations may hereafter imitate
that of the Macedonian Prince who effected his purposes against
the Grecian Confederacy by gaining over a few of the leading
men in the smaller members of it. Add to the whole, that the
difficulty now found in obtaining a unanimous concurrence of
the States in any measure whatever must continually increase
with every increase of their numbers, and, perhaps, in a greater
ratio, as the ultramontane States may either have, or suppose
they have, a less similitude of interests to the Atlantic States
than these have to one another.
The propositions, however, have not yet received the final
vote of the House, having lain on the table for some time as a
report from the committee of the whole. The question was sus
pended in order to consider a proposition which had for its
object a meeting of Politico-commercial Commissioners from
all the States, for the purpose of digesting and reporting the
requisite augmentation of the power of Congress over trade.
What the event will be cannot be foreseen. The friends of
the original propositions are, I am told, rather increasing; but
I despair of a majority, in any event, for a longer term than
25 years for their duration. The other scheme will have fewer
enemies, and may, perhaps, be carried. It seems naturally to
grow out of the proposed appointment of Commissioners for
Virginia and Maryland, concerted at Mount Vernon, for keep
ing up harmony in the commercial regulations of the two States.
Maryland has ratified the Report; but has invited into the plan
Delaware and Pennsylvania, who will naturally pay the same
compliment to their neighbours, &c.
Besides the general propositions on the subject of trade, it
has been proposed that some intermediate measures should be
taken by ourselves; and a sort of navigation act will, I am ap
prehensive, be attempted. It is backed by the mercantile inter
est of most of our towns, except Alexandria, which alone seems
to have liberality and light on the subject. It was refused even
to suspend the measure on the concurrence of Maryland or N.
1785. LETTERS. 207
Carolina. This folly, however, cannot, one would think, brave
the ruin which it threatens to our Merchants, as well as people
at large, when a final vote comes to be given.
We have got through a great part of the Revisal, and might
by this time have been at the end of it, had the time wasted in
disputing whether it could be finished at this session been spent
in forwarding the work. As it is, we must content ourselves
with passing a few more of the important Bills, leaving the
residue for our successors of the next year. As none of the
Bills passed are to be in force till January, 1787, and the res
idue unpassed will probably be least disputable in their nature,
this expedient, tho' little eligible, is not inadmissible.
Our public credit has had a severe attack and a narrow
escape. As a compromise, it has been necessary to set forward
the half tax till March, and the whole tax of September next
till November ensuing. The latter postponement was meant to
give the planters more time to deal with the Merchants in the
sale of their Tobacco, and is made a permanent regulation.
The Assize Bill is now depending. It has many enemies, and
its fate is precarious. My hopes, however, prevail over my ap
prehensions. The fate of the Port Bill is more precarious.
The failure of an interview between our Commissioners and
Commissioners on the part of North Carolina has embarrassed
the projected Canal between the waters of the two States. If
North Carolina were entirely well disposed, the passing an act
suspended on and referred to her Legislature would be sufficient;
and this course must, I suppose, be tried, tho' previous negocia-
tion would have promised more certain success.
Kentucky has made a formal application for Independence.
Her memorial has been considered and the terms of separation
fixed by a committee of the whole. The substance of them is,
that all private rights and interests derived from the laws of
Virginia shall be secured; that the unlocated lands shall be ap
plied to the objects to which the laws of Virginia have appro
priated them; that non-residents shall be subjected to no higher
taxes than residents; that the Ohio shall be a common high
way for Citizens of the United States, and the jurisdiction of
208 WORKS OF MADISON 1785.
Kentucky and Virginia, as far as the remaining territory of
the latter will lie thereon, be concurrent only with the new
States on the opposite shore; that the proposed State shall take
its due share of our State debts; and that the separation shall
not take place unless these terms shall be approved by a Con
vention to be held to decide the question, nor until Congress
shall assent thereto, and fix the terms of their admission into
the Union. The limits of the proposed State are to be the same
witli the present limits of the District. The apparent coolness
of the Representatives of Kentucky as to a separation since
these terms have been defined indicates that they had some
views which will not be favored by them. They disliked much
to be hung up on the will of Congress.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, December 24, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — The proceedings of the Assembly since my last,
dated this day week, have related: 1. To the Bill for establish
ing Religious freedom in the Revisal. 2. A Bill concerning
British debts. 3. A Bill concerning the Proprietary interest in
the Northern neck. 4. For reforming the County Courts. The
first employed the House of Delegates several days, the pre
amble being the principal subject of contention. It at length
passed without alteration. The Senate, I am told, have ex
changed, after equal altercation, the preamble of the revisal for
the last clause in the Declaration of Rights; an exchange which
was proposed in the House of Delegates and negatived by a
considerable majority. I do not learn that they have made, or
will make, any other alteration.
The Bill for the payment of British debts is nearly a tran
script of that which went through the two Houses last year, ex
cept that it leaves the periods of instalment blank, and gives the
creditor an opportunity of taking immediate execution for the
whole debt, if the debtor refuses to give security for complying
with the instalments. The Bill was near being put off to the
1781. LETTERS. ^ 209
next session on the second reading. A majority were for it;
but having got inadvertently into a hobble, from the manner in
which the question was put, the result was, that Monday next
should be appointed for its consideration. The arrival and
sentiments of Col. Grayson will be favorable to some provision
on the subject. A clause is annexed to the Bill authorising the
Executive to suspend its operation, in case Congress shall sig
nify the policy of so doing. The general cry is, that the Treaty
ought not to be executed here until the posts are surrendered,
and an attempt will be made to suspend the operation of the
Bill on that event, or, at least, on the event of a positive dec
laration from Congress that it ought to be put in force. The
last mode will probably be fixed on, notwithstanding its depar
ture from the regular course of proceeding, and the embarrass
ment in which it may place Congress.
The Bill for reforming the County Courts proposes to select
five Justices, who are to sit quarterly, be paid scantily, and to
possess the civil jurisdiction of the County courts, and the crim
inal jurisdiction of the General Court, under certain restric
tions. It is meant as a substitute for the Assize system, to all
the objections against which it is liable, without possessing its
advantages. It is uncertain whether it will pass at all, or what
form it will finally take. I am inclined to think it will be
thrown out. The Bill relating to the Northern Neck passed
the House of Delegates yesterday. It removes the records into
the Land office here, assimilates locations of surplus land to the
general plan, and abolishes the Quit-rent. It was suggested
that the latter point was of a judiciary nature, that it involved
questions of fact, of law, and of the Treaty of peace, and that
the representatives of the late proprietor ought at least to be
previously heard, according to the request of their Agent. Very
little attention was paid to these considerations, and the bill
passed almost unanimously.
VOL. I. 14
210 WORKS OF MADISON. 1735.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, Decp 30th, 1785.
DEAR SIR, — The past week has been rendered important by
nothing but some discussions on the subject of British debts.
The bill brought in varied from that which miscarried last
year: 1. By adding provision in favor of the creditors for secu
ring payment at the dates of the instalments. 2. By annexing
a clause empowering the Executive to suspend the operation of
the act in case Congress should notify their wish to that effect.
Great difficulty was found in drawing the House into Commit
tee on the subject. It was at length effected on Wednesday.
The changes made in the Bill by the Committee are: 1. Stri
king out the clause saving the Creditors from the act of limita
tion, which makes the whole a scene of mockery. 2. Striking
out the provision for securities. 3. Converting the clause au
thorizing Congress to direct a suspension of the act into a
clause suspending it until Congress should notify to the Execu
tive that Great Britain had complied with the Treaty on her
part, or that they were satisfied with the steps taken by her for
evacuating the posts, paying for Negroes, and for a full compli
ance with the Treaty. The sentence underlined was proposed
as an amendment to the amendment, and admitted by a very
small majority only. 4. Exonerating the public from responsi
bility for the payments into the Treasury by British debtors
beyond the real value of the liquidated paper. Since these pro
ceedings of the Committee of the whole the subject has slept
on the table, no one having called for the report. Being con
vinced myself that nothing can be now done that will not ex
tremely dishonor us and embarrass Congress, my wish is that
the report may not be called for at all.
In the course of the debates no pains were spared to dispar
age the Treaty by insinuations against Congress, the Eastern
States, and the negociators of the Treaty, particularly J. Adams.
These insinuations and artifices explain, perhaps, one of the
motives from which the augmentation of the federal powers and
respectability has been opposed.
17 80.
LETTERS. 211
The reform of the County Courts has dwindled into direc
tions for going through the docket quarterly, under the same
penalties as now oblige them to do their business monthly. The
experiment has demonstrated the impracticability of rendering
these courts fit instruments of Justice; and if it had preceded
the Assize Question, would, I think, have ensured its success.
Some wish to renew this question in a varied form, or at least
under a varied title, but the session is too near its period for
such an attempt. When it will end I know not. The business
depending would employ the House till March. A system of
navigation and commercial regulations for this State alone is
before us, and comprises matter for a month's debate. The
compact with Maryland has been ratified. It was proposed to
submit it to Congress for their sanction, as being within the
word Treaty used in the Confederation. This was opposed. It
was then attempted to transmit it to our Delegates, to be by
them simply laid before Congress. Even this was negatived by
a large majority.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
RICHMOND, January 22d, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — My last, dated November 15th, from this place,
answered yours of May llth, on the subject of your printed
notes. I have since had opportunities of consulting other
friends on the plan you propose, who concur in the result of the
consultations which I transmitted you. Mr. Wythe's idea seems
to be generally approved; that the copies destined for the Uni
versity should be dealt out by the discretion of the Professors,
rather than indiscriminately and at once put into the hands of
the students, which, other objections apart, would at once ex
haust the stock. A vessel from Havre de Grace brought me a
few days ago two Trunks of Books, but without letter or cat
alogue attending them. I have forwarded them to Orange
without examining much into the contents, lest I should miss a
conveyance which is very precarious at this season, and be de-
212 WORKS OF MADISON.
prived of the amusement they promise me for the residue of the
winter.
Our Assembly last night closed a session of 97 days, during
the whole of which, except the first seven, I have shared in the
confinement. It opened with a very warm struggle for the
chair between Mr. Harrison and Mr. Tyler, which ended in the
victory of the former by a majority of six votes. This victory
was shortly afterwards nearly frustrated by an impeachment
of his election in the County of Surry. Having failed in his
native County of Charles City, he abdicated his residence there,
removed into the County of Surry, where he had an estate, took
every step which the interval would admit to constitute him
self an inhabitant, and was, in consequence, elected a represent
ative. A charge of non-residence was, nevertheless, brought
against him, decided against him in the committee of privileges
by the casting vote of the Chairman, and reversed in the House
by a very small majority. The election of Doctor Lee was at
tacked on two grounds: 1st, of non-residence; 2dly, of holding a
lucrative office under Congress. On the 1st he was acquitted;
on the 2d, expelled by a large majority.
The revised Code was brought forward prettly early in the
session. It was first referred to Committee of Courts of Jus
tice, to report such of the bills as were not of a temporary na
ture, and, on their report, committed to committee of the whole.
Some difficulties were raised as to the proper mode of proceed
ing, and some opposition made to the work itself. These, how
ever, being surmounted, and three days in each week appropri
ated to the task, we went on slowly but successfully, till we
arrived at the bill concerning crimes and punishments. Here
the adversaries of the Code exerted their whole force, which,
being abetted by the impatience of its friends in an advanced
stage of the session, so far prevailed that the farther prosecu
tion of the work was postponed till the next session.
The operation of the bills passed is suspended until the be
ginning of 1787, so that, if the code should be resumed by the
next Assembly and finished early in the session, the whole sys
tem may commence at once. I found it more popular in the
1786.
LETTERS. 213
Assembly than I had formed any idea of, and though it was
considered by paragraphs, and carried through all the custom
ary forms, it might have been finished at one session with great
ease, if the time spent on motions to put it off and other dila
tory artifices had been employed on its merits. The adversa
ries were the Speaker, Thruston, and Mercer, who came late in
the session into a vacancy left by the death of Col. Brent, of
Stafford, and contributed principally to the mischief.
The titles in the enclosed list will point out to you such of
the bills as were adopted from the Revisal. The alterations
which they underwent are too numerous to be specified, but
have not materially vitiated the work. The bills passed over
were either temporary ones, such as, being not essential as parts
of the system, may be adopted at any time, and were likely to
impede it at this, or such as have been rendered unnecessary by
acts passed since the epoch at which the revisal was prepared.
After the completion of the work at this session was despaired
of, it was proposed and decided that a few of the bills following
the bill concerning crimes and punishments should be taken up,
as of peculiar importance.
The only one of these which was pursued into an Act is the
Bill concerning Religious freedom. The steps taken through
out the Country to defeat the General Assessment had pro
duced all the effect that could have been wished. The table
was loaded with petitions and remonstrances from all parts
against the interposition of the Legislature in matters of Re
ligion. A general Convention of the Presbyterian church
prayed expressly that the bill in the revisal might be passed
into a law, as the best safeguard, short of a Constitutional one,
for their religious rights. The bill was carried thro' the House
of Delegates without alteration. The Senate objected to the
preamble, and sent down a proposed substitution of the 16th ar
ticle of the Declaration of Rights. The House of Delegates
disagreed. The Senate insisted, and asked a Conference. Their
objections were frivolous indeed. In order to remove them, as
diey were understood by the Managers of the House of Dele-
214 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
gates, the preamble was sent up again from the House of Dele
gates' with one or two verbal alterations. As an amendment
to these the Senate sent down a few others, which, as they did
not affect the substance, though they somewhat defaced the
composition, it was thought better to agree to than to run fur
ther risks, especially as it was getting late in the Session and
the House growing thin. The enacting clauses past without a
single alteration, and I flatter myself have, in this country, ex
tinguished forever the ambitious hope of making laws for the
human mind.
Acts not included in the Revised.
For the naturaiiza- This was brought forward by Col. Henry
tlon^of the Marquis de Lee, Jr., and passed without opposition.
It recites his merits towards this Country,
and constitutes him a Citizen of it.
The donation presented to Gen1 Wash-
To amend the act . , , . „
vesting in Gen1 Wash- ington embarrassed him much. On one
ingtoifcertain shares in side he disliked the appearance of slight-
the River Companies. . . - r
ing the bounty of his Country, and of an
ostentatious disinterestedness. On the other, an acceptance of
reward in any shape was irreconcileable with the law lie had
imposed on himself. His answer to the Assembly declined in
the most affectionate terms the emolument allotted to himself,
but intimated his willingness to accept it so far as to dedicate
it to some public and patriotic use. This act recites the origi
nal act and his answer, and appropriates the future revenue from
the shares to such public objects as he shall appoint. He has
been pleased to ask my ideas with regard to the most proper
objects. I suggest, in general only, a partition of the fund be
tween some institution which would please the philosophical
world, and some other which may be of a popular cast. If your
knowledge of the several institutions in France or elsewhere
should suggest models or hints, I could wish for your ideas on
the case, which no less concern the good of the Commonwealth
than the character of its most illustrious citizen.
1786.
LETTERS. 215
Some of the malefactors consigned by
the Executive to labour brought the legal-
cil to grant Conditional j^y of such pardons before the late Court
pardons in certain cases. * . ,
of Appeals, who adjudged them to be void.
This act gives the Executive a power in such cases for one year.
It passed before the bill in the revisal on this subject was taken
up, and was urged against the necessity of passing it at this
Session. The expiration of this act at the next Session will
become an argument on the other side.
This act empowers the Executive to con-
An act giving powers
to the Governor and fine Or Send away SUSplClOUS aliens, On no-
Council in certain cases. tice from Congress that their sovereigns
have declared or commenced hostilities against the United
States, or that the latter have declared war against such sover
eigns. It was occasioned by the arrival of two or three Alge-
rines here, who, having no apparent object, were suspected of
an unfriendly one. The Executive caused them to be brought
before them, but found themselves unarmed with power to pro
ceed. These adventurers have since gone off.
Act for safe keeping Abolishes the quit-rent, and removes the
era-Neck.^ papers to the Register's office.
Act for reforming Requires them to clear their dockets
County Courts. quarterly. It amounts to nothing, and is
chiefly the result of efforts to render Courts of Assize unneces
sary.
The latter act, passed at the last session,
Act to suspend the T i ,.
operation of the act es- required sundry supplemental regulations
tablishing Courts of As- to fit jt for operation. An attempt to pro
vide these, which involved the merits of the
innovation, drew forth the united exertions of its adversaries.
On the question on the supplemental bill, they prevailed by 63
votes against 49. The best that could be done in this situation
was to suspend instead of repealing the original act, which will
give another chance to our successors for introducing the pro
posed reform. The various interests opposed to it will never
be conquered without considerable difficulty.
2(6 WORKS OF MADISON. 17SC.
Resolution proposing The necessity of harmony in the commer-
a general meeting of cial regulations of the States has been ren-
eommissioners from the , , , mi i i
States to consider and dQYQd every day more apparent. Ihe local
recommend a federal efforts to counteract the policy of Great
plan for regulating com- . r J
merce; and appointing Britain, instead ol succeeding, have in every
instance recoiled more or less on the State's
Js Madison, Jr., Walter which ventured on the trial. Notwith-
Jones, S* G-. Tucker. M. n. .-, .-. ,r , P
Smith, G. Mason, and standing these lessons, the Merchants 01
David Ross, who are to fl^g State, except those of Alexandria, and
communicate the propo- ' . . . '
sal and suggest time and a few of the more intelligent individuals
place of meeting. elsewhere, were so far carried away by
their jealousies of the Northern Marine as to wish for a naviga
tion Act confined to this State alone. In opposition to those
narrow ideas, the printed proposition herewith inclosed was
made. As printed, it went into a Committee of the whole. The
alterations of the pen shew the state in which it came out. Its
object was to give Congress such direct power only as would
not alarm, but to limit that of the States in such manner as
would indirectly require a conformity to the plans of Congress.
The renunciation of the right of laying duties on imports from
other States would amount to a prohibition of duties on im
ports from foreign Countries, unless similar duties existed in
other States. This idea was favored by the discord produced
between several States by rival and adverse regulations. The
evil had proceeded so far between Connecticut and Massachu
setts that the former laid heavier duties on imports from the
latter than from Great Britain, of which the latter sent a letter
of complaint to the Executive here, and I suppose to the other
Executives. Without some such self-denying compact, it will,
I conceive, be impossible to preserve harmony among the con
tiguous States.
In the Committee of the whole the proposition was combated
at first on its general merits. This ground was, however, soon
changed for that of its perpetual duration, which was reduced
first to 25 years, then to 13 years. Its adversaries were the
Speaker, Thruston, and Corbin; they were bitter and illiberal
178G. LETTERS. 217
against Congress and the Northern States beyond example.
Thruston considered it as problematical whether it would not
be better to encourage the British than the Eastern marine.
Braxton and Smith were in the same sentiments, but absent at
this crisis of the question.
The limitation of the plan to 13 years so far destroyed its
value in the judgment of its friends, that they chose rather to
do nothing than to adopt it in that form. The report accord
ingly remained on the table uncalled for to the end of the ses
sion. And on the last day the resolution above quoted was
substituted. It had been proposed by Mr. Tyler immediately
after the miscarriage of the printed proposition, but was left
on the table till it was found that several propositions for reg
ulating our trade without regard to other States produced
nothing. In this extremity, the resolution was generally ac
ceded to, not without the opposition of Corbin and Smith. The
Commissioners first named were the Attorney, Doctor Jones,
and myself. In the House of Delegates, Tucker and Smith
were added, and in the Senate, Mason, Ross, and Ronald. The
last does not undertake.
.The port bill was attacked and nearly defeated. An amend
atory bill was passed with difficulty thro' the House of Dele
gates, and rejected in the Senate. The original one will take
effect before the next session, but will probably be repealed
then. It would have been repealed at this, if its adversaries
had known their strength in time and exerted it with judgment.
A Bill was brought in for paying British debts, but was ren
dered so inadequate to its object by alterations inserted by a
committee of the whole, that the patrons of it thought it best to
let it sleep.
Several petitions (from Methodists, chiefly) appeared in favor
of a gradual abolition of slavery, and several from another
quarter for a repeal of the law which licences private manu
missions. The former were not thrown under the table, but
were treated with all the indignity short of it. A proposition
ror bringing in a bill conformably to the latter was decided in
218 WORKS OF MADISON. 1736.
the affirmative by the casting voice of the Speaker; but the bill
was thrown out on the first reading by a considerable majority.
A considerable itcli for paper money discovered itself, though
no overt attempt was made. The partizans of the measure,
among whom Mr. M. Smith may be considered as the most zeal
ous, flatter themselves, and I fear upon too good ground, that
it will be among the measures of the next session. The unfa
vorable balance of trade and the substitution of facilities in
the taxes will have dismissed the little specie remaining among
us and strengthened the common argument for a paper medium.
This tax was to have been collected in
theA?axfof tEeS|rSt September last, and had been in part ac-
year, and admitting fa- tually collected in specie. Notwithstand-
ciMes in payment. . ,, . , ,, _* _ _ _.
ing this and the distress of public credit,
an effort was made to remit the tax altogether. The party was
headed by Braxton, who was courting an appointment into the
Council. On the question for a third reading, the affirmative
was carried by 52 against 42. On the final question, a vigor
ous effort on the negative side, with a reinforcement of a few
new members, threw the bill out. The victory, however, was
not obtained without subscribing to a postponement instead of
remission, and the admission of facilities instead of specie. The
postponement, too, extends not only to the tax which was under
collection, and which will not now come in till May, but to the
tax of September next, which will not now be in the Treasury
till the beginning of next year. The wisdom of seven sessions
will be unable to repair the mischiefs of this single act.
This was prayed for by a memorial from
Act concerning the -, , . .
erection of Kentucky a Convention held in Kentucky, and
State an independent passed without opposition. It contains
stipulations in favor of territorial rights
held under the laws of Virginia, and suspends the actual separ
ation on the decision of a Convention authorized to meet for
that purpose, and on the assent of Congress. The boundary
of the proposed State is to remain the same as the present
boundary of the district.
1786. LETTERS. 219
Act to amend the At the last session of 1784 an act passed
Militia law. displacing all the militia officers, and pro
viding for the appointment of experienced men. In most coun
ties it was carried into execution, and generally much to the
advantage of the militia. In consequence of a few petitions
against the law as a breach of the Constitution, this act reverses
all the proceedings under it, and reinstates the old officers.
From the peculiar situation of that dis-
Act to extend the on- , . , ,T -17, i , n . . ,,
eration of the Escheat trict> the Escheat law was not originally
ncd- t0 tbe Northern extended to it. Its extension at this time
was occasioned by a bill brought in by Mr.
Mercer for seizing and selling the deeded land of the late Lord
Fairfax, on the ground of its being devised to aliens, leaving
them at liberty, indeed, to assert their pretensions before the
Court of Appeals. As the bill, however, stated the law and
the fact, and excluded the ordinary inquest, in the face of pre
tensions set up even by a citizen, (Martin,) to whom it is said
the reversion is given by the will, it was opposed as exerting
at least a Legislative interference in, and improper influence
on. the Judiciary question. It was proposed to substitute the
present act as an amendment to the bill in a committee of the
whole; which was disagreed to. The bill being of a popular
cast went through the House of Delegates by a great majority.
In the Senate it was rejected by a greater one, if not unani
mously. The extension of the escheat law was, in consequence,
taken up and passed.
"An act for punishing To wit: attempts to dismember the State
certain offences." without the consent of the Legislature. It
is pointed against the faction headed by Arthur Campbell, in
the County of Washington.
Act for amending the Complies with the requisition of Con-
appropriating Act. gress for the present year, to wit: 1786.
It directs 512,000 dollars, the quota of this State, to be paid
before May next, the time fixed by Congress, altho' it is known
that the postponement of the taxes renders the payment of a
shilling impossible. Our payments last year gained us a little
reputation. Our conduct this must stamp us with ignominy.
220 WORKS OF MADISON. i786>
Act for regulating the Reduces that of the Governor from
salaries of the civil list. .glj000 to ^go^ and the others, some at a
greater, and some at a less proportion.
Act for disposing of Meant chlefl^ tO affect VaCailt klld in
waste lands on Eastern the Northern Neck, erroneously conceived
to be in great quantity and of great value.
The price is fixed at <£25 per Hundred acres, at which not an
acre will be sold.
An act imposing ad- Amounting in the whole to five sliil-
ditional tonnage on Brit
ish vessels. lings per ton.
Nothing has been yet done with North Carolina towards
opening a Canal through the Dismal. The powers given to
Commissioners on our part are renewed, and some negociation
will be brought about if possible. A certain interest in that
State is suspected of being disinclined to promote the object,
notwithstanding its manifest importance to the community at
large. On Potowmac they have been at work some time. On
this river they have about eighty hands ready to break ground,
and have engaged a man to plan for them. I fear there is a
want of skill for the undertaking that threatens a waste of la
bour and a discouragement to the enterprize. I do not learn
that any measures have been taken to procure from Europe the
aid which ought to be purchased at any price, and which might,
I should suppose, be purchased at a moderate one.
I had an opportunity a few days ago of knowing that Mrs.
Carr and her family, as well as your little daughter, were well.
I am apprehensive that some impediments still detain your
younger nephew from his destination. Peter has been in Wil-
liamsburg. and I am told by Mr. Maury that his progress is
satisfactory. He has read, under him, Horace, some of Cicero's
orations, Greek testament, JEsop's fables in Greek, ten books
of Homer's Iliad, and is now beginning Xenophon, Juvenal, and
Livy. He has also given some attention to French.
I have paid Le Maire ten guineas. He will set out in about
three weeks, I am told, for France. Mr. Jones has promised
to collect and forward by him all such papers as are in print,
and will explain the situation of our affairs to you. Among
1786, LETTERS. 221
them will be the most important acts of the session, and the
Journal as far as it will be printed.
Mr. William Hays, in sinking a well on the declivity of the
hill above the proposed seat of the Capitol, and nearly in a line
from the Capitol to Belvidere, found about seventy feet below
the surface several large bones, apparently belonging to a fish
not less than the shark, and, what is more singular, several frag
ments of potter's ware in the style of the Indians. Before he
reached these curiosities he passed through about fifty feet of
soft blue clay. I have not seen the articles, having but just
heard of them, and been too closely engaged; but have my in
formation from the most unexceptionable witnesses, who have.
I am told by General Russell, of Washington County, that, in
sinking a salt well in that County, he fell in with the hip bone
of the incognitum, the socket of which was about 8 inches diam
eter. It was very soft in the subterraneous state, but seemed
to undergo a petrefaction on being exposed to the air.
Adieu. Affection17.
Promotions. — Edward Carrington & H. Lee, Jr., added to R.
H. Lee, J's Monroe, and Wm. Grayson, in the delegation to
Congress.
Carter Braxton to the Council.
John Tyler to court of admiralty, in room of B. Waller, re
signed.
Prices current. — Tobacco, 23s. on James River, and propor
tionally elsewhere.
Wheat, 5 to 6s. per bushel.
Corn, 18 to 20s. per barrel.
Pork 28 to 30s pr ct.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, January 22d. 1786.
DEAR SIR,— Your favors of the 19th December and 7th Jan
uary came both to hand by yesterday's mail. The Assembly ad-
222 WORKS OF MADISON.
journcd last night after a session of 97 days. If its importance
were to be measured by a list of the laws which it has produced,
all preceding Legislative merit would be eclipsed, the number
in this instance amounting to 114 or 115. If we recur to the
proper criterion, no session has, perhaps, afforded less ground
for applause. Not a single member seems to be pleased with a
review of what has passed. I was too hasty in informing you
that an amendment of the Port bill had passed. I was led into
the error by the mistake of some who told me it had passed the
Senate, when it had only been agreed to in a Committee of the
Senate. Instead of passing it, they sent down a repeal of the
old port bill by way of amendment. This was disagreed to by
the House of Delegates as indirectly originating. The Senate
adhered, and the bill was lost. An attempt was then made by
the adversaries of the port measure to suspend its operation till
the end of the next session. This also was negatived, so that
the old bill is left as it stood, without alteration. Defective as
it is, particularly in putting citizens of other States on the foot
ing of foreigners, and destitute as it is of proper concomitant
provisions, it was judged best to hold it fast, and trust to a suc
ceeding Assembly for amendments.
The navigation system for the State, after having been pre
pared at great length by Mr. G. Baker, was procrastinated in
a very singular manner, and finally died away of itself, without
anything being done, except a short act passed yesterday in
great hurry, imposing a tonnage of 5 shillings on the vessels of
foreigners not having treated with the United States.
This failure of local measures in the commercial line, instead
of reviving the original propositions for a general plan, revived
that of Mr. Tyler for the appointment of Commissioners to meet
Commissioners from the other States on the subject of general
regulations. It went through by a very great majority, being
opposed only by Mr. M. Smith and Mr. Corbin. The expedi
ent is no doubt liable to objections, and will probably mis
carry. I think, however, it is better than nothing; and as a
recommendation of additional powers to Congress is within the
purview of the Commission, it may possibly lead to better con-
17SG. LETTERS. 223
sequences than at first occur. The Commissioners first named
were the attorney, Doctor W. Jones of the Senate, and myself.
The importunity of Mr. Page procured the addition of S' George
Tucker, who is sensible, federal, and skilled in commerce, to
whom was added, on the motion of I know not whom, Mr. M.
Smith, who is at least exceptionable in the second quality, hav
ing made unceasing war during the session against the idea of
bracing the federal system. In the senate, a further addition
was made of Col. Mason, Mr. D. Ross, and Mr. Ronald. The
name of the latter was struck out at his desire. The others
stand. It is not unlikely that this multitude of associates will
stifle the thing in its birth. By some it was probably meant to
do so.
I am glad to find that Virginia has merit where you are, and
should be more so if I saw greater reason for it. The bill
which is considered at New York as a compliance with the re
quisitions of Congress, is more so in appearance than reality.
It will bring no specie into the Treasury, and but little Conti
nental paper. Another act has since passed which professes to
comply more regularly with the demand of Congress, but this
will fail as to specie and as to punctuality. It will probably
procure the indents called for, and fulfils the views of Congress
in making those of other States receivable into our Treasury.
Among the acts passed since my last, I must not omit an eco
nomical revision of the Civil list. The saving will amount to
5 or 6.000 pounds. The Governor was reduced by the House
of Delegates to £800, to which the Senate objected. Which
receded I really forget. The Council to £2,000; the Attorney
to £200; Register from £1,100 to £800; Auditor and Solicitor
from £4 to 300; Speaker of House of Delegates to 40s. per day,
including daily pay as a member; and of Senate to 20s, &c.;
Delegates to Congress to six dollars per day. The act, how
ever, is not to commence till November next.
224 WORKS OF MADISON. i78G
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, March 18th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — Your two favours of the 1 and 20 September,
under the same cover, by Mr. Fitzhugh, did not come to hand
till the 24th ultimo, and of course till it was too late for any
Legislative interposition with regard to the Capitol. I have
written to the Attorney on the subject. A letter which I have
from him, dated prior to his receipt of mine, takes notice of the
plan you had promised, and makes no doubt that it will arrive
in time for the purpose of the Commissioners. I do not gather
from his expressions, however, that he was aware of the change
which will become necessary in the foundation already laid, a
change which will not be submitted to without reluctance, for
two reasons: 1. The appearance of caprice to which it may
expose the Commissioners. 2. Which is the material one, the
danger of retarding the work till the next session of Assembly
can interpose a vote for its suspension, and possibly for a re
moval to Williamsburg. This danger is not altogether imagi
nary. Not a session has passed since I became a member with
out one or other or both of these attempts.
At the late session a suspension was moved by the Williams-
burg interest, which was within a few votes of being agreed to.
It is a great object, therefore, with the Richmond interest, to
get the buildings so far advanced before the fall as to put an
end to such experiments. The circumstances which will weigh
in the other scale, and which, it is to be hoped, will preponder
ate, are the fear of being reproached with sacrificing public
considerations to a local policy, and a hope that the substitu
tion of a more economical plan may better reconcile the As
sembly to a prosecution of the undertaking.
Since I have been at home I have had leisure to review the
literary cargo, for which I am so much indebted to your friend
ship. The collection is perfectly to my mind. I must trouble
you only to get two little mistakes rectified. The number of
vols. in the Encyclopedia corresponds with your list, but a du
plicate has been packed up of Tom. 1, premiere par tie of His-
1786. LETTERS. 225
toire Naturelle, Quadrupedes, premiere livraison, and there is
left out the second part of the same Tome, which, as appears
by the Avis to the 1st Livraison, makes the 1st Tome of His-
toire des oiseaux as well as by the Histoire des oixeaux sent,
which begins with Tom. II repartie, and with the letter F from
the Avis to the sixth Livraison. I infer that the vol. omitted
made part of the 5th livraison. The duplicate vol. seems to
have been a good deal handled, and possibly belongs to your
own sett. Shall I keep it in my hands, or send it back? The
other mistake is an omission of the 4th vol. of D'Albon sur
1'interet de plusieurs nations, &c. The binding of the three
vols which are come is distinguished from that of most of the
other books by the circumstance of the figure on the back num
bering the vol8 being on a black instead of a red ground. The
author's name above is on a red ground. I mention these cir
cumstances that the binder may supply the omitted volume in
proper uniform.
I annex a state of our account balanced. I had an opportu
nity a few clays after your letters were received of remitting
the balance to the hands of Mrs. Carr, with a request that it
might be made use of as you directed, to prevent a loss of time
to her sons from occasional disappointments in the stated funds.
I have not yet heard from the Mr. Fitzhughs on the subject of
your advance to them. The advance to Le Maire had been
made a considerable time before I received your countermand
ing instructions. I have no copying press, but must postpone
that conveniency to other wants which will absorb my little
resources. I am fully apprized of the value of this machine,
and mean to get one when I can better afford it and may have
more use for it. I am led to think it would be a very economi
cal acquisition to all our public offices, which are obliged to
furnish copies of papers belonging to them.
A quorum of the deputies appointed by the Assembly for a
commercial Convention had a meeting at Richmond shortly
after I left it, and the Attorney tells me it has been agreed to
propose Annapolis for the place, and the first monday in Sep
tember for the time, of holding the Convention. It was thought
VOL. i. 15
226 WORKS OF MADISON.
prudent to avoid the neighborhood of Congress and the large
Commercial towns, in order to disarm the adversaries to the
object of insinuations of influence from either of these quarters.
I have not heard what opinion is entertained of this project at
New York, nor what reception it has found in any of the States.
If it should come to nothing, it will, I fear, confirm Great Brit
ain and all the world in the belief that we are not to be re
spected nor apprehended as a nation in matters of commerce.
The States are every day giving proofs that separate regulations
are more likely to set them by the ears than to attain the com
mon object. When Massachusetts set on foot a retaliation of
the policy of Great Britain, Connecticut declared her ports free.
New Jersey served New York in the same way. And Delaware,
I am told, has lately followed the example, in opposition to the
commercial plans of Pennsylvania.
A miscarriage of this attempt to unite the States in some
effectual plan will have another effect of a serious nature. It
will dissipate every prospect of drawing a steady revenue from
our imposts, either directly into the federal treasury, or indi
rectly through the treasuries of the Commercial States, and, of
consequence, the former must depend for supplies solely on an
nual requisitions, and the latter on direct taxes drawn from the
property of the Country. That these dependencies are in an
alarming degree fallacious, is put by experience out of all ques
tion. The payments from the States under the calls of Congress
have in no year borne any proportion to the public wants.
During the last year, that is, from November, 1784, to Novem
ber, 1785, the aggregate payments, as stated to the late Assem
bly, fell short of 400,000 dollars, a sum neither equal to the
interest due on the foreign debts, nor even to the current ex-
pences of the federal Government. The greatest part of this
sum, too, went from Virginia, which will not supply a single
shilling the present year.
Another unhappy effect of a continuance of the present anar
chy of our commerce will be a continuance of the unfavorable
balance on it, which, by draining us of our metals, furnishes
pretexts for the pernicious substitution of paper money, for in-
1780. LETTERS. 227
diligences to debtors, for postponements of taxes. In fact, most
of our political evils may be traced up to our commercial ones,
as most of our moral may to our political. The lessons which
the mercantile interest of Europe have received from late expe
rience will probably check their propensity to credit us beyond
our resources, and so far the evil of an unfavorable balance
will correct itself. But the Merchants of Great Britain, if no
others, will continue to credit us, at least as far as our remit
tances can be strained, and that is far enough to perpetuate our
difficulties, unless the luxurious propensity of our own people
can be otherwise checked.
This view of our situation presents the proposed Convention
as a remedial experiment which ought to command every as
sent; but if it be a just view, it is one which assuredly will not
be taken by all even of those whose intentions are good. I
consider the event, therefore, as extremely uncertain, or rather,
considering that the States must first agree to the proposition
for sending deputies, that these must agree in a plan to be sent
back to the States, and that these again must agree unanimously
in a ratification of it, I almost despair of success. It is neces
sary, however, that something should be tried, and if this be
not the best possible expedient, it is the best that could possibly
be carried through the Legislature here. And if the present
crisis cannot effect unanimity, from what future concurrence of
circumstances is it to be expected ? Two considerations partic
ularly remonstrate against delay. One is the danger of having
the same game played on our Confederacy by which Philip
managed that of the Grecians. I saw enough during the late
Assembly of the influence of the desperate circumstances of in
dividuals on their public conduct, to admonish me of the possi
bility of finding in the council of some one of the States fit in
struments of foreign machinations. The other consideration is
the probability of an early increase of the confederated States,
which more than proportionally impede measures which require
unanimity; as the new members may bring sentiments and in
terests less congenial with those of the Atlantic States than
those of the latter are one with another.
228 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
The price of our staple is down at 22s. at Richmond. One
argument for putting off the taxes was, that it would relieve the
planters from the necessity of selling, and would enable them
to make a better bargain with the purchasers. The price has,
notwithstanding, been falling ever since. How far the event
may have proceeded from a change in the Market of Europe, I
know not. That it has in part proceeded from the practice of
remitting and postponing the taxes, may, I think, be fairly de
duced. The scarcity of money must, of necessity, sink the price
of every article, and the relaxation in collecting the taxes in
creases this scarcity by diverting the money from the public
Treasury to the shops of Merchandize. In the former case it
would return into circulation. In the latter, it goes out of the
Country to balance the increased consumption. A vigorous
and steady collection of taxes would make the money necessary
here, and would therefore be a mean of keeping it here. In our
situation it would have the salutary operation of a sumptuary
law. The price of Indian Corn in this part of the Country,
which produced the best crops, is not higher than two dollars
per barrel. It would have been much higher but for the pecu
liar mildness of the winter. December and January scarcely
reminded us that it was winter. February, though temperate,
was less unseasonable. Our deepest snow (about seven inches)
was in the present month. I observe the tops of the blue ridge
still marked with its remains. My last was dated January
22d, and contained a narrative of the proceedings of the As
sembly.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, 19th March, 1786.
DEAR SIR- ***********
"The Question of policy," you say, "is whether it will be bet
ter to correct the vices of the Confederation by recommendation
gradually as it moves along, or by a Convention. If the latter
should be determined on, the powers of the Yirginia Comrnis-
1786. LETTERS. 229
sioners are inadequate.7' If all on whom the correction of these
vices depends were well informed and well disposed, the mode
would be of little moment. But as we have both ignorance and
iniquity to combat, we must defeat the designs of the latter by
humouring the prejudices of the former. The efforts for bring
ing about a correction through the medium of Congress have
miscarried. Let a Convention, then, be tried. If it succeeds in
the first instance, it can be repeated as other defects force them
selves on the public attention, and as the public inind becomes
prepared for further remedies.
The Assembly here would refer nothing to Congress. They
would have revolted equally against a plenipotentiary commis
sion to their deputies for the Convention. The option, there
fore, lay between doing what was done and doing nothing.
Whether a right choice was made time only can prove. I am
not, in general, an advocate for temporizing or partial remedies.
But a rigor in this respect, if pushed too far, may hazard every
thing. If the present paroxysm of our affairs be totally neg
lected our case may become desperate. If anything comes of
the Convention, it will probably be of a permanent, not a tem
porary nature, which I think will be a great point. The mind
feels a peculiar complacency in seeing a good thing done when
it is not subject to the trouble and uncertainty of doing it over
again. The commission is, to be sure, not filled to every man's
mind. The History of it may be a subject of some future tete
a tete.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, April 9th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — The step taken by New Jersey was certainly a
rash one, and will furnish fresh pretexts to unwilling States for
withholding their contributions. In one point of view, how
ever, it furnishes a salutary lesson. Is it possible, with such an
example before our eyes of impotency in the federal system, to
remain sceptical with regard to the necessity of infusing more
230 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
energy into it? A Government cannot long stand which is
obliged, in the ordinary course of its administration, to court a
compliance with its constitutional acts, from a member not of
the most powerful order, situated within the immediate verge
of authority, and apprised of every circumstance which should
remonstrate against disobedience.
The question whether it be possible and worth while to pre
serve the Union of the States must be speedily decided some
way or other. Those who are indifferent to its preservation
would do well to look forward to the consequences of its ex
tinction. The prospect to my eye is a gloomy one indeed.
I am glad to hear that the opposition to the impost is likely
to be overcome. It is an encouragement to persevere in good
measures. I am afraid, at the same time, that, like other auxil
iary resources, it will be overrated by the States, and slacken
the regular efforts of taxation. It is also materially short of
the power which Congress ought to have with regard to trade.
It leaves the door unshut against a commercial warfare among
the States, our trade exposed to foreign machinations, and the
distresses of an unfavorable balance very little checked. The
experience of European Merchants who have speculated in our
trade will probably check, in a great measure, our opportunities
of consuming beyond our resources; but they will continue to
credit us as far as our coin, in addition to our productions, will
extend, and our experience here teaches us that our people will
extend their consumption as far as credit can be obtained.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORAXGE, May 12th, 178G.
DEAR SIR, — My last was of March 18, since which I have
been favored with yours of the 8 and 9th of February. Ban
croft's application in favour of Paradise, inclosed in the latter,
shall be attended to as far as the case will admit, though I see
not how any relief can be obtained. If Mr. Paradise stands on
the list of foreign creditors, his agent here may probably con-
ITSfi. LETTERS. 231
vort his securities into money without any very great loss, as
they rest on good funds, and the principal is in a course of pay
ment. If he stands on the domestic list, as I presume he does,
the interest only is provided for, and, since the postponement of
the taxes, even that cannot be negociated without a discount of
10 per cent., at least. The principal cannot be turned into cash
without sinking three-fourths of its amount.
Your notes having got into print in France, will inevitably
be translated back and published in that form, not only in Eng
land but in America, unless you give out the original. I think,
therefore, you owe it not only to yourself, but to the place you
occupy and the subjects you have handled, to take this precau
tion. To say nothing of the injury which will certainly result
to the diction from a translation first into French and then
back into English, the ideas themselves may possibly be so per
verted as to lose their propriety.
The books which you have been so good as to forward to me
are so well assorted to my wishes that no suggestions are ne
cessary as to your future purchases. A copy of the old edition
of the Encyclopedia is desirable, for the reasons you mention;
but as I should gratify my desire in this particular at the ex-
pence of something else which I can less dispense with, I must
content myself with the new Edition for the present. The
watch I bought in Philadelphia, though a pretty good one. is
probably so far inferior to those of which you have a sample
that I cannot refuse your kind offer to procure me one of the
same sort; and I am fancying to myself so many little gratifica
tions from the pedometer that I cannot forego that addition.
The inscription for the Statue is liable to Houdon's criticism,
and is in every respect inferior to the substitute which you
have copied into your letter. I am apprehensive, notwithstand
ing, that no change can be effected. The Assembly will want
some proper ground for resuming the matter. The devices for
the other side of the pedestal are well chosen, and might, I
should suppose, be applied without scruple as decorations of the
artist. I counted, myself, on the addition of proper ornaments,
232 WORKS OF MADISON. 1730.
and am persuaded that such a liberty could give offence no
where.
The execution of your hints with regard to the Marquis and
Rochambcau would be no less pleasing to me than to you. I
think with you, also, that the setting up the busts of our own
worthies would not be doing more honour to them than to our
selves. I foresee, however, the difficulty of overcoming the
popular objection against every measure which involves expencc,
particularly where the importance of the measure will be felt by
a few only; and an unsuccessful attempt would be worse than
no attempt. I have heard nothing as to the Capitol. I men
tioned to you in my last that I had written to the Attorney on
the subject. 1 shall have an opportunity shortly of touching on
it again to him.
A great many changes have taken place in the late elections.
The principal acquisitions are Col. G. Mason, who, I am told,
was pressed into the service at the instigation of General Wash
ington, General Nelson, Mann Page. In AlbGmarle, both the
old ones declined the task. Their successors are George and
John Nicholas. Col. Carter was again an unsuccessful candi
date. I have not heard how Mr. Harrison has shaped his course.
It was expected that he would stand in a very awkward rela
tion both to Charles City and to Surrey, and would probably
succeed in neither. Monroe lost his election in King George
by 6 votes. Mercer did his by the same number in Stafford.
Neither of them was present, or they would, no doubt, have
both been elected. Col. Bland is also to be among us. Among
the many good things which may be expected from Col. Mason,
we may reckon, perhaps, an effort to review our Constitution.
The loss of the port bill will certainly be one condition on
which we are to receive his valuable assistance. I am not with
out fears, also, concerning his federal ideas. The last time I
saw him he seemed to have come about a good deal towards
the policy of giving Congress the management of trade. But
he lias been led so far out of the right way that a thorough re
turn can scarcely be hoped for. On all the other great points.
1786. LETTERS. 233
the Revised Code, the Assize bill, taxation, paper money, &c.,
his abilities will be inestimable.
Most if not all the States, except Maryland, have appointed
deputies for the proposed Convention at Annapolis. The refu
sal of Maryland to appoint proceeded, as I am informed by Mr.
Daniel Carroll, from a mistaken notion that the measure would
derogate from the authority of Congress, and interfere with the
Revenue system of April, 1783, which they have lately recom
mended anew to the States. There is certainly no such inter
ference, and instead of lessening the authority of Congress, the
object of the Convention is to extend it over commerce. I have
no doubt that on a reconsideration of the matter it will be
viewed in a different light.
The internal situation of this State is growing worse and
worse. Our specie has vanished. The people are again plunged
in debt to the Merchants, and these circumstances, added to the
fall of Tobacco in Europe and a probable combination among
its chief purchasers here, have reduced that article to 20s. The
price of Corn is, in many parts of the Country, at 20s. and up
wards per barrel. In this part it is not more than 15s. Our
spring has been a cool and, latterly, a dry one; of course it is a
backward one. The first day of April was the most remark
able ever experienced in this climate. It snowed and hailed
the whole day in a storm from N. E., and the Thermometer
stood at 4 o'clock P. M. at 26°. If the snow had fallen in the
usual way it would have been 8 or 10 inches deep, at least; but
consisting of small hard globules, mixed with small hail, and
lying on the ground so compact and firm as to bear a man, it
was less than half of that depth.
We hear from Kentucky that the inhabitants are still at
variance with their savage neighbours. In a late skirmish sev
eral were lost on both sides. On that of the whites Col. W.
Christian is mentioned. It is said the scheme of independence
is growing unpopular since the act of our Assembly has brought
the question fully before them. Your nephew, Dabney Carr,
lias been some time at the Academy in Prince Edward. The
President, Mr. Smith, speaks favorably of him.
234 WORKS OF MADISON. 178C.
With the sincerest affection, I remain, dear sir, your friend
and servant.
P. S. I have taken measures for procuring the Peccan nuts,
and the seed of the sugar Tree. Are there no other things here
which would be acceptable on a like account? You will with
hold from me a real pleasure if you do not favor me with your
commands freely. Perhaps some of our animal curiosities would
enable you to gratify particular characters of merit. I can,
without difficulty, get the skins of all our common and of some
of our rarer quadrupeds, and can have them stuifed, if desired.
It is possible, also, that I may be able to send some of them
alive. I lately had on hand a female opossum, with seven young
ones, which I intended to have reared, for the purpose partly of
experiments myself, and partly of being able to forward them
to you in case of an opportunity, and your desiring it. Unfor
tunately, they Imve all died. But I find they can be got at any
time, almost, in the spring of the year, and if the season be too
far advanced now, they may certainly be had earlier in the next
spring.
I observe that in your notes you number the fallow and Roe-
deer among the native quadrupeds of America. As Buffon had
admitted the fact, it was, whether true or erroneous, a good ar
gument, no doubt, against him. But I am persuaded they arc
not natives of the new continent. Buffon mentions the chcv-
ruel, in particular, as abounding in Louisiana. I have enquired
of several credible persons who have traversed the western
woods extensively, and quite down to New Orleans, all of whom
affirm that no other than our common deer are any where seen.
Nor can I find any written evidence to the contrary that de
serves notice. You have, I believe, justly considered our Mo-
nax as the Marmotte of Europe. I have lately had an oppor
tunity of examining a female one with some attention. Its
weight, after it had lost a good deal of blood, was 5J Ibs. Its
dimensions, shape, teeth, and structure within, as far as I could
judge, corresponded in substance with the description given by
1786. LETTERS. 235
D'Aubenton. In sundry minute circumstances a precise cor
respondence was also observable. The principal variations
were: 1st, in the face, which was shorter in the Monax than in
the proportions of the Marmotte, and was less arched about the
root of the nose. 2nd, in the feet, each of the forefeet having a
fifth nail, about J of an inch long, growing out of the inward
side of the heel, without any visible toe. From this particular
it would seem to be the Marmotte of Poland, called the Bobac,
rather than the Alpine Marmotte. 3rd, in the teats, which were
8 only. The marmotte in Buffon had 10. 4th, in several circum
stances of its robe, particularly of that of the belly, which con
sisted of a short, coarse, thin hair, whereas this part of Buffon's
marmotte was covered with a thicker fur than the back, &c.
A very material circumstance in the comparison remains to
be ascertained. The European Marmotte is in the class of those
which arc dormant during the winter. No person here of whom
I have enquired can decide whether this be a quality of the
Monax. I infer that it is of the dormant class, not only from
its similitude to the Marmotte in other respects, but from the
sensible coldness of the Monax I examined, compared with the
human body, although the vital heat of quadrupeds is said, in
general, to be greater than that of man. This inferiority of
heat being a characteristic of animals which become torpid
from cold, I should consider it as deciding the quality of the
Monax in this respect, were it not that the subject of my exam
ination, though it remained alive several days, was so crippled
and apparently dying the whole time, that its actual heat could
not fairly be taken for the degree of its natural heat. If it had
recovered, I intended to have made a trial with the Thermom
eter. I now propose to have, if I can, one of their habitations
discovered during the summer, and to open it on some cold day
next winter. This will fix the matter. There is another cir
cumstance which belongs to a full comparison of the two ani
mals. The Marmotte of Europe is said to be an inhabitant of
the upper region of mountains only. Whether our Monax be
confined to mountainous situations or not, I have not yet learnt.
If it be not found as a permanent inhabitant of the level coun-
236 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
try, it certainly descends occasionally into the plains which are
in the neighborhood of mountains.
I also compared, a few days ago, one of our moles with the
male one described in Buffon. It weighed 2 ounces 11 pents.
Its length, the end of its snout to the root of the tail, was 5
inches 3 lines, English measure. That described in Buffon was
not weighed, I believe. Its length was 5 inches, French meas
ure. The external and internal correspondence seemed to be
too exact for distinct species. There was a difference, never
theless, in two circumstances, one of which is not unworthy of
notice, and the other of material consequence in the compari
son. The first difference was in the tail, that of the mole here
being 10 J English lines only in the length, and naked, whereas
that of Buffon's mole was 14 French lines in length, and covered
with hair. If the hair was included in the latter measure, the
difference in the length ought scarcely to be noticed. The sec
ond difference lay in the teeth. The mole in Buffon had 44.
That which I examined had but 33; one of those on the left side
of the upper jaw, and next to the principal cutters, was so small
as to be scarcely visible to the natural eye, and had no corre
sponding tooth on the opposite side. Supposing this defect of a
corresponding tooth to be accidental, a difference of ten teeth
still remains.
If these circumstances should not be thought to invalidate
the identity of species, the mole will stand as an exception to
the Theory which supposes no animal to be common to the two
continents which cannot bear the cold of the region where they
join, since, according to Buffon, this species of mole is not found
"dans les climats froids ou la terre est glace pendant la plus
grande partie de 1'annee," and it cannot be suspected of such a
journey during a short summer as would head the sea which
separates the two continents. I suspect that several of our
quadrupeds which are not peculiar to the new continent will
be found to be exceptions to this Theory, if the mole should
not. The Marmotte itself is not an animal taken notice of very
far to the north, and as it moves slowly, and is deprived of its
locomotive powers altogether by cold, cannot be supposed to
1786. LETTERS. 237
have travelled the road which leads from the old to the New
World. It is, perhaps, questionable whether any of the dor
mant animals, if any such be really common to Europe and
America, can have emigrated from one to the other.
I have thought that the cuts of the Quadrupeds in Buffon, if
arranged in frames, would make both an agreeable and instruc
tive piece of wall furniture. What would be the cost of them
in such a form? I suppose they are not to be had coloured to
the life, and would, besides, be too costly. What is the price
of Buffon's birds, colored?
Your letter of 28 October has never come to hand.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, May 13th. 1786.
DEAR SIR,— **********
I think, with you, that it would have an odd appearance for
two Conventions to be sitting at the same time with powers in
part concurrent. The reasons you give seem also to be valid
against augmenting the powers of that which is to meet at An
napolis. I am not surprized, therefore, at the embarrassment
of Congress in the present conjuncture. Will it not be best, on
the whole, to suspend measures for a more thorough cure of our
federal system till the partial experiment shall have been made ?
If the spirit of the Conventioners should be friendly to the
Union, and their proceedings well conducted, their return into
the councils of their respective States will greatly facilitate any
subsequent measures which may be set on foot by Congress, or
by any of the States.
Great changes have taken place in the late elections. I re
gret much that we are not to have your aid. It will be greatly
needed, I am sure. Mercer, it seems, lost his election by the
same number of votes as left you out. He was absent at the
time, or he would no doubt have been elected. Have you seen
his pamphlet? You will have heard of the election of Col.
>>lason, General Nelson, Mann Page, G. Nicholas, Jn° Nicholas,
238 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780.
and Col. Bland. Col. Mason will be an inestimable acquisi
tion on most of the great points. On the port bill he is to be
equally dreaded. In fact, I consider that measure as lost almost
at any rate. There was a majority against it last session if it
had been skilfully made use of. To force the trade to Norfolk
and Alexandria, without preparations for it at those places,
will be considered as injurious. And so little ground is there
for confidence in the stability of the Legislature, that no prep
arations will ever be made in consequence of a preceding law.
The transition must of necessity, therefore, be at any time ab
rupt and inconvenient. I am somewhat apprehensive, likewise,
that Col. Mason may not be fully cured of his anti-federal pre
judices.
We hear from Kentucky that the savages continue to disquiet
them. Col. W. Christian, it is said, lately lost his life in pur
suing a few who had made an inroad on the settlement. We
are told, too, that the proposed separation is growing very un
popular among them.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, June 4th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — At the date of my last, I expected I should by
this time have been on the journey which promises the pleasure
of taking you by the hand in New York. Several circumstances
have produced a delay in my setting out which I did not cal
culate upon, and which are like to continue it for eight or ten
days to come. My journey will also be rendered tedious by the
route which I shall pursue. I have some business which makes
it expedient for me to take Winchester and Lancaster in my
way, and some duties of consanguinity which will detain me
some days in the neighborhood of the former. If I have an op
portunity I will write you again before I set out; and if I should
not, I will do it immediately on my reaching Philadelphia. You
will not write after the receipt of this.
I imagine you get from Mr. Jones better information as to
17SG. LETTERS. 239
the back country, as well as concerning our more immediate af
fairs, tli an I can give you. The death of Christian seems to be
confirmed. The disinclination of Kentucky to a separation is
also repeated with strong circumstances of probability. Our
staple continues low. The people have got in debt to the mer
chants, who set their own price, of course. There are, perhaps,
other causes also, besides the fall of the market in Europe,
which, of itself, does not explain the matter. One of them may
be the scarcity of money, which is really great.
The advocates for paper money are making the most of this
handle. I begin to fear exceedingly that no efforts will be suf
ficient to parry this evil. The election of Col. Mason is the
main counterpoise for my hopes against the popular cry. Mann
Page and General Nelson will also, I flatter myself, be valuable
fellow-labourers. Our situation is truly embarrassing. It can
not, perhaps, be affirmed that there is gold and silver enough
in the Country to pay the next tax. "What, then, is to be done?
Is there any other alternative but to emit paper, or to postpone
the collection? These are the questions which will be rung in
our ears by the very men whose past measures have plunged us
into our difficulties. But I will not plague you with our diffi
culties here. You have enough of them, I am sure, where you
are. Present my best respects to Col. Gray son and your other
colleagues, and believe me to be, your's affectionately.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ORANGE, June 21st, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 31st ult. did not come to hand
till two days ago. As I expect to see you in a short time, I
will suspend the full communication of my ideas on the subject
of it till I have that pleasure.
I cannot, however, forbear in the mean time expressing my
amazement that a thought should be entertained of surrender
ing the Mississippi, and of guarantying the possessions of Spain
240 WORKS OF MADISON. 178G.
in America. In the first place, has not Virginia, have not Con
gress themselves, and the Ministers of Congress by their orders,
asserted the right of those who live on the waters of the Mis
sissippi to use it as the high road given by nature to the sea ?
This being the case, have Congress any more authority to say
that the Western citizens of Virginia shall not pass through
the capes of the Mississippi than to say that her Eastern citi
zens shall not pass through the capes Henry and Charles ? It
should be remembered that the United States are not now ex
tricating themselves from war — a crisis which often knows no
law but that of necessity. The measure in question would be a
voluntary barter, in time of profound peace, of the rights of
one part of the empire to the interests of another part. What
would Massachusetts say to a proposition for ceding to Britain
her right of fishery as the price of some stipulations in favor
of Tobacco?
Again : can there be a more short-sighted or dishonorable
policy than to concur with Spain in frustrating the benevolent
views of nature, to sell the affections of our ultra-montane
brethren, to depreciate the richest fund we possess, to distrust
an ally we know to be able to befriend us, and to have an in
terest in doing it against the only nation whose enmity we can
dread, and at the same time to court by the most precious
sacrifices the alliance of a nation whose impotency is notorious,
who has given no proof of regard for us, and the genius of
whose Government, religion, and manners, unfits them of all the
nations in Christendom for a coalition with this country? Can
anything, too, as you well observe, be more unequal than a
stipulation which is to open all our ports to her, and some only,
and those the least valuable, of hers, to us ; and which places
the commercial freedom of our ports against the fettered regu
lations of those in Spain? I always thought the stipulation
with France and Holland of the privileges of the most favoured
nation unequal, and only to be justified by the influence which
the treaties could not fail to have on the event of the war. A
stipulation putting Spanish subjects on the same footing with
our own citizens is carrying the evil still farther, without the
1786. LETTERS. 241
same pretext for it, and is the more to be dreaded, as by
making her the most favored nation it would let in the other
nation with whom we are now connected to the same privileges,
whenever they may find it their interest to make the same
compensation for them, whilst we have not a reciprocal rhrl:t
to force them into such an arrangement in case our interest
should dictate it.
A guaranty is, if possible, still more objectionable. If it be
insidious, we plunge ourselves into infamy; if sincere, into ob
ligations the extent of which cannot easily be determined. In
either case we get farther into the labyrinth of European poli
tics, from which we ought religiously to keep ourselves as free
as possible. And what is to be gained by such a rash step?
Will any man in his senses pretend that our territory needs
such a safeguard, or that, if it were in danger, it is the arm of
Spain that is to save it? Viewing the matter in this light. I
cannot but flatter myself that if the attempt you apprehend
should be made, it will be rejected with becoming indignation.
I am less sanguine as to the issue of the other matter con-
ta-ined in your letter. I know the mutual prejudices which
impede every overture towards a just and final settlement of
claims and accounts. I persist in the opinion that a proper
nnd speedy ndjustment is unattainable from any assembly con
stituted as Congress is, and acting under the impulse which
they must. I need not repeat to you the plan which has always
appeared to me most likely to answer the purpose. In the
mean time it is mortifying to see the other States, or rather
their Representatives, pursuing a course which will make the
case more and more difficult, and putting arms into the hands
of the enemies to every amendment of our federal system. God
knows that they are formidable enough in this State without
such an advantage. With it, their triumph will be certain and
easy. But I have been led much farther already than I pro
posed, and will only that
I am with the sincerest affection, your friend and serv.
VOL. i. 16
242 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 12th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — My last, of the 19th of June, intimated that my
next would be from New York or this place. I expected it
would rather have been from the former, which I left a few days
ago; but my time was so taken up there with my friends and
some business, that I thought it best to postpone it till my re
turn here. My ride through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsyl
vania, was in the midst of harvest. I found the crops of wheat
in the upper parts of the two former considerably injured by
the wet weather, which my last described as so destructive in
the lower parts of those States. The computed loss where I
passed was about one- third. The loss in the Rye was much
greater. It was admitted, however, that the crops of both
would have been unusually large but for this casualty. Through
out Pennsylvania the wheat was unhurt, and the Rye very little
affected.
As I came by the way of Winchester and crossed the Po tow-
mac at Harper's Ferry, I had an opportunity of viewing the
magnificent scene which nature here presents. I viewed it, how
ever, under great disadvantages. The air was so thick that
distant objects were not visible at all, and near ones not dis
tinctly so. We ascended the mountain, also, at a wrong place,
fatigued ourselves much in traversing it before we gained the
right position, were threatened during the whole time with a
thunder storm, and finally overtaken by it. Had the weather
been favorable the prospect would have appeared to peculiar
advantage, being enriched with the harvest in its full maturity,
which filled every vale as far as the eye could reach.
I had the additional pleasure here of seeing the progress of
the works on the Potowmac. About 50 hands were employed
at these falls, or rather rapids, who seemed to have overcome
the greatest difficulties. Their plan is to slope the fall by open
ing the bed of the river, in such a manner as to render a lock
unnecessary, and, by means of ropes fastened to the rocks, to
pull up and ease down the boats where the current is most
1786. LETTERS. 243
rapid. At the principal falls 150 hands, I was told, were at
work, and that the length of the canal will be reduced to less
than a mile, and carried through a vale which does not require
it to be deep. Locks will here be unavoidable. The under
takers are very sanguine. Some of them who are most so talk
of having the entire work finished in three years. I can give
no particular account of the progress on James River, but am
told it is very flattering. I am still less informed of what is
doing with North Carolina towards a canal between her and
our waters. The undertaking on the Susquehannah is said to
be in such forwardness as to leave no doubt of its success.
A negociation is set on foot between Pennsylvania, Mary
land, and Delaware, for a canal from the head of Chesapeak to
the Delaware. Maryland, as 1 understand, heretofore opposed
the undertaking, and Pennsylvania means now to make her
consent to it a condition on which the opening of the Susque
hannah within the limits of Pennsylvania will depend. Unless
this is permitted, the opening undertaken within the limits of
Maryland will be of little account. It is lucky that both par-
tle-s axc_so dependent on each other as to be thus mutually forced
into measures of general utility. I am told that Pennsylvania
has complied with the joint request of Virginia and Maryland
for a road between the head of Potowmac and the waters of
the Ohio, and the secure and free use of the latter through her
jurisdiction.
These fruits of the Revolution do great honour to it. I wish
all our proceedings merited the same character. Unhappily,
there are but too many belonging to the opposite side of the
account. At the head of these is to be put the general rage for
paper money. Pennsylvania and North Carolina took the lead
in this folly. In the former the sum emitted was not consider
able, the funds for sinking it were good, and it was not made a
legal tender. It issued into circulation partly by way of loan
to individuals on landed security, partly by way of payment to
the public creditors. Its present depreciation is about 10 or 12
per cent. In North Carolina the sums issued at different times
have been of greater amount, and it has constantly been a ten-
244 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
der. It issued partly in payments to military creditors, and,
latterly, in purchases of Tobacco on public account. The
Agent, T am informed, was authorised to give nearly the double
of the current price; and as the paper was a tender, debtors ran
to him with their Tobacco, and the creditors paid the expence
of the farce. The depreciation is said to be 25 or 30 per cent,
in that State. South Carolina was the next in order. Her
emission was in the way of loans to individuals, and is not a
legal tender. But land is there made a tender in case of suits,
which shuts the Courts of Justice, and is, perhaps, as great an
evil. The friends of the emission say that it has not yet depre
ciated, but they admit that the price of commodities has risen,
which is evidently the form in which depreciation will first shew
itself.
New Jersey has just issued <£30,000 (dollar at 7s. 6c7.) in
loans to her citizens. It is a legal tender. An addition of
XI 00, 000 is shortly to follow on the same principles. The ter
ror of popular associations stifles, as yet, an overt discrimina
tion between it and specie; but as this does not operate in Phil
adelphia and New York, where all the trade of New Jersey is
carried on, its depreciation has already commenced in those
places, and must soon communicate itself to New Jersey. New
York is striking £200,000 (dollar at 8s.) on the plan of loans
to her citizens. It is made a legal tender in case of suits only.
As it is but just issuing from the press, its depreciation exists
only in the foresight of those who reason without prejudice on
the subject. In Rhode Island, £100,000 (dollar at 6s.) has
lately been issued in loans to individuals. It is not only made
a tender, but severe penalties annexed to the least attempt, di
rect or indirect, to give a preference to specie. Precautions
dictated by distrust in the rulers soon produced it in the peo
ple. Supplies were withheld from the Market, the Shops were
shut, popular meetings ensued, and the State remains in a sort
of convulsion.
The Legislature of Massachusetts at their last session rejected
a paper emission by a large majority. Connecticut and New
Hampshire, also, have as yet forborne, but symptoms of danger,
1786. LETTERS. 245
it is said, begin to appear in the latter. The Senate of Mary
land has hitherto been a bar to paper in that State. The
clamor for it is now universal, and as the periodical election of
the Senate happens at this crisis, and the whole body is, un
luckily, by their Constitution, to be chosen at once, it is proba
ble that a paper emission will be the result. If, in spite of the
zeal exerted against the old Senate, a majority of them should
be re-elected, it will require all their firmness to withstand the
popular torrent. Of the affairs of Georgia I know as little as
of those of Kamskatska.
Whether Virginia is to remain exempt from the epidemic
malady will depend on the ensuing Assembly. My hopes rest
chiefly on the exertions of Col. Mason, and the failure of the
experiments elsewhere. That these must fail is morally certain;
for besides the proofs of it already visible in some States, and
the intrinsic defect of the paper in all, this fictitious money will
rather feed than cure the spirit of extravagance which sends
away the coin to pay the unfavorable balance, and will there
fore soon be carried to market to buy up coin for that purpose.
Frjom that moment depreciation is inevitable. The value of
money consists in the uses it will serve. Specie will serve all
the uses of paper; paper will not serve one of the essential uses
of specie. The paper, therefore, will be less valuable than spe
cie. Among the numerous ills with which this practice is preg
nant, one, I find, is, that it is producing the same warfare and
retaliation among the. States as were produced by the State
regulations of commerce. Massachusetts and Connecticut have
passed laws enabling their citizens who are debtors to citizens
of States having paper money, to pay their debts in the same
manner as their citizens who are creditors to citizens of the lat
ter States are liable to be paid their debts.
The States which have appointed deputies to Annapolis are
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia. Connecticut
declined, not from a dislike to the object, but to the idea of a
Convention, which it seems has been rendered obnoxious by
some internal Conventions, which embarrassed the Legislative
246 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
authority. Maryland, or rather her Senate, negatived an ap
pointment, because they supposed the measure might interfere
with the plans or prerogatives of Congress. North Carolina
has had no Legislative meeting since the proposition was com
municated. South Carolina supposed she had sufficiently sig
nified her concurrence in a general regulation of trade by vest
ing the power in Congress for 15 years. Georgia - — .
Many Gentlemen, both within and without Congress, wish to
make this meeting subservient to a plenipotentiary Convention
for amending the Confederation. Tho7 my wishes are in favor
of such an event, yet I despair so much of its accomplishment
at the present crisis that I do not extend my views beyond a
commercial Reform. To speak the truth, I almost despair even
of this. You will find the cause in a measure now before Con
gress, of which you will receive the detail from Col. Monroe.
I content myself with hinting that it is a proposed treaty with
Spain, one article of which shuts up the Mississippi for twenty-
five or thirty years. Passing by the other Southern States,
figure to yourself the effect of such a stipulation on the Assem
bly of Virginia, already jealous of Northern politics, and which
will be composed of about thirty members from the Western
waters; of a majority of others attached to the Western Coun
try from interests of their own, of their friend, or their constit
uent; and of many others who, though indifferent to Mississippi,
will zealously play off the disgust of their friends against fed
eral measures. Figure to yourself its effect on the people at
large on the western waters, who are impatiently waiting for a
favorable result to the negociation of Gardoqui, and who will
consider themselves as sold by their Atlantic brethren. Will
it be an unnatural consequence if they consider themselves ab
solved from every federal tie, and court some protection for
their betrayed rights? This protection will appear more at
tainable from the maritime power of Britain than from any other
quarter; and Britain will be more ready than any other nation
to seize an opportunity of embroiling our affairs.
What may be the motive with Spain to satisfy herself with a
temporary occlusion of the Mississippi, at the same time that
1786. LETTERS. 247
she holds forth our claim to it as absolutely inadmissible, i?
matter of conjecture only. The patrons of the measure in Con
gress contend that the Minister, who at present governs the
Spanish councils, means only to disembarrass himself at the
expence of his successors. I should rather suppose he means to
work a total separation of interest and affection between west
ern and eastern settlements, and to foment the jealousy between
the Eastern and Southern States. By the former, the population
of the Western Country, it may be expected, will be checked,
and the Mississippi so far secured; and, by both, the general
security of Spanish America be promoted.
As far as I can learn, the assent of nine States in Congress
will not at this time be got to the projected treaty; but an un
successful attempt by six or seven will favor the views of Spain,
and be fatal, I fear, to an augmentation of the federal authority,
if not to the little now existing. My personal situation is ren
dered by this business particularly mortifying. Ever since I
have been out of Congress I have been inculcating on our As
sembly a confidence in the equal attention of Congress to the
rjghts and interests of every part of the Republic, and on the
Western members, in particular, the necessity of making the
Union respectable by new powers to Congress, if they wished
Congress to negociate with effect for the Mississippi.
I leave to Col. Monroe the giving you a particular account
of the impost. The acts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New
York, must be revised and amended in material points before
it can be put in force, and even then the fetters put on the col
lection by some other States will make it a very awkward busi
ness. Your favor of 25th of April, from London, found me
here. My letter from Richmond at the close of the Assembly
will have informed you of the situation in which British debts
stand in Virginia. Unless Congress say something on the sub
ject, I do not think anything will be done by the next session.
The expectations of the British Merchants coincide with the
information I had received, as your opinion of the steps proper
to be taken by the Assembly do with those for which I have
ineffectually contended. The merits of Mr. Paradise will ensure
248 WORKS OF MADISON. use.
every attention from me to his claim, as far as general principles
will admit.
The catalogues sent by Mr. Skipwith I do not expect to re
ceive till I get back to Virginia. If you meet with " Grcecorum
Respublicas ab Ubbone Emmio descriptae," Sugd. Batavorum,
1632, pray get it for me.
TO JAMES MONROE.
PHILADELPHIA, August 15th. 1786.
DEAR SIR- * * * * * *
I am sorry the development of the interesting subject before
Congress* had so little effect on the members. I did not see
General St. Clair, and if 1 had, my acquaintance is too slender
to have warranted my broaching a conversation with him. I
have conferred freely with Mr. Wilson. What his ultimate
opinion may be on a full view of the measure in its details, I
cannot say. I think he is not unaware of strong objections
against it, particularly as it tends to defeat the object of the
meeting at Annapolis, from which he has great expectations.
TO JAMES MONROE.
PHILADELPHIA, August 17th, 1786.
DK SIR, — I have your favor of the 14th inst. The expedientt
of which you ask my opinion has received, as it deserved, all the
* Jay's proposition.
f "It has occurred to Grayson and myself to propose to Congress that nego-
ciations be carried on with Spain upon the following principles : 1. That exports
•be admitted through the Mississippi to some free port, perhaps New Orleans, to
pay there a toll to Spain of about 3 per centum ad valorem, and to be carried
thence under the regulations of Congress. 2. That imports shall pass into the
western Country through the ports of the United States only. 3. That this sac
rifice be given up to obtain in other respects a beneficial treaty." — Extract from
Mr. Monroe's letter referred to.
1786. LETTERS. 249
consideration which the time and other circumstances would
allow me to give. I think- that, in the present state of things,
such an arrangement would be beneficial, and even pleasing to
those most concerned in it; and yet I doubt extremely the pol
icy of your proposing it to Congress. The objections which
occur to me are: 1. That if the temper and views of Congress
be such as you apprehend, it is morally certain they Avould not
enter into the accommodation. Nothing, therefore, would be
gained, and you would have to combat under the disadvantage of
having forsaken your first ground. 2. If Congress should adopt
your expedient as a ground of negociation with Guardoqui, and
the views of Spain be such as they must be apprehended to be,
it is still more certain that it would be rejected on that side,
especially under the flattering hopes which the spirit of conces
sion in Congress must have raised. In this event, the patrons
of the measure now before Congress would return to it with
greater eagerness and with fresh arguments, drawn from the
impossibility of making better terms, and from the relaxation
into which their opponents will have been betrayed. It is even
possible that a foresight of this event might induce a politic
concurrence in the experiment.
Your knowledge of all circumstances will make you a better
judge of the solidity or fallacy of these reflections than I can
be. I do not extend them because it would be superfluous, as
well as because it might lead to details which could not pru
dently be committed to the mail without the guard of a cypher.
Not foreseeing that any confidential communication on paper
would happen between us during my absence from Virginia, I
did not bring mine with me.
TO JAMES MONROE.
ANNAPOLIS, September llth, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — I have two letters from you not yet acknowl
edged, one of the 1st, the other of the 3d instant. Nothing could
be more distressing than the issue of the business stated in the
250 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
latter. If the affirmative vote of seven States should be pur
sued, it will add the insult of trick to the injury of the thing
itself.
Our prospect here makes no amends for what is done with
you. Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia, alone arc on the
ground; two Commissioners attend from New York, and one
from Pennsylvania. Unless the sudden attendance of a much
more respectable number takes place it is proposed to break up
the meeting, with a recommendation of another time and place,
and an intimation of the expediency of extending the plan to
other defects of the Confederation. In case of a speedy dis
persion, I shall find it requisite to ride back as far as Philadel
phia before I proceed to Virginia, from which place, if not from
this, I will let you know the upshot here.
I have heard that Col. Grayson was stopped at Trenton, by
indisposition, on his way to the Assembly of Pennsylvania. I
hope he is well again, and would write to him, but know not
whither to address a letter to him.
Adieu. Yrs affy.
TO JAMES MONROE.
PHILADELPHIA, Octr 5th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — I received yesterday your favor of the 2nd in
stant, which makes the third for which my acknowledgments
are due. The progression which a certain measure seems to be
making is an alarming proof of the predominance of temporary
and partial interests over those just and extended maxims of
policy which have been so much boasted of among us, and
which alone can effectuate the durable prosperity of the Union.
Should the measure triumph under the patronage of nine States,
or even of the whole thirteen, I shall never be convinced that
it is expedient, because I cannot conceive it to be just.
£There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be
misapplied, and which, therefore, more needs elucidation, than
17GS. LETTERS. 251
the current one, that the interest of the majority is the political
standard of right and wrong. Taking the word "interest" as#
synonymous with "ultimate happiness/7 in which sense it is
qualified with every necessary moral ingredient, the proposition
is no doubt true. But taking it in the popular sense, as refer
ring to immediate augmentation of property and wealth, nothing
can be more false. In the latter sense, it would be the interest
of the majority in every community to despoil and enslave the
minority of individuals; and in a federal community, to ni^e a
similar sacrifice of the minority of the component StatesJ. In
fact, it is only re-establishing, under another name and a more
specious form, force as the measure of right; and in this light
the Western settlements will infallibly view it.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, Octr 30th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — I drop you a few lines rather as a fulfilment of
my promise than for the purpose of information, since they go
by Mr. Jones, who is much better acquainted with the politics
here than myself.
I find, with pleasure, that the navigation of the Mississippi
will be defended by the Legislature with as much zeal as could
be wished. Indeed, the only danger is, that too much resent
ment may be indulged by many against the federal Councils.
Paper money has not yet been tried even in any indirect mode
that could bring forth the mind of the Legislature. Appear
ances on the subject, however, are rather flattering. Mr. Henry*
has declined a reappointment to the office he holds, and Mr.
Randolph is in nomination for his successor, and will pretty
certainly be elected. R. H. Lee has been talked of, but is not
yet proposed. The appointments to Congress are a subject of
conversation, and will be made as soon as a Senate is made.
* Then Governor of Virginia.
252 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
Mr. Jones will be included in the new Delegation. Your pres
ence and communications on the point of the Mississippi are
exceedingly wished for, and would, in several respects, be ex
tremely useful. If Mr. Jones does not return in a day or two,
come without him, I beseech you. I am consulted frequently
on matters concerning which I cannot or ought not to speak,
and refer to you as the proper source of information, as far as
you may be at liberty. Hasten your trip, I again beseech you.
I hope Mrs. Monroe continues well. My sincerest respects
wait on her.
In haste, adieu. Yrs.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, Novr 1, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — I have been here too short a time, as yet, to have
collected fully the politics of the session. In general, appear
ances are favorable. On the question for a paper emission, the
measure was this day rejected in emphatical terms by a majority
of 84 vs. 17. The affair of the Mississippi* is but imperfectly
known. I find that its influence on the federal spirit will not
be less than was apprehended. The Western members will not
be long silent on the subject. I inculcate a hope that the views
of Congress may yet be changed, and that it would be rash to
suffer the alarm to interfere with the policy of amending the
Confederacy. The sense of the House has not yet been tried
on the latter point.
The Report from the Deputies to Annapolis lies on the table,
and I hope will be called for before the business of the Missis
sippi begins to ferment. Mr. Henry has signified his wish not
to be re-elected, [Governor,] but will not be in the Assembly.
The Attorney [Ed. Randolph] and R. H. Lee are in nomina
tion for his successor. The former will probably be appointed;
* Mr. Jay's project for shutting it up for 25 years.
1786. LETTERS. 253
in which case, the contest for that vacancy will lie between Col.
Inncs and Mr. Marshall- The nominations for Congress are.
as usual, numerous. There being no Senate yet, it is uncertain
when any of these appointments will take place.
With sincerest affection, your's.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
RICHMOND, Novr 1st, 1786.
Paper money was the subject of discussion this day, and was
voted, by a majority of 84 against 17, to be "unjust, impolitic,
destructive of public and private confidence, and of that virtue
which is the basis of Republican Government." Our Revenue
matters have also been on the anvil; several changes in our
taxes are proposed, and it is not unlikely that some will take
place. Duties on imports will be urged, as far as they can be
guarded against smuggling by land, as well as by water. Gov
ernor Henry declines a reappointment, but does not come into
the Assembly. The Attorney or R. H. Lee, probably the for
mer, will supply his place.
We learn that great commotions are prevailing in Massa
chusetts. An appeal to the Sword is exceedingly dreaded.
The discontented, it is said, are as numerous as the friends of
Government, and more decided in their measures. Should they
get uppermost, it is uncertain what may be the effect. They
profess to aim only at a reform of their Constitution, and of
certain abuses in the public administration; but an abolition of
debts, public and private, and a new division of property, are
strongly suspected to be in contemplation.
We also learn that a general combination of the Indians
threatens the frontier of the United States. Congress are
planning measures for warding off the blow, one of which is
an augmentation of the federal troops to upwards of 2,000 men.
In addition to these ills, it is pretty certain that a formidable
254 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780
party in Congress are bent on surrendering the Mississippi to
Spain, for the sake of some commercial stipulations. The pro
ject has already excited much heat within that Assembly, and,
if pursued, will not fail to alienate the Western Country and
confirm the animosity and jealousy already subsisting between
the Atlantic States. I fear that, although it should be frus
trated, the effects already produced will be a great bar to our
amendment of the Confederacy, which I consider as essential to
its continuance. I have letters from Kentucky which inform
me that the expedition against the Indians has prevented the
meeting which was to decide the question of their Independ
ence. It is probable the news relative to the surrender of the
Mississippi will lessen the disposition to separate.
If the bacon left behind by John should not have been sent,
it need not be sent at all. Fresh butter will, from time to time,
continue to be very acceptable. My best regards to my mother
and the family.
Your affectionate and dutiful son.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, Novr 8th, 1780.
DEAR SIR, — I am just honored with your favor of the 5th
instant. The intelligence from General Knox* is gloomy in
deed, but it is less so than the colours in which I had it through
another channel. If the lessons which it inculcates should not
work the proper impressions on the American public, it will be
a proof that our case is desperate.
Judging from the present temper and apparent views of our
Assembly, I have some ground for leaning to the side of hope.
The vote against paper money has been followed by two others
of great importance. By one of them, petitions for applying a
scale of depreciation to the military certificates was unanimously
* Respecting Shave's Rebellion in Massachusetts.
178G.
LETTERS. 255
rejected. By the other, the expediency of complying with the
Recommendation from Annapolis in favour of a general revision
of the federal system was unanimously agreed to. A Bill for
the purpose is now depending, and in a form which attests the
most federal spirit. As no opposition has been yet made, and
it is ready for the third reading, I expect it will soon be before
the public. It has been thought advisable to give this subject
a very solemn dress, and all the weight that could be derived
from a single State. This idea will be pursued in the selection
of characters to represent Virginia in the federal Convention.
You will infer our earnestness on this point from the liberty
which will be used of placing your name at the head of them.
How far this liberty may correspond with the ideas by which
you ought to be governed will be best decided when it must
ultimately be decided. In every event, it will assist powerfully
in marking the zeal of our Legislature, and its opinion of the
magnitude of the occasion.
Mr. Randolph has been elected successor to Mr. Henry. He
had 77 votes, Col. Bland 26, and R. H. Lee 22. The delega
tion to Congress drops Col. H. Lee, a circumstance which gives
much pain to those who attend to the mortification in which it
involves a man of sensibility. I am yet to learn the ground of
the extensive disapprobation which has shewn itself.
I am, dear sir, most respectfully and affectionately your's.
[Notes of a speech made by Mr. Madison in the House of Delegates of Vir
ginia, in November, 1786, in opposition to paper-money.]
1. Being redeemable at future day. and
Unequal to specie. J . . . . _ T11 L i i
not bearing interest. 2. Illustrated by
case of bank notes, stock in funds, paper of Spain issued during
late war, (See Neckar on finance,) navy bills, tallies. 3. Being
of less use than specie, which answers externally as well as
internally, must be of less value, which depends on the use.
1. To creditors of a legal tender. 2.
To debtors, if not legal tender, by increas-
256 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
ing difficulty of getting specie. This it does by increasing ex
travagance and unfavorable balance of trade, and by destroy
ing that confidence between man and man by which resources
of one may be commanded by another. 3. Illustrated — 1. By
raising denomination of coin. 2. Increasing alloy of d°;
brass made as silver by the Romans, according to Sallust. 3.
By changing weights and measures. 4. By case of creditors
within who are debtors without the State.
1. Affects rights of property as much
Unconstitutional. -, i • -, -, --M
as taking away equal value in land ; illus
trated by case of land paid for down, and to be conveyed in
future, and of a law for remitting conveyance, to be satisfied
by conveying a part only, or other land of inferior quality. 2.
Affects property without trial by jury.
Right of regulating coin given to Con-
Anti-federal. & i -n /•
gress lor two reasons: 1. For sake ol uni
formity. 2. To prevent frauds in States towards each other or
foreigners. Both these reasons hold equally as to paper money.
1. Produce of country will bring in
Unnecessary. . . p . •> • •> . . ' n • , •
specie, it not laid out in superfluities. 2.
Of paper, if necessary, enough already in Tobacco notes and
public securities. 3. The true mode of giving value to these,
and bringing in specie, is to enforce justice and taxes.
1. By fostering luxury, extends instead
Pernicious. / * • ™ j-
of curing scarcity of specie. 2. By dis
abling compliance with requisition of Congress. 3. Sowing
dissentions between States. 4. Destroying confidence between
individuals. 5. Discouraging commerce. 6. Enriching collec
tors and sharpers. 7. Vitiating morals. 8. Reversing end of
government, which is to reward best and punish worst. 9.
Conspiring with the examples of other States to disgrace
republican governments in the eyes of mankind.
Objection. Paper money good before the war.
1. Not true in New England, nor in
Answer. . .
Virginia, where exchange rose to 60 per
cent., nor in Maryland. See Franklin on paper money. 2.
1786. LETTERS. 257
Confidence then ; not now. 3. Principles of paper credit not
then understood; such would not then, nor now, succeed in
Great Britain, &c.
Advantages from rejecting paper :
1. Distinguish the State and its credit.
2. Draw commerce and specie.
3. Set honorable example to other States.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
RICHMOND, Nov. 16th, 1786.
HOND SIR,— *******
The House of Delegates have done little since my last, and
what was then done is still ineffectual for want of a Senate.
A proposition for stopping the receipt of indents was made,
and met with so little countenance that it was withdrawn.
They will continue to be receivable as far as the law now per
mits, and those who have them not would do well to provide
them. A bill is depending which makes Tobacco receivable in
lieu of the specie part of the current tax, according to its value
at the different Warehouses. Whether it will pass or not is
uncertain. I think it most probable that it will pass. Nothing
has yet been done as to the certificate tax.
*****
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
November 24th. 1786.
HOND Sm, — The House of Delegates have just passed a bill
making Tobacco receivable in the tax at the market price at
the several Warehouses to be fixt by the Executive. There is
a proviso that the highest price shall not exceed 28s. An
equality of price throughout was contended for, which I dis
approved: 1. Because I think it would have been unjust. 2.
Because the bill could not have been carried in that form. I
was not anxious for its success in any form, but acquiesced in
VOL. i. 17
258 » WORKS OF MADISON. 178G.
it as it stands, as the people may consider it in the light of an
easement, and as it may prevent some worse project in the
Assembly.
# # * #
[The following Petition for the repeal of the Law incorporating the Protestant
Episcopal Church in Virginia, passed in 1784, is found among the papers of Mr.
Madison, and in his handwriting.*]
To the Honorable tJie Speaker and gentlemen the General Assem
bly of Virginia :
We, the subscribers, members of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, claim the attention of your honorable body to our
objections to the law passed at the last session of Assembly
for incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church; and we
remonstrate against the said law —
Because the law admits the power of the Legislative Body
to interfere in matters of Religion, which we think is not
included in their jurisdiction:
Because the law was passed on the petition of some of the
clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, without any appli
cation from the other members of that church on whom the law
is to operate ; and we conceive it to be highly improper that
the Legislature should regard as the sense of the whole church
the opinion of a few interested members, who were in most
instances originally imposed on the people without their con
sent, and who were not authorized by even the smallest part of
this community to make such a proposition:
Because the law constitutes the clergy members of a conven
tion who are to legislate for the laity, contrary to their funda
mental right in chusing their own Legislators:
Because by that law the most obnoxious and unworthy Cler
gyman cannot be removed from a parish except by the deter
mination of a body, one half of whom the people have no con-
* The Law referred to was repealed in 1786.
1786. LETTERS. 259
fidence in, and who will always have the same interest with tht
Minister whose conduct they are to judge of:
Because by that law power is given to the Convention to
regulate matters of faith, and the obsequious vestries are to
engage to change their opinions as often as the Convention
shall alter theirs:
Because a system so absurd and servile will drive the mem
bers of the Episcopal church over to other sects, where there
will be more consistency and liberty:
We therefore hope that the wisdom and impartiality of the
present Assembly will incline them to repeal a law so pregnant
with mischief and injustice.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
RICHMOND, December 4th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — The recommendation from the meeting at An
napolis, of a plenipotentiary Convention in Philadelphia in May
next, has been well received by the Assembly here. Indeed,
the evidence of dangerous defects in the confederation has at
length proselyted the most obstinate adversaries to a reform.
The unanimous sanction given by the Assembly to the inclosed
compliance with the Recommendation marks sufficiently the
revolution of sentiment which the experience of one year has
effected in this country. The deputies are not yet appointed.
It is expected that General Washington, the present Governor,
E. Randolph, and the late one, Mr. Henry, will be of the
number.
The project for bartering the Mississippi to Spain was brought
before the Assembly after the preceding measure had been
adopted. The report of it having reached the ears of the West
ern Representatives, as many of them as were on the spot,
backed by a number of the late officers, presented a memorial,
full of consternation and complaint; in consequence of which,
some very pointed Resolutions, by way of instruction to the
Delegates in Congress, were unanimously entered into by the
260 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
House of Delegates. They are now before the Senate, who will
no doubt be also unanimous in their concurrence.
The question of paper money was among the first with which
the session opened. It was introduced by petitions from two
Counties. The discussion was faintly supported by a few ob
scure patrons of the measure, and, on the vote, it was thrown
out by 85 against 17. A petition for paying off the public se
curities according to a scale of their current prices was unani
mously rejected.
The consideration of the Revised Code has been resumed, and
prosecuted pretty far towards its conclusion. I find, however,
that it will be impossible, as well as unsafe, to give an ultimate
fiat to the system at this session. The expedient I have in view
is to provide for a supplemental revision by a Committee, who
shall accommodate the bills skipped over, and the subsequent
laws, to such part of the Code as has been adopted, suspending
the operation of the latter for one year longer. Such a work
is rendered indispensable by the alterations made in some of
the bills in their passage, by the change of circumstances, which
call for corresponding changes in sundry bills which have been
laid by, and by the incoherence between the whole Code and
the laws in force of posterior date to the Code. This business
has consumed a great deal of the time of two sessions, and has
given infinite trouble to some of us. We have never been with
out opponents, who contest, at least, every innovation inch by
inch. The bill proportioning crimes and punishments, on which
we were wrecked last year, has, after undergoing a number of
alterations, got through a Committee of the whole; but it has
not yet been reported to the House, where it will meet with
the most vigorous attack. I think the chance is rather against
its final passage in that branch of the Assembly; and if it should
not miscarry there, it will have another gauntlet to run through
the Senate.
The bill on the subject of Education, which could not safely
be brought into discussion at all last year, has undergone a
pretty indulgent consideration this. In order to obviate the
objection from the inability of the Country to bear the expence,
1786. LETTERS. 261
it was proposed that it should be passed into a law, but its op
eration suspended for three or four years. Even in this form,
however, there would be hazard in pushing it to a final ques
tion, and I begin to think it will be best to let it lie over for
the supplemental Revisors, who may, perhaps, be able to put it
into some shape that will lessen the objection of expence. I
should have no hesitation at this policy if I saw a chance of
getting a Committee equal to the work of compleating the re
vision. Mr. Pendleton is too far gone to take any part in it.
Mr. Wythe, I suppose, will not decline any duty which may be
imposed on him, but it seems almost cruel to tax his patriotic
zeal any farther. Mr. Blair is the only remaining character in
which full confidence could be placed.
The delay in the administration of Justice from the accumu
lation of business in the General Court, and despair of obtain
ing a reform according to the Assize plan, have led me to give
up this plan in favor of district Courts, which differ from the
former in being clothed with all the powers of the General
Court within their respective districts. The bill on the latter
plan will be reported in a few days, and will probably, though
not certainly, be adopted.
The fruits of the impolitic measures taken at the last session
with regard to taxes are bitterly tasted now. Our Treasury is
empty, no supplies have gone to the federal treasury, and our
internal embarrassments torment us exceedingly. The present
Assembly have good dispositions on the subject, but some time
will elapse before any of their arrangements can be productive.
In one instance only, the general principles of finance have been
departed from. The specie part of the tax under collection is
made payable in Tobacco. This indulgence to the people, as it
is called and considered, was so warmly wished for out of doors,
and so strenuously pressed within, that it could not be rejected
without danger of exciting some worse project of a popular
cast. As Tobacco alone is made commutable, there is reason
to hope the public treasury will suffer little, if at all. It may
possibly gain.
The repeal of the port bill has not yet been attempted. Col.
•262 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786
Mason has been waited for as the hero of the attack. As it is
become uncertain whether he will be down at all, the question
will probably be brought forward in a few days. The repeal,
were he present, would be morally certain. Under the disad
vantage of his absence, it is more than probable. The question
of British debts has also awaited his patronage. I am unable
to say what the present temper is on that subject, nothing hav
ing passed that could make trial of it. The repeated disap
pointments I have sustained in efforts in favor of the Treaty
make me extremely averse to take the lead in the business
again.
The public appointments have been disposed of as follows:
The contest for the chair lay between Col. Bland and Mr. Pren-
tis. The latter prevailed by a majority of near 20 votes. Mr.
Harrison, the late Speaker, lost his election in Surrey, which he
represented last year; and since has been equally unsuccessful
in his pristine County, Charles City, where he made a second
experiment. In the choice of a Governor, Mr. E. Randolph
had a considerable majority of the whole in the first ballot.
His competitors were Col. Bland and R. H. Lee, each of whom
had between 20 and 30 votes. The delegation to Congress con
tained, under the first choice, Grayson, Carrington, R. II. Lee,
Mr. Jones, and myself. Col. H. Lee, of the last delegation, was
dropped. The causes were different, I believe, and not very
accurately known to me. One of them is said to have been his
supposed heterodoxy touching the Mississippi. Mr. Jones has
since declined his appointment, and Col. Lee has been reinstated
by an almost unanimous vote. A vacancy in the Council, pro
duced by the resignation of Mr. Roane, is filled by Mr. Boiling
Starke. Cyrus Griffin was a candidate, but was left consider
ably in the rear. The Attorney Generalship has been conferred
on Col. Innes. Mr. Marshall had a handsome vote.
Our summer and fall have been wet beyond all imagination
in some places, and much so everywhere. The crops of corn
are in general plentiful. The price up the country will not
exceed 8 or 10s. In this district it is scarcest and dearest,
being already as high as 12 or 15s. The crop of Tobacco will
1786. LETTERS. 263
fall short considerably, it is calculated, of the last year's. The
highest and lowest prices in the Country, of the new crop, are
25 and 20s. A rise is confidently expected.
My next will be from New York, whither I shall set out as
soon as the principal business of the Session is over. Till my
arrival there I postpone communications relative to our national
affairs, which I shall then be able to make on better grounds,
as well as some circumstances relative to the affairs of this
State, which the hurry of the present opportunity restrains me
from entering into.
Adieu.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, December 7th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — Notwithstanding the communications in your fa
vor of the 18th ult°, which has remained until now unacknowl
edged, it was the opinion of every judicious friend whom I con
sulted that your name could not be spared from the Deputation
to the meeting in May, at Philadelphia. It was supposed, in
the first place, that the peculiarity of the Mission, and its ac
knowledged pre-eminence over every other public object, may
possibly reconcile your undertaking it with the respect which
is justly due, and which you wish to pay, to the late officers of
the Army; and, in the second place, that although you should
find that or any other consideration an obstacle to your attend
ance on the service, the advantage of having your name in the
front of the appointment, as a mark of the earnestness of Vir
ginia, and an invitation to the most select characters from every
part of the Confederacy, ought at all events to be made use of.
In these sentiments I own I fully concurred, and flatter myself
that they will at least apologize for my departure from those
?ield out in your letter. I even flatter myself that they will
merit a serious consideration with yourself whether the difficul
ties which you enumerate ought not to give way to them.
264 WORKS OF MADISON. 178G.
The affair of the Mississippi, which was brought before the
Assembly in a long memorial from the Western members and
some of the officers, has undergone a full consideration of both
Houses. The resolutions printed in the papers were agreed to
unanimously in the House of Delegates. In the Senate, I am
told, the language was objected to by some members as too
pointed. They certainly express in substance the decided sense
of the Country at this time on the subject, and were offered in
the place of some which went much farther, and which were in
other respects exceptionable. I am entirely convinced, from
what I observe here, that unless the project of Congress [for
ceding to Spain the Mississippi for 25 years] can be reversed,
the hopes of carrying this State into a proper federal system
will be demolished. Many of our most federal leading men are
extremely soured with what has already passed. Mr. Henry,
who has been hitherto the champion of the federal cause, has
become a cold advocate, and in the event of an actual sacrifice
of the Mississippi by Congress, will unquestionably go over to
the opposite side. I have a letter from Col. Grayson of late
date, which tells me that nothing further has been done in Con
gress, and one from Mr. A. Clarke, of New Jersey, which in
forms me that he expected every day instructions from his
Legislature for reversing the vote given by the Delegates of
that State in favor of the project.
The temper of the Assembly at the beginning of the session
augured an escape from every measure this year not consonant
to the proper principles of Legislation. I fear, now, that the
conclusion will contradict the promising outset. In admitting
Tobacco for a commutable, we perhaps swerved a little from
the line in which we set out. I acquiesced in the measure my
self as a prudential compliance with the clamours within doors
and without, and as a probable means of obviating more hurt
ful experiments. I find, however, now, that it either had no
such tendency, or that schemes were in embryo which I was not
aware of. A Bill for establishing District Courts has been
clogged with a plan for installing all debts now due, so as to
make them payable in three annual portions. What the fate
178G. LETTERS. 265
of the experiment will be I know not. It seems pretty certain
that if it fails, the bill will fail with it. It is urged in support
of the measure that it will be favorable to debtors and credi
tors both, and that, without it, the bill for accelerating justice
would ruin the former and endanger the public repose. The
objections are so numerous, and of such a nature, that I shall
myself give up the bill rather than pay such a price for it.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
RICHMOND, Decr 12th, 1786.
HOND SIR, — The inclosed paper will give you a knowledge
of the mode and terms on which Tobacco is made a Commu ta
ble. It also contains some Resolutions of importance relative
to the navigation of the Mississippi. The Senate have con
curred in them, though not unanimously. Some of the members
of that branch objected to the pointedness of the language;
others doubted the propriety of taking up a subject of so deli
cate a nature without official information from the delegation
in Congress.
The repeal of the port bill was yesterday a subject of discus
sion, and rejected by 70 against 36, so that the law is likely to
become permanent. Amendments, however, are necessary, and
will probably take place. We have a bill depending for estab
lishing District Courts, differing from the Assize in this respect,
that the former will be vested with as compleat jurisdiction
within the District as the General Court exercises over the
whole State. Unhappily, it is clogged with a clause installing
all debts among ourselves, so as to make them payable in three
annual portions. Such an interposition of the law in private
contracts is not to be vindicated on any Legislative principle
within my knowledge, and seems obnoxious to the strongest ob
jections which prevailed against paper money. How it will be
relished I cannot say, the matter not having yet been taken
into discussion. I think it probable that it will miscarry, and
that it will involve the District bill in its fate.
266 WORKS OF MADISON. 1786.
No thorough revision of the taxes has yet taken place. The
inclosed report of a Committee will present some ideas which
are to be discussed. In general, the bias of the House seems
to be strongly towards taxes which are to operate indirectly,
and on articles of luxury. The lawyers and County Court
clerks are also likely to be squeezed. One-tenth of the fees
of the former, and one-third of those of the latter, were voted
to-day to be a proper share for the public. Riding Carriages
were also voted to be proper objects of additional taxation.
Coaches, &c., are to pay six dollars per wheel, Phaetons 4 dol
lars, and Chairs, <fcc., 2 dollars per wheel. Whether these ex
travagant ideas will be persisted in is uncertain. I can scarcely
suppose they will, in their full extent.
******
The Convention in Kentucky was prevented by the Expedi
tions into the Indian Country. It is proposed that another
Convention shall be authorized to decide the question of their
Independence.
TO JAMES MONROE.
RICHMOND, December 21st, 1786.
DEAR SIR— * * * * * * *
We hear nothing from any of the other States on the subject
of the federal Convention. The ice seems to have intercepted
totally the Northern communication for a considerable time
past. The Assembly have been much occupied of late with the
bill for district Courts. On the final question there was a ma
jority of one against it, in fact, though on the count a mistake
made the division equal, and it fell to the Chair to decide, who
passed the bill. The real majority, however, were sensible of
the mistake; and refused to agree to the title, threatening a se
cession at the same time. The result was a compromise, that
the question should be decided anew the next morning, when
the bill was lost in a full house by a single voice. It is now
proposed to extend the Session of the General Court so as to
1786. LETTERS. 267
accelerate the business depending there. We hear that Mary
land is much agitated on the score of paper money, the House
of Delegates having decided in favour of an emission.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, December 24th, 1786.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 16th instant came to hand too
late on thursday evening to be answered by the last mail. I
have considered well the circumstances which it confidentially
discloses, as well as those contained in your preceding favor.
The difficulties which they oppose to an acceptance of the ap
pointment, in which you are included, can as little be denied as
they can fail to be regretted. But I still am inclined to think
that the posture of our affairs, if it should continue, would pre
vent every criticism on the situation which the cotemporary
meetings would place you in; and that at least a door could be
kept open for your acceptance hereafter, in case the gathering
clouds become so dark and menacing as to supersede every con
sideration but that of our national existence and safety. A
suspension of your ultimate determination would be nowise in
convenient in a public view, as the Executive are authorised to
fill vacancies, and can fill them at any time; and, in any event,
three out of seven deputies are authorized to represent the
State. How far it may be admissible in another view will de
pend, perhaps, in some measure, on the chance of your finally
undertaking the service, but principally on the correspondence
which is now passing on the subject between yourself and the
Governor.
Your observations on Tobacco as a commutable in the taxes
are certainly just and unanswerable. My acquiescence in the
measure was against every general principle which I have em
braced, and was extorted by a fear that some greater evil under
the name of relief to the people would be substituted. I am far
from being sure, however, that I did right. The other evils
contended for have, indeed, been as yet parried, but it is very
268 WORKS OF MADISON.
questionable whether the concession in the affair of the Tobacco
had much hand in it. The original object was paper money.
Petitions for graduating certificates succeeded. Next came in
stalments. And, lastly, a project for making property a tender
for debts at four-fifths of its value. All these have been happily
got rid of by very large majorities. • But the positive efforts in
favor of Justice have been less successful. A plan for reform
ing the administration in this branch, accommodated more to
the general opinion than the Assize plan, got as far as the third
reading, and was then lost by a single vote. The Senate would
have passed it readily, and would have even added amendments
of the right complexion. I fear it will be some time before
this necessary reform will again have a fair chance. Besides
some other grounds of apprehension, it may well be supposed
that the Bill, which is to be printed for consideration of the
public, will, instead of calling forth the sanction of the wise
and virtuous, be a signal to interested men to redouble their
efforts to get into the Legislature.
The Revenue business is still unfinished. The present rage
seems to be to draw all our income from trade. From the sam
ple given of the temper of the House of Delegates on this sub
ject, it is much to be feared that the duties will be augmented
with so daring a hand, that we shall drive away our trade in
stead of making it tributary to our Treasury. The only hope
that can be indulged is that of moderating the fury. The port
bill was defended against a repeal by about 70 votes against
about 40. The revised code is not quite finished, and must re
ceive the last hand from a succeeding Assembly. Several bills
of consequence being rendered unfit to be passed in their pres
ent form, by a change of circumstances since they were pre
pared, necessarily require revision. Others, as the Education
bill, <fec., are thought to be adapted only to a further degree of
wealth and population. Others, as the Execution bill, which
subjects lands to debts, do not find yet an adequate patronage.
Several bills, also, and particularly the bill relating to crimes
and punishments, have been rejected, and require reconsidera
tion from another Assembly. This last bill, after being purged
1787. LETTERS. 269
of its objectionable peculiarities, was thrown out on the third
reading by a single vote.
It will little elevate your idea of our Senate to be told that
they negatived the bill defining the privileges of Ambassadors,
on the principle, as I am told, that an alien ought not to be put
on better ground than a citizen. British debts have not yet
been mentioned, and probably will not, unless Congress say
something on the matter before the adjournment.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
RICHMOND, January 9th, 1787.
MY DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 9th ultimo has been so
long on hand unanswered, that I cannot now acknowledge it
without observing, in the apology for the delay, that I waited
for some measures of which I wished to communicate the event.
The district bill, of which I formerly made mention, was finally
thrown into a very curious situation, and lost by a single voice.
I refer you for its history to Col. Pendleton, who was here at
the time, and is now with you. An attempt has been since made
to render the General Court more efficient, by lengthening its
terms, and transferring the criminal business to the Judges of
the Admiralty. As most of the little motives which co-operated
with a dislike to Justice in defeating the District Bill happened
to be in favour of the subsequent attempt, it went through the
House of Delegates by a large majority. The Senate have dis
appointed the majority infinitely in putting a negative on it, as
we just learn that they have done, by a single voice. An
amendment of the County Courts has also been lost, through a
disagreement of the two Houses on the subject. Our merit on
the score of Justice has been entirely of the negative kind. It
has been sufficient to reject violations of this cardinal virtue,
but not to make any positive provisions in its behalf.
The revised code has not been so thoroughly passed as 1
hoped at the date of my last. The advance of the session, the
coldness of a great many, and the dislike of some to the subject,
270 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
required that it should be pressed more gently than could be
reconciled with a prosecution of the work to the end. I had
long foreseen that a supplemental revision, as well of some of
the articles of the Code as of the laws passed since it was di
gested, would become necessary, and had settled a plan for the
purpose with myself. This plan was to suspend the laws adopted
from the Code until the supplement could be prepared, and
then to put the whole in force at once. Several circumstances
satisfied me of late, that if the work was put within the reach of
the next Assembly, there would be danger not only of its being
left in a mutilated state, but of its being lost altogether. The
observations in your favor above acknowledged encouraged
me to propose that the parts of the Code adopted should take
effect without waiting for the last hand to it. This idea has
been pursued, and the bills passed at the last session are to
commence as then determined, those passed at the present being
suspended until July next.
I would myself have preferred a suspension of the former
also till July, for the sake of a more thorough promulgation,
and of a cotemporary introduction of the laws, many of which
are connected together; but the Senate thought otherwise, and
in a ticklish stage of the session, the friends of the code in the
House of Delegates joined me in opinion that it would be well
to create no unnecessary delays or disagreements. I have
strong apprehensions that the work may never be systemati
cally perfected, for the reasons which you deduce from our
form of Government. Should a disposition, however, continue
in the Legislature as favorable as it has been in some stages of
the business, I think a succession of revisions, each growing
shorter than the preceding, might ultimately bring a completion
within the compass of a single session. At all events, the in
valuable acquisition of important bills, prepared at leisure by
skilful hands, is so sensibly impressed on thinking people by
the crudeness and tedious discussion of such as are generally
introduced, that the expence of a continued revision will be
thought by all such to be judiciously laid out for this purpose
alone.
1787. LETTERS. 271
The great objection which I personally feel arises from the
necessity we are under of imposing the weight of these projects
on those whose past services have so justly purchased an ex
emption from future labours. In your case, the additional con
sideration of ill health became almost an affair of conscience,
and I have been no otherwise able to stifle the remorse of hav
ing nominated you, along with Mr. Wythe and Mr. Blair, for
reviewing the subject left unfinished, than by reflecting that
your colleagues will feel every disposition to abridge your share
of the burden, and in case of such an increase of your infirmity
as to oblige you to renounce all share, that they are authorised
to appoint to, I will not say to fill, the vacancy. I flatter my
self that you will be at least able to assist in general consulta
tions on the subject, and to adjust the bills unpassed to the
changes which have taken place since they were prepared. On
the most unfortunate suppositions, my intentions will be sure to
find in your benevolence a pardon for my error.
The Senate have saved our commerce from a dreadful blow
which it would have sustained from a bill passed in the House
of Delegates, imposing enormous duties, without waiting for the
concurrence of the other States, or even of Maryland. There
is a rage at present for high duties, partly for the purpose of
revenue, partly of forcing manufactures, which it is difficult to
resist. It seems to be forgotten, in the first case, that in the
arithmetic of the customs, as Dean Swift observes, 2 and 2 do
not make four; and in the second, that manufactures will come
of themselves when we are ripe for them. A prevailing argu
ment, among others on the subject, is, that we ought not to be
dependent on foreign nations for useful articles, as the event of
a war may cut off all external supplies. This argument cer
tainly loses its force when it is considered that, in case of a
war hereafter, we should stand on very different ground from
what we lately did. Neutral nations, whose rights are becom
ing every day more and more extensive, would not now suffer
themselves to be shut out from our ports, nor would the hostile
Nation presume to attempt it. As far as relates to implements
272 WORKS OF MADISON. 17P7.
of war, which are contraband, the argument for our fabrication
of them is certainly good.
Our latest information from the Eastward has not removed our
apprehensions of ominous events in that quarter. It is pretty
certain that the seditious party has become formidable to the
Government, and that they have opened a communication with
the viceroy of Canada. I am not enough acquainted with the
proceedings of Congress to judge of some of the points which
you advert to. The regulations of their land office have ap
peared to me nearly in the light in which they do to you.
I expect to set out in a few days for New York, when I shall
revive my claim to a correspondence which formerly gave me
so much pleasure, and which will enable me, perhaps, to answer
your queries. The end of my paper will excuse an abrupt but
affectionate adieu.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, February 15th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — My last was from Richmond, of the 4th of De
cember, and contained a sketch of our Legislative proceedings
prior to that date.
The principal proceedings of subsequent date relate, as
nearly as I can recollect, 1st, to a rejection of the Bill on
crimes and punishments, which, after being altered so as to
remove most of the objections, as was thought, was lost by a
single vote. The rage against Horse-stealers had a great
influence on the fate of the bill. Our old bloody code is by
this event fully restored, the prerogative of conditional pardon
having been taken from the Executive by a judgment of the
Court of Appeals, and the temporary law granting it to them
having expired, and been left unrevived. I am not without hope
that the rejected bill will find a more favorable disposition in
the next Assembly. 2dly. To the bill for diffusing knowledge ;
17<7. LETTERS. 273
it went through two readings by a small majority, and was no*
pushed to a third one. The necessity of a systematic provision
on the subject was admitted on all hands. The objections
against that particular provision were: 1. The expence, which
was alleged to exceed the ability of the people. 2. The diffi
culty of executing it in the present sparse settlement of the
country. 3. The inequality of the districts, as contended by the
Western members. The last objection is of little weight, and
might have been easily removed if it had been urged in an
early stage of the discussion. The bill now rests on the same
footing with the other unpassed Bills in the Revisal.
3dly. To the Revisal at large. It was found impossible to
get through the system at the late session, for several reasons :
1. The changes which have taken place, since its compilement,
in our affairs and our laws, particularly those relating to our
Courts, called for changes in some of the bills, which could not
be made with safety by the Legislature. 2. The pressure of
other business, which, though of less importance in itself, yet
was more interesting for the moment. 3. The alarm excited
by an approach toward the Execution bill, which subjects land
to the payment of debts. This bill could not have been carried,
was too important to be lost, and even too difficult to be
amended without destroying its texture. 4. The danger of
passing the Repealing Bill at the end of the Code, before the
operation of the various amendments, <fcc., made by the Assem
bly, could be leisurely examined by competent Judges. Under
these circumstances, it was thought best to hand over the residue
of the work to our successors ; and in order to have it made
compleat, Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Wythe, and Blair, were appointed
a Committee to amend the unpassed bills, and also to prepare a
supplemental revision of the laws which have been passed since
the original work was executed.
It became a critical question with the friends of the Revisal
whether the parts of the Revisal actually passed should be
suspended in the mean time, or left to take their operation.
The first plan was strongly recommended by the advantage of
giving effect to the system at once, and by the inconveniency
VOL. i. 18
274 WORKS OF MADISON. 17*7.
arising from the latter, of leaving the old laws to a constructive
repeal only. The latter, notwithstanding, was preferred, as
putting the adopted bills out of the reach of a succeeding As
sembly, which might possibly be unfriendly to the system alto
gether. There was good reason to suspect Mr. Henry, who
will certainly be then a member. By suffering the bills which
have passed to take effect in the mean time, it will be extremely
difficult to get rid of them.
4th:y. Religion. The act incorporating the protestant Epis
copal Church excited the most pointed opposition from the
other sects. They even pushed their attacks against the reser
vation of the Glebes, &c., to the church exclusively. The
latter circumstance involved the Legislature in some embar
rassment. The result was a repeal of the act, with a saving of
the property. 5th. The district Courts. After a great struggle,
they were lost in the House of Delegates by a single voice.
6thly. Taxes. The attempts to reduce former taxes were baffled,
and sundry new taxes added : on lawyers, yV of their fees • on
Clerks of Courts, J of do.; on Doctors, a small tax; a tax on
houses in towns, so as to level their burden with that of real
estate in the country ; very heavy taxes on riding carriages, &c.
Besides these, an additional duty of 2 per cent, ad valorem on
all merchandises imported in vessels of nations not in treaty
with the United States, an additional duty of four pence on
every gallon of wine except French wines, and <if two pence
on every gallon of distilled spirits except French brandies,
which are made duty free. The exceptions in favor of France
were the effect of the sentiments and regulations communicated
to you by Mr. Calonne. A printed copy of the communication
was received the last day of the session in a newspaper from
New York, and made a warm impression on the Assembly.
Some of the taxes are liable to objections, and were much com
plained of. With the additional duties on trade, they will con
siderably enhance our revenue. I should have mentioned a
duty of 6s. per Hogshead on Tobacco for complying with a
special requisition of Congress for supporting the corps of men
raised for the public security.
1787. LETTERS. 275
7th. The Mississippi. At the date of my last, the House of
Delegates only had entered into Resolutions against a surren
der of the right of navigating it. The Senate shortly after
concurred. The States south of Virginia still adhere, as far as
I can learn, to the same ideas as have governed Virginia. New
Jersey, one of the States in Congress which was on the oppo
site side, has now instructed her Delegates against surrendering
to Spain the navigation of the River, even for a limited time ;
and Pennsylvania, it is expected, will do the same. I am told
that Mr. Jay has not ventured to proceed in his project, and I
suppose will not now do it. 8th. The Convention for amending
the federal Constitution. At the date of my last, Virginia had
passed an act for appointing deputies. The deputation consists
of General Washington, Mr. Henry, late Governor, Mr. Ran
dolph, present Governor, Mr. Blair, Mr. Wythe, Col. Mason,
and James Madison.
North Carolina has also made an appointment, including her
present and late Governor. South Carolina, it is expected by
her delegates in Congress, will not fail to follow these exam
ples. Maryland has determined, I just hear, to appoint, but has
not yet agreed on her deputies. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and
New Jersey, have made respectable appointments. New York
has not yet decided on the point. Her Assembly has just re
jected the impost, which has an unpropitious aspect. It is not
clear, however, that she may not yet accede to the other meas
ure. Connecticut has a great aversion to Conventions, and is
otherwise habitually disinclined to abridge her State preroga
tives. Her concurrence, nevertheless, is not despaired of. Mas
sachusetts, it is said, will concur, though hitherto not well in
clined. New Hampshire will probably do as she does. Rhode
Island can be relied on for nothing that is good. On all great
points, she must sooner or later bend to Massachusetts and Con
necticut.
Having but just come to this place, I do not undertake to
give you any general view of American affairs, or of the partic
ular state of things in Massachusetts. The omission is proba
bly of little consequence, as information of this sort must fall
276 WORKS OF MADISON. 1737.
within your correspondence with the office of foreign affairs.
I shall not, however, plead this consideration in a future letter,
when I hope to be more able to write fully.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — Some little time before my arrival here, a quorum
of the States was made up, and General St. Clair put in the
Chair. We have at present nine States on the ground, but shall
lose South Carolina to-day. Other States are daily expected.
What business of moment may be done by the present or a fuller
meeting is uncertain.
The objects now depending and most immediately in prospect
are: 1. The Treaty of Peace. The Secretary of foreign Affairs
has very ably reported a view of the infractions on both sider?,
his exposition of the contested articles, and the steps proper to
be taken by Congress. I find, what I was not before apprized
of, that more than one infraction on our part preceded even the
violation on the other side in the instance of the negroes. Some
of the reasoning on the subject of the debts would be rather
grating to Virginia. A full compliance with the Treaty accord
ing to judicial constructions, and as a ground for insisting on a
reciprocal compliance, is the proposition in which the Report
terminates. 2. A recommendation of the proposed Convention
in May. Congress have been much divided and embarrassed
on the question whether their taking an interest in the measure
would impede or promote it. On one side it has been urged
that some of the backward States have scruples against acce
ding to it without some constitutional sanction; on the other,
that other States will consider any interference of Congress as
proceeding from the same views which have hitherto excited
their jealousies. A vote of the Legislature here, entered into
yesterday, will give some relief in the case. They have in
structed their delegates in Congress to move for the reconsid-
1787 LETTERS. 277
eration in question. The vote was carried by a majority of one
only in the Senate, and there is room to suspect that the minor
ity were actuated by a dislike to the substance, rather than by
any objection against the form of the business. A large majority
in the other Branch a few days ago put a definitive veto on the
Impost.
It would seem as if the politics of this State are directed by
individual interests and plans, which might be incommoded by
the controul of an efficient federal Government. The four States
north of it are still to make their decision on the subject of the
Convention. I am told by one of the Massachusetts delegates
that the Legislature of that State, which is now sitting, will
certainly accede and appoint Deputies if Congress declare their
approbation of the measure. I have similar information that
Connecticut will probably come in, though it is said that the
interference of Congress will rather have a contrary tendency
there. It is expected that South Carolina will not fail to adopt
the plan, and that Georgia is equally well disposed. All the
intermediate States between the former and New York have
already appointed Deputies, except Maryland, which, it is said,
means to do it, and has entered into some vote which declares
as much. Nothing has yet been done by the new Congress with
regard to the Mississippi.
Our latest information from Massachusetts gives hopes that
the meeting, or, as the Legislature there now style it, the Re
bellion, is nearly extinct. If the measures, however, on foot for
disarming and disfranchising those concerned in it should be
carried into effect, a new crisis may be brought on.
I have not been here long enough to gather the general senti
ments of leading characters touching our affairs and prospects.
I am inclined to hope that they will gradually be concentered
in the plan of a thorough reform of the existing system. Those
who may lean towards a monarchical government, and who, I
suspect, are swayed by very indigested ideas, will of course
abandon an unattainable object whenever a prospect opens of
rendering the Republican form competent to its purposes. Those
who remain attached to the latter form must soon perceive that
•278 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
it cannot be preserved at all under any modification which does
not redress the ills experienced from our present establish
ments. Virginia is the only State which has made any provis
ion for the late moderate but essential requisition of Congress,
and her provision is a partial one only.
This would have been of earlier date, but I have waited for
more interesting subjects for it. I shall do myself the pleasure
of repeating the liberty of dropping you a few lines as often as
proper occasions arise, on no other condition, however, than
your waiving the trouble of regular answers or acknowledge
ments on your part.
With the greatest respect and affection, I am, D* Sir, your
obt friend and serv.
TO THE HONBLE EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, February 24, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — If the contents of the newspapers of this place
find their way into the Gazettes of Richmond, you will have
learnt that the expedition of General Lincoln against the in
surgents has effectually dispersed the main body of them. It
appears, however, that there are still some detachments which
remain to be subdued, and that the government of Massachu
setts consider very strong precautions as necessary against
farther eruptions. The principal incendiaries have, unluckily,
made off. By some it is said that they are gone to Canada;
by others, that they have taken shelter in Vermont; and by some,
that they are opening a communication with the upper parts of
this State. The latter suggestion has probably some color, as
the Governor here has thought proper to offer rewards for them,
after the example of Governor Bowdoin. We have no inter
esting information from Europe.
The only step of moment taken by Congress, since my arrival,
has been a recommendation of the proposed meeting in May, for
revising the federal Articles. Some of the States, considering
17F7. LETTERS. 279
this measure as an extra-constitutional one, had scruples against
concurring in it without some regular sanction. By others, it
was thought best that Congress should remain neutral in the
business, as the best antidote for the jealousy of an ambitious
desire in them to get more power into their hands. This sus
pense was at length removed by an instruction from this State
to its delegates to urge a recommendatory Resolution in Con
gress, which accordingly passed a few days ago. Notwith
standing this instruction from N. York, there is room to sus
pect her disposition not to be very federal, a large majority of
the House of Delegates having very lately entered into a defin
itive refusal of the impost, and the instruction itself having
passed in the Senate by a casting vote only. In consequence
of the sanction given by Congress, Massachusetts, it is said,
will send Deputies to the Convention, and her example will
have great weight with the other New England States. The
States from North Carolina to New Jersey, inclusive, have
made their appointments, except Maryland, who has, as yet,
only determined that she will make them. The gentlemen here
from South Carolina and Georgia expect that those States will
follow the general example. Upon the whole, therefore, it
seems probable that a meeting will take place, and that it will
be a pretty full one.
What the issue of it will be is among the other arcana of fu
turity, and nearly as inscrutable as any of them. In general,
I find men of reflection much less sanguine as to a new, than
despondent as to the present system. Indeed, the present sys
tem neither has nor deserves advocates; and if some very strong
props are not applied, will quickly tumble to the ground. No
money is paid into the public Treasury; no respect is paid to
the federal authority. Not a single State complies with the
requisitions; several pass them over in silence, and some posi
tively reject them. The payments, ever since the peace, have
been decreasing, and of late fall short even of the pittance ne
cessary for the civil list of the Confederacy. It is not possible
that a Government can last long under these circumstances.
If the approaching convention should not agree on some rem-
280 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
edy, I am persuaded that some very different arrangement will
ensue. The late turbulent scenes in Massachusetts, and infa
mous ones in Rhode Island, have done inexpressible injury to
the republican character in that part of the United States, and
a propensity towards monarchy is said to have been produced
by it in some leading minds. The bulk of the people will prob
ably prefer the lesser evil of a partition of the Union into three
more practicable and energetic governments. The latter idea,
I find, after long confinement to individual speculations and
private circles, is beginning to shew itself in the newspapers.
But though it is a lesser evil, it is so great a one that I hope
the danger of it will rouse all the real friends of the Revolution
to exert themselves in favor of such an organization of the Con
federacy as will perpetuate the Union and redeem the honor of
the Republican name.
I shall follow this introductory letter with a few lines from
time to time, as a proper subject for them occurs. The only
stipulation I exact on your part is, that you will not consider
them as claiming either answers or acknowledgements, and that
you will believe me to be, with sincerest wishes for your health
and every other happiness,
Your affectionate friend and serv.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
NEW YORK, Feb^ 25th, 1787.
HONDSlR— * * * * *
The success of General Lincoln against the insurgents has
corresponded with the hopes of the Government. It is still said,
notwithstanding, that there remains a great deal of leven in the
mass of the people. Connecticut has not caught the fermenta
tion, but she pays no taxes. Congress received a letter a few
days ago from the Governor of that State, inclosing a non-com
pliance of the Assembly with the requisitions of Congress. In
fact, payments to the federal Treasury are ceasing everywhere,
1787. LETTERS. 281
and the minds of people losing all confidence in our political
system. What change may be wrought by the proposed Con
vention is uncertain. There is a pro-spect, at present, of pretty
general appointments to it.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, March 18th. 1787.
DEAR SIR, — Recollecting to have heard you mention a plan
formed by the Empress of Russia for a comparative view of the
Aborigines of the new Continent, and of the N. E. parts of the
old, through the medium of their respective tongues, and that
her wishes had been conveyed to you for your aid in obtaining
the American vocabularies, I have availed myself of an oppor
tunity, offered by the kindness of Mr. Hawkins, of taking a
copy of such a sample of the Cherokee and Choctaw dialects as
his late commission to treat with them enabled him to obtain,
and do myself the honor now of enclosing it. I do not know
how far the list of words made use of by Mr. Hawkins may cor
respond with the standard of the Empress, nor how far nations
so remote as the Cherokees and Choctaws from the N. W.
shores of America may fall within the scheme of comparison.
I presume, however, that a great proportion, at least, of the
words will answer, and that the laudable curiosity which sug
gests investigations of this sort will be pleased with every en
largement of the field for indulging it. Not finding it conve
nient to retain a copy of the enclosed, as I wished to do, for my
self, I must ask the favor of your amanuensis to perform that
task for me.
The appointments for the Convention go on very successfully.
Since the date of my last, Georgia, South Carolina, New York,
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, have come into the meas
ure. Georgia and New Hampshire have constituted their Dele
gates in Congress their representatives in Convention. South
Carolina has appointed Mr. J. Rutledge, General Pinckney, Mr.
282 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
Laureus, Major Butler, and Mr. Charles Pinckney, late member
of Congress. The deputies of Massachusetts are Mr. Dana, Mr.
King, Mr. Gorham, Mr. Gerry, Mr. Strong. I am told that a
Resolution of the Legislature of this State, which originated
with their Senate, lays its deputies under the fetter of not de
parting from the 5th of the present articles of Confederation.
As this Resolution passed before the recommendatory act of
Congress was known, it is conjectured that it may be rescinded;
but its having passed at all denotes a much greater prevalence
of political jealousy in that quarter than had been imagined.
The deputation of New York consists of Colonel Hamilton,
Judge Yates, and a Mr. Lansing. The two last are said to be
pretty much linked to the anti-federal party here, and are likely,
of course, to be a clog on their colleague. It is not doubted,
now, that Connecticut and Rhode Island will avoid the singu
larity of being unrepresented in the Convention.
The thinness of Congress has been an obstacle to all the im
portant business before them. At present there are nine States
on the ground; but this number, though adequate to every ob
ject when unanimous, makes a slow progress in business that
requires seven States only. And I see little prospect of the
number being increased.
By our latest and most authentic information from Massachu
setts, it would seem that a calm has been restored by the expe
dition of General Lincoln. The precautions taking by the
State, however, betray a great distrust of its continuance. Be
sides their act disqualifying the malcontents from voting in the
election of members for the Legislature, <fcc., another has been
passed for raising a corps of 1,000 or 1,500 men, and appropri
ating the choicest revenues of the country to its support. It is
said that at least half of the insurgents decline accepting the
terms annexed to the amnesty, and that this defiance of the law
against Treason is countenanced not only by the impunity with
which they shew themselves on public occasions, even with in
solent badges of their character, but by marks of popular favor
conferred on them in various instances in the election to local
offices.
1787. LETTERS. 283
A proposition has been introduced and discussed in the Legis
lature of this State for relinquishing its claim to Vermont, and
urging the admission of it into the Confederacy. As far as I
can learn, difficulties will arise only in settling the form, the
substance of the measures being not disliked by any of the par
ties. It is wished by those who are not interested in claims to
lands within that district to guard against any responsibility
in the State for compensation. On the other side, it will at
least be insisted that they shall not be barred the privilege of
carrying their claims before a federal court, in case Vermont
shall become a party to the Union. I think it probable, if she
should not decline becoming such altogether, that she will make
two conditions, if not more: 1. That neither her boundaries
nor the rights of her citizens shall be impeachable under the
9th article of Confederation. 2. That no share of the public
debt already contracted shall be allotted to her.
I have a letter from Col. John Campbell, dated at Pittsburg,
from which I gather that the people of that quarter are thrown
into great agitation by the reported intention of Congress con
cerning the Mississippi, and that measures are on foot for uni
ting the minds of all the different settlements which have a
common interest at stake. Should this policy take effect, I
think there is much ground to apprehend that the ambition of in
dividuals will quickly mix itself with the first impulses of resent
ment and interest; that by degrees the people may be led to set
up for themselves; that they will slide, like Vermont, insensibly
into a communication and latent connection with their British
neighbors, and, in pursuance of the same example, make such a
disposition of the Western Territory as will entice into it most
effectually emigrants from all parts of the Union. If these ap
prehensions be not imaginary, they suggest many observations
extremely interesting to Spain as well as to the United States.
I hear from Richmond, with much concern, that Mr. Henry
has positively declined his mission to Philadelphia. Besides
the loss of his services on that theatre, there is danger, I feart
that this step has proceeded from a wish to leave his conduct
284 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
unfettered on another theatre, where the result of the Conven
tion will receive its destiny from his omnipotence.
With every sentiment of esteem and affection, I remain, Dear
Sir, your obt and very h'ble serv.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, March 19th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — My last was of the llth of February, and went
by the packet. This will go to England in the care of a French
gentleman, who will consign it to the care of Mr. Adams.
The appointments for the Convention go on auspiciously.
Since my last, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, Massachu
setts, and New Hampshire, have come into the measure. The
first and the last of these States have commissioned their dele
gates to Congress as their representatives in Convention. The
deputation of Massachusetts consists of Mess". Gorham, Dana,
King, Gerry, and Strong. Thet of New York, Mess". Hamil
ton, Yates, and Lansing. That of South Carolina, Messrs. J.
Rutledge, Laurens, Pinckney, (General,) Butler, and Charles
Pinckney, lately member of Congress. The States which have
not yet appointed are Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Mary
land. The last has taken measures which prove her intention
to appoint, and the two former it is not doubted will follow the
example of their neighbours. I just learn from the Governor
of Virginia that Mr. Henry has resigned his place in the depu
tation from that State, and that General Nelson is put into it
by the Executive, who were authorised to fill vacancies. The
Governor, Mr. Wythe, and Mr. Blair, will attend, and some
hopes are entertained of Col. Mason's attendance. General
Washington has prudently authorised no expectations of his
attendance, but has not either precluded himself absolutely from
stepping into the field if the crisis should demand it.
What may be the result of this political experiment cannot
be foreseen. The difficulties which present themselves are, on
1787. LETTERS. 285
one side, almost sufficient to dismay the most sanguine, whilst
on the other side the most timid are compelled to encounter
them by the mortal diseases of the existing Constitution. These
diseases need not be pointed out to you, who so well understand
them. Suffice it to say, that they are at present marked by
symptoms which are truly alarming, which have tainted the
faith of the most orthodox republicans, and which challenge
from the votaries of liberty every concession in favor of stable
Government not infringing fundamental principles, as the only
security against an opposite extreme of our present situation.
I think myself that it will be expedient, in the first place, to
lay the foundation of the new system in such a ratification by
the people themselves of the several States as will render it
clearly paramount to their Legislative authorities. 2dly.Fbver
and above the positive power of regulating trade and sundry
other matters in which uniformity is proper, to arm the federal
head with a negative in all cases whatsoever on the local Legis
latures. Without this defensive power, experience and reflec
tion have satisfied me that, however ample the federal powers
may be made, or however clearly their boundaries may be de
lineated on paper, they will be easily and continually baffled by
the Legislative sovereignties of the States. The effects of this
provision would be not only to guard the national rights and
interests against invasion, but also to restrain the States from
thwarting and molesting each other; and even from oppressing
the minority within themselves by paper money and other un
righteous measures which favor the interest of the majority^ In
order to render the exercise of such a negative prerogative con
venient, an emanation of it must be vested in some set of men
within the several States, so far as to enable them to give a
temporary sanction to laws of immediate necessity. 3dly. To
change the principle of Representation in the federal system.
Whilst the execution of the acts of Congress depends on the
several Legislatures, the equality of votes does not destroy the
inequality of importance and influence in the States. But in
case of such an augmentation of the federal power as will ren
der it efficient without the intervention of the Legislatures, a
286 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
vote in the general Councils from Delaware would be of equal
value with one from Massachusetts or Virginia. This change,
therefore, is just. I think, also, it will be practicable. A ma
jority of the States conceive that they will be gainers by it. It
is recommended to the Eastern States by the actual superiority
of their populousness, and to the Southern by their expected
superiority; and if a majority of the larger States concur, the
fewer and smaller States must finally bend to them. This point
being gained, many of the objections now urged in the leading
States against renunciations of power will vanish. 4tllly. To
organize the federal powers in such a manner as not to blend
together those which ought to be exercised by separate depart
ments. The limited powers now vested in Congress are fre
quently mismanaged from the want of such a distribution of
them. What would be the case under an enlargement not only
of the powers, but the number of the federal Representatives?
These are some of the leading ideas which have occurred to me,
but which may appear to others as improper as they appear to
me necessary.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
NEW YORK, April 1st, 1787.
HOND SIR, — The general attention is now directed towards
the approaching Convention. All the States have appointed
deputies to it except Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island.
The first, it is not doubted, will appoint, and the second has
already resolved on the expediency of the measure. Rhode
Island alone has refused her concurrence. A majority of more
than twenty in the Legislature of that State has refused to fol
low the general example. Being conscious of the wickedness
of the measures they are pursuing, they are afraid of everything
that may become a controul on them. Notwithstanding this
prospect of a very full and respectable meeting, no very san
guine expectations can well be indulged. The probable diver
sity of opinions and prejudices, and of supposed or real inter
1787. LETTERS. 287
ests among the States, renders the issue totally uncertain. The
existing embarrassments and mortal diseases of the Confederacy
form the only ground of hope that a spirit of concession on all
sides may be produced by the general chaos, or at least parti
tions of the Union, which offers itself as the alternative.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, April 10th. 1787.
DEAR SIR, — I have been honored with your letter of the 31
March, and find, with much pleasure, that your views of the re
form which ought to be pursued by the Convention give a
sanction to those I entertained. Temporising applications will
dishonor the councils which propose them, and may foment the
internal malignity of the disease, at the same time that they
produce an ostensible palliation of it. Radical attempts, al
though unsuccessful, will at least justify the authors of them.
Having been lately led to revolve the subject which is to un
dergo the discussion of the Convention, and formed some out
lines of a new system, I take the liberty of submitting them
without apology to your eye.
Conceiving that an individual independence of the States is
utterly irreconcileable with their aggregate sovereignty, and
that a consolidation of the whole into one simple republic would
be as inexpedient as it is unattainable, I have sought for middle
ground, which may at once support a due supremacy of the na
tional authority, and not exclude the local authorities wherever
they can be subordinately useful.
I would propose as the groundwork, that a change be made
in the principle of representation. According to the present
form of the Union, in which the intervention of the States is in
all great cases necessary to effectuate the measures of Congress,
an equality of suffrage does not destroy the inequality of im
portance in the several members. No one will deny that Vir
ginia and Massachusetts have more weight and influence, both
within and without Congress, than Delaware or Rhode Island.
288 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
Under a system which would operate in many essential points
without the intervention of the State legislatures, the case would
be materially altered. A vote in the national Councils from
Delaware would then have the same effect and value as one
from the largest State in the Union. I am ready to believe that
such a change would not be attended with much difficulty. A
majority of the States, and those of greatest influence, will re
gard it as favorable to them. To the northern States it will
be recommended by their present populousness; to the South
ern, by their expected advantage in this respect. The lesser
States must in every event yield to the predominant will. But
the consideration which particularly urges a change in the rep
resentation is, that it will obviate the principal objections of
the larger States to the necessary concessions of power.
I would propose next, that in addition to the present federal
powers, the national Government should be armed with positive
and compleat authority in all cases which require uniformity;
such as the regulation of trade, including the right of taxing
both exports and imports, the fixing the terms and forms of
naturalization, £c., &c.
Over and above this positive power, a negative in all cases
wJiatsoever on the Legislative acts of the States, as heretofore
exercised by the Kingly prerogative, appears to me to be ab
solutely necessary, and to be the least possible encroachment on
the State jurisdictions. Without this defensive power, every
positive power that can be given on paper will be evaded or
defeated. The States will continue to invade the National ju
risdiction, to violate treaties and the law of nations, and to
harass each other with rival and spiteful measures dictated by
mistaken views of interest. Another happy effect of this pre
rogative would be its controul on the internal vicissitudes of
State policy, and the aggressions of interested majorities on the
rights of minorities and of individuals. The great desideratum,
which has not yet been found for Republican Governments,
seems to be some disinterested and dispassionate umpire in dis
putes between different passions and interests in the State. The
majority, who alone have the right of decision, have frequently
1787. LETTERS. 289
an interest, real or supposed, in abusing it. In Monarchies, the
Sovereign is more neutral to the interests and views of differ
ent parties; but, unfortunately, he too often forms interests of
his own, repugnant to those of the whole. Might not the na
tional prerogative here suggested be found sufficiently disin
terested for the decision of local questions of policy, whilst it
would itself be sufficiently restrained from the pursuit of inter
est? adverse to those of the whole society 1 There has not been
any moment since the peace at which the representatives of the
Union would have given an assent to paper money, or any other
measure of a kindred nature.
The national supremacy ought also to be extended, as I con
ceive, to the Judiciary departments. If those who are to ex
pound and apply the laws are connected by their interests and
their oaths with the particular States wholly, and not with the
Union, the participation of the Union in the making of the
laws may be possibly rendered unavailing. It seems at least
necessary that the oaths of the Judges should include a fidelity
to the general as well as local Constitution, and that an appeal
should lie to some National tribunal in all cases to which for
eigners or inhabitants of other States may be parties. The ad
miralty jurisdiction seems to fall entirely within the purview
of the National Government.
The National supremacy in the Executive departments is lia
ble to some difficulty, unless the officers administering them
could be made appointable by the Supreme Government. The
Militia ought certainly to be placed, in some form or other, under
the authority which is entrusted with the general protection
and defence.
A Government composed of such extensive powers should be
well organized and balanced. The legislative department
might be divided into two branches; one of them chosen every
years, by the people at large, or by the Legislatures; the
other to consist of fewer members, to hold their places for a
longer term, and to go out in such a rotation as always to leave
in office a large majority of old members. Perhaps the nega
tive on the laws might be most conveniently exercised by this
VOL. i 19
290 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
branch. As a further check, a Council of revision, including
the great ministerial officers, might be super added.
A National Executive must also be provided. I have scarcely
ventured, as yet, to form my own opinion either of the manner
in which it ought to be constituted, or of the authorities with
which it ought to be cloathed.
An article should be inserted expressly guarantying the tran
quillity of the States against internal as well as external dangers.
In like manner the right of coercion should be expressly de
clared. With the resources of commerce in hand, the National
administration might always find means of exerting it either by
sea or land. But the difficulty and awkwardness of operating
by force on the collective will of a State render it particularly
desirable that the necessity of it might be precluded. Perhaps
the negative on the laws might create such a mutuality of de
pendence between the general and particular authorities as
to answer this purpose. Or, perhaps, some defined objects of
taxation might be submitted, along with commerce, to the gen
eral authority.
To give a new system its proper validity and energy, a rati
fication must be obtained from the people, and not merely from
the ordinary authority of the Legislatures. This will be the
more essential, as inroads on the existing Constitutions of the
States will be unavoidable.
The inclosed address to the States on the subject of the Treaty
of peace has been agreed to by Congress, and forwarded to the
several Executives. We foresee the irritation which it will ex
cite in many of our Countrymen, but could not withhold our
approbation of the measure. Both the resolutions and the ad
dress passed without a dissenting voice.
Congress continue to be thin, and of course do little business
of importance. The settlement of the public accounts, the dis
position of the public lands, and arrangements with Spain, arc
subjects which claim their particular attention. As a step
towards the first, the Treasury board are charged with the task
of reporting a plan by which the final decision on the claims of
the States will be handed over from Congress to a select set of
1787. LETTERS. 291
men, bound by their oaths, and cloathed with the powers of
Chancellors. As to the second article, Congress have it them
selves under consideration. Between six and seven hundred
thousand acres have been surveyed and are ready for sale. The
mode of sale, however, will probably be a source of different
opinions, as will the mode of disposing of the unsurveyed res
idue. The Eastern gentlemen remain attached to the scheme
of townships. Many others are equally strenuous for indiscrim
inate locations. The States which have lands of their own for
sale are suspected of not being hearty in bringing the federal
lands to market. The business with Spain is becoming ex
tremely delicate, and the information from the Western settle
ments truly alarming.
A motion was made some days ago for an adjournment of
Congress for a short period, and an appointment of Philadelphia
for their reassembling. The eccentricity of this place, as well
with regard to East and West as to North and South, has, I
find, been for a considerable time a thorn in the minds of many
of the Southern members. Suspicion, too, has charged some
important votes on the weight thrown by the present position
of Congress into the Eastern scale, and predicts that the East
ern members will never concur in any substantial provision or
movement for a proper permanent seat for the National Gov
ernment, whilst they remain so much gratified in its temporary
residence. These seem to have been the operative motives with
those on one side who were not locally interested in the re
moval. On the other side, the motives are obvious. Those of
real weight were drawn from the apparent caprice with which
Congress might be reproached, and particularly from the pecu
liarity of the existing moment.
I own that I think so much regard due to these considera
tions, that notwithstanding the principal ones on the other side,
I should have assented with great reluctance to the motion, and
would even have voted against it, if any probability had existed
that, by waiting for a proper time, a proper measure might not
be lost for a very long time. The plan which I should have
292 WORKS OF "MADISON. 1787.
judged most eligible would have been to fix on the removal
whenever a vote could be obtained,. but so as that it should not
take effect until the commencement of the ensuing federal year.
And if an immediate removal had been resolved on, I had in
tended to propose such a change in the plan. No final question
was taken in the case. Some preliminary questions showed that
six States were in favor of the motion. Rhode Island, the
seventh, was at first on the same side, and Mr. Varnum, one of
the delegates, continues so. His colleague was overcome by the
solicitations of his Eastern brethren. As neither Maryland nor
South Carolina was on the floor, it seems pretty evident that
New York has a very precarious tenure of the advantages de
rived from the abode of Congress.
We understand that the discontents in Massachusetts, which
lately produced an appeal to the sword, are now producing a
trial of strength in the field of electioneering. The Governor
will be displaced. The Senate is said to be already of a popu
lar complexion, and it is expected that the other branch will be
still more so. Paper money, it is surmised, will be the engine
to be played off against creditors, both public and private. As
the event of the elections, however, is not yet decided, this in
formation must be too much blended with conjecture to be re
garded as matter of certainty.
I do not learn that the proposed act relating to Vermont has
yet gone through all the stages of legislation here; nor can I
say whether it will finally pass or not. In truth, it having not
been a subject of conversation for some time, I am" unable to
say what has been done or is likely to be done with it.
NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 293
Notes of Ancient and Modern Confederacies, preparatory to the
federal Convention of 1787.*
Lytian Confederacy.
In this confederacy, the number of votes allotted to each
member was proportioned to its pecuniary contributions. The
Judges and town magistrates were elected by the general
authority in like proportion.
See Montesquieu, who prefers this mode.
The name of a federal republic may be refused to Lycia,
which Montesquieu cites as an example in which the importance
of the members determined the proportion of their votes in the
general councils. The Grison League is a juster example. —
Code de 1'Hum. Confederation.
Lyciorum quoque «vo/^#v celebrat Strabo : de qua pauca
libet heic subjungere. Fuere eorum urbes XXIII, distincta? in
classes tres pro modo virium. In primS, classe censebantur
maxima? sex, in altera media?, numero nobis incerto, in tertia
reli.quae omnes, quarum fortuna minima. Et singula? quidem
urbes ha? domi res suas curabant, magistratus suos ordinemque
civilem suum habebant: universa? tamen in unum co-euntes unam
communem rempublicam constituebant, concilioque utebantur
uno, velut senatu majore. In eo de bello, de pace, de foederibus,
denique de rerum Lyciacarum summa deliberabant et statue-
bant. Coibant vero in concilium hoc ex singulis urbibus missi
cum potentate ferendi suffragii: utebanturque esi in re jure
<equissimo. Nam quaelibet urbs prima? classis habebat jus suffra-
giorum trium, secunda? duorum, tertia? unius. Eademque pro-
portione tributa quoque conferebant, et munia alia obibant.
* The reader will doubtless remark that this paper corresponds literally
with one printed in the appendix to the 9th volume of Washington's writings,
except that the names of the authorities here cited, as well as the passages
quoted, are in that entirely omitted. Mr. Sparks states that it was found
among the Mount Vernon papers in the handwriting of General Washington.
There can be no doubt that it was originally drawn by Mr. Madison, as it exists
among his autograph papers precisely as we have here given it, with all the
marks of his authorities.
294 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
Quemadmodiioi enim ratio ipsa dictat, et poscit aaquitas, ut
plura qui possident, et caateris ditiores sunt, plura etiam in
usus communes, et reipublicas subsidia conferant, sic quoque
eadem a?quitatis regula postulat, ut in statuendo de re communi
iidem illi plus aliis possint: praesertim cum eorundem magis
inter sit rempublicam esse salvarn quam tenuiorum. Locum
concilii hujus non liabebant fixum et certum, sed ex omnibus
urbem deligebant, quas videbatur pro tcmporc commodissima.
Concilio coacto primum designabant Lyciarcham principem
totius reipublicae, dein magistratus alios creabant, partes rei
publicae administraturos demum judicia publica constituebant.
Atque hasc omnia faciebant servata1 proportione eadem, ut nulla
omnino urbs praeteriretur munerum ve aut honorum liorum non
fieret particeps. Et hoc jus illibatum mansit Lyciis ad id usque
tempus, quo Romani assumpto Asias imperio magna ex parte sui
arbitrii id fecerunt. — Ubbo Emmius de Lyciorum Republica in
Asia. [Apud Grovonii Thes., iv, 597.]
Amphictyonic Confederacy.
Instituted by Ampliictyon, son of Deucalion, King of Athens,
1522 years Ant. Christ. — Code de 1'Humanite.
Seated first at Thermopylas, then at Delphos, afterwards at
these places alternately. It met half yearly, to wit, in the
Spring and Fall, besides extraordinary occasions. — Id. In the
latter meetings, all such of the Greeks as happened to be at
Delphos on a religious errand were admitted to deliberate, but
not to vote. — Encyclopedic.
The number and names of the confederated cities differently
reported. The union seems to have consisted originally of the
Delphians and their neighbors only, and by degrees to have
comprehended all Greece. 10, 11, 12, are the different numbers
of original members mentioned by different authors. — Code de
THumanite.
Each city sent two deputies ; one to attend particularly to
Religious matters, the other to civil and criminal matters
affecting individuals ; both to decide on matters of a general
nature. — Id. Sometimes more than two were sent, but they
had two votes only. — Encyclopedic.
1787. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 995
The Amphictyons took an oath mutually to defend and pro
tect the united cities, to inflict vengeance on those who should
sacrilegiously despoil the temple of Delphos, to punish the
violators of this oath, and never to divert the water-courses of
any of the Amphictyonic cities, either in peace or in war. — Code
de 1'Hum. ^Eschines orat. vs. Ctesiphontem.
The Amphictyonic Council was instituted by way of defence
and terror against the Barbarians. — Dictre de Treviux.
Federal Authority.
The Amphictyons had full power to propose and resolve
whatever they judged useful to Greece. — Encycopedie Pol.
(Econ.
1. They judged in the last resort all differences between the
Amphictyonic cities. — Code de 1'Hum.
2. Mulcted the aggressors. — Id.
3. Employed whole force of Greece against such as refused
to execute its decrees. — Id., and Plutarch, Clmon.
4. Guarded the immense Riches of the Temple at Delphos,
and decided controversies between the inhabitants and those
who came to consult the Oracle. — Encyclop.
5. Superintended the Pythian games. — Code de 1'Hum.
6. Exercised right of admitting new members. — (See decree
admitting Philip, in Demosthenes on Crown.)
7. Appointed General of the federal troops, with full powers
to carry their decrees into execution. — Ibid.
8. Declared and carried on war. — Code de PHurnan.
Strabo says that the Council of the Amphictyons was dis
solved in the time of Augustus ; but Pausanias, who lived in
the time of Antoninus Pius, says it remained entire then, and
that the number cxf Amphictyons was thirty. — Potter's Gre.
Ant., vol. 1, pa. 90.
The institution declined on the admission of Philip, and in
the time of the Roman Emperors the functions of the council
were reduced to the administration and police of the Temple.
This limited authority expired only with the Pagan Religion.—
Code de V Human.
Vices of the Constitution.
296 WORKS OF MADISON. 17>7.
It happened but too often that the Deputies of the strongest
cities awed and corrupted those of the weaker, and that Judg
ment went in favor of the most powerful party. — Id. See, also,
Plutarch: Themistocles.
Greece was the victim of Philip. If her confederation had
been stricter, and been persevered in, she would never have
yielded to Macedon, and might have proved a Barrier to the
vast projects of Rome. — Code de I'Hum.
Philip had two votes in the Council. — Rawleigh Hist, world,
lib. 4, c. l,Sect. 7.
The execution of the Amphictyonic powers was very different
from the Theory. — Id. It did not restrain the parties from
warring against each other. Athens and Sparta were members
during their conflicts. Quer.: Whether Thucydides or Xeno-
plion, in their Histories, ever allude to the Amphictyonic au
thority, which ought to have kept the peace? — See Gillies' Hist.
Greece, particularly vol. II, p. 345.
Achcean Confederacy.
In 124 Olympd the Patrians and Dymasans joined first in this
league.— Polyb., lib. 2. c. 3.
This League consisted at first of three small cities. Aratus
added Sicyon, and drew in many other cities of Achaia and
Peloponnesus. Of these he formed a Republic of a peculiar
sort. — Code de PHuman.
It consisted of twelve cities, and was produced by the neces
sity of such a defence against the Etolians. — Encyclo. Pol. (E.,
and Polyb., lib. 2.
The members enjoyed a perfect equality, each of them sending
the number of deputies to the Senate. — Id.
The Senate assembled in the Spring and Fall, and was also
convened on extraordinary occasions by two Praetors, charged
with the administration during the recess, but who could exe
cute nothing without the consent of the Inspectors. — Id.
Foederal Authority.
1. The Senate, composed of the deputies, made war and
peace. — D'Albon I, page 270.
2. Appointed a Captain General annually. — Co. d'Hum.
17S7. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 297
3. Transferred the power of deciding to ten citizens taken
from the deputies, the rest retaining a right of consultation
only. — Id.
4. Sent and received Ambassadors. — D'Albon. Ibid.
5. Appointed a prime Minister. — D'Albon. Ibid.
6. Contracted foreign alliances. — Code de THum.
7. Confederated cities in a manner forced to receive the same
laws and customs, weights and measures, (Id., and Polyb., lib.
2, cap. 3,) yet considered as having each their independent po
lice and Magistrates. — Encyclop. Pol. QEcon.
8. Penes hoc concilium erat summum rerum arbitrium, ex cu-
jus decreto bella suscipiebantur, et finiebantur, pax conveniebat,
foedera feriebantur et solvebantur, leges fiebant ratce aut irritce.
Hujus etiarn erat, Magistratus toti Societati communes eligere,
legationes decernere, &c., &c. * * Regebant concilium pras-
tor pra3cipue, si prsesens esset, et magistratus alii, quos Achaai
drj'uouofouz nuncupabant. Hi numero X erant, suffrages legit-
imi concilii, quod verno tempore habebatur, electi ex universa
societate prudentia prascipui, quorum concilio potissimum pras-
tor. ex lege utebatur. Horum potestas et dignitas maxima erat
post ipsum praetorem, quos iclciro Livius, Polybium sequens,
summum Achaeorum magistratum appellat. * * Cum his
igitur de negociis gravioribus in concilio agitandis praetor pras-
consultabat, nee de iis. nisi in id pars major consentiret, licebat
ad consilium referre. — Ubbo Emmius. [Descr. Reip. Achseo-
rum, Ap. Gron. Thes., iv, 573.]
Ista vero imprimis memorabilis lex est, vinculum societatis
Achaicae maxime stringens, et concordiam muniens, qua inter-
dictum fuit, ne cui civitati Societatis hujus participi fas esset,
seorsim ad exteros ultos mittere legates, non ad Romanes, non
ad alios. Et hasc expressim inserta fuit pactis conventis Achaeo
rum cum populo Romano. * * * * Omnium autem laucla-
tissima lex apud eos viguit * * qua vetiturn, ne quis om-
nino, sive privataa conditionis, seu magistratum gerens, ullam ob
causam, quascunque etiam sit, dona a Rege aliquo caperet. — Id.
[Ap. Gron. Thes., iv, 575.]
ogg WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
Vices of the Constitution.
The defect of subjection in the members to the general au
thority ruined the whole Body. The Romans seduced the mem
bers from the League by representing that it violated their
sovereignty. — Code de 1'Hum.
After the death of Alexander, this Union was dissolved by
various dissentions, raised chiefly thro' the acts of the Kings of
Macedon. Every city was now engaged in a separate interest,
and no longer acted in concert. — Polyb., lib. 2, cap 3. After,
in 124 Olympd, they saw their error, and began to think of re
turning to their former State. This was the time when Pyrrhus
invaded Italy. — Ibid.
Helvetic Confederacy.
Commenced in 1308 by the temporary and in 1315 by the
perpetual Union of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwald, for the de
fence of their liberties against the invasions of the House of
Austria. In 1315 the Confederacy included 8 Cantons. In
1513 the number of thirteen was compleated by the accession
of Appenzel. — Code de 1'Hum.
The General Diet representing the United Cantons is com
posed of two deputies from each. Some of their allies, as the
Abbe Sl. Gall, &c., are allowed by long usage to attend by their
deputies. — Id.
All general Diets are held at such time and place as Zurich,
which is first in rank and the depository of the common archives,
shall name in a circular summons. But the occasion of annual
conferences for the administration of their dependent bailagcs
has fixed the same time, to wit, the feast of St. John, for the
General Diet, and the city of Frauenfeld, in Turgovia. is now
the place of meeting. Formerly it was the city of Baden. — Id.
The Diet is opened by a complimentary address of the first
deputy of each cantdn by turns, called the Helvetic salutation.
It consists in a congratulatory review of circumstances and
events favorable to their common interest, and exhortations to
Union and patriotism.
The deputies of the first canton, Zurich, propose the matters
1787. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 299
to be discussed. Questions are decided by plurality of voices.
In case of division, the Bailiff of Turgovia has the casting one.
The session of the Diet continues about a month. — Id.
After the objects of universal concern are despatched, such
of the deputies whose constituents have no share in the depend
ent bailages withdraw, and the Diet then becomes a represent
ation of the cantons to whom these bailages belong, and pro
ceeds to the consideration of the business relating thereto. — Id.
Extraordinary Diets for incidental business, or giving au
dience $) foreign ministers, may be called at any time by any
one of the cantons, or by any foreign minister who will defray
the expence of meeting. Seldom a year without an extraordi
nary Diet. — Stanyan's Switzerland.
There is an annual Diet of 12 cantons, by one deputy from
each, for the affairs of the ultra-montane bailages. — Code de
PHuman.
Particular cantons also have their diets for their particular
affairs, the time and place for whose meeting are settled by
their particular treaties.
All public affairs are now treated, not in General Diet, but
in the particular assemblies of protestant and catholic can
tons. — D'Albon.
Federal Authority.
The title of Republican and Sovereign State improperly
given to this Confederacy, which has no concentered authority,
the Diets being only a Congress of Delegates from some or all
of the cantons, and having no fixt objects that are national. —
Dictionnaire de Suisse.
The 13 cantons do not make one Commonwealth like the
United Provinces, but are so many independent Common
wealths in strict alliance. There is not so much as any com
mon instrument by which they are all reciprocally bound
together. The 3 primitive cantons alone being each directly
allied to the other twelve. The others, in many instances, are
connected indirectly* only, as allies of allies. In this mode,
* By the Convention of Stantz, any member attacked has a direct claim on the
succour of the whole confederacy. — Coxe, p. 343.
300 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
any one canton may draw in all the others to make a common
cause in its defence. — Stanyan.
The confederacy has no common Treasury, no common troops,
no common coin, no common Judicatory, nor any other common
mark of sovereignty. — Id.
The General Diet cannot terminate any interesting affair
without special instructions and powers, and the deputies ac
cordingly take most matters proposed ad referendum. — Code
del'Hum.-
The Cantons individually exercise the right of sencfing and
receiving ambassadors, making treaties, coining money, pro
scribing the money of one another, prohibiting the importation
and exportation of merchandise, furnishing troops to foreign
States, and doing everything else which does not wound the
liberty of any other canton. Excepting a few cases specified
in the alliances, and which directly concern the object of the
league, no canton is subject to the Resolutions of the plural
ity. — Id.
The only establishment truly national is that of a federal
army, as regulated in 1668, and which is no more than an even
tual plan of defence adopted among so many allied States. — Id.
1. The league consists in a perpetual defensive engagement
against external attacks and internal troubles. It may be re
garded as an axiom in the public law of the confederacy, that
the federal engagements are precedent to all other political
engagements of the cantons. — Id.
2. Another axiom is, that there are no particular or common
possessions of the cantons for the defence of which the others
are not bound as Guarantees, or auxiliaries of Guarantees. — Id.
3. All disputes arc to be submitted to neutral cantons, who
may employ force, if necessary, in execution of their decrees.—
Id. Each party to choose 4 Judges, who may, in case of dis
agreement, choose umpire, and these, under oath of impartial
ity, to pronounce definitive sentence, which all cantons are to
enforce. — D'Albon and Stanyan.
4. No canton ought to form new alliances without the con
sent of the others ; [this was stipulated in consequence of an
1787. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 3Q1
improper alliance in 1442, by Zurich, with the House of Aus
tria.]— Id.
5. It is an essential object of the league to preserve interior
tranquillity by the reciprocal protection of the form of Govern
ment established in each Canton, so that each is armed with the
force of the whole corps for the suppression of rebellions and
revolts, and the history of Switzerland affords frequent in
stances of mutual succors for these purposes. — Dictre de Suisse.
6. The Cantons are bound not to give shelter to fugitives
from Justice, in consequence of which each Canton can at this
day banish malefactors from all the territories of the League. —
Id!
7. Though each Canton may prohibit the exportation and
importation of merchandise, it must allow it to pass through
from one neighboring Canton to another without any augmen
tation of the tolls. — Code de THum.
S. In claiming succours against foreign powers, the S Elder
Cantons have a more extensive right than the 5 junior ones.
The former may demand them of one another without explain
ing the motives of the quarrel. The latter cannot intermeddle
but as mediators or auxiliaries; nor can they commence hostil
ities without the sanction of the Confederates; and if cited by
their adversaries, cannot refuse to accept the other Cantons for
arbiters or Judges. — Dictre de Suisse.
9. In general, each Canton is to pay its own forces, without
compensation from the whole, or the succoured party. But in
case a siege is to be formed for the benefit of a particular Can
ton, this is to defray the expence of it, and if for the common
benefit, each is to pay its just proportion. — D'Albon. On no
pretext is a Canton to be forced to march its troops out of the
limits of Switzerland. — Stanyan.
10. Foreign Ministers from different Nations reside in differ
ent Cantons. Such of them as have letters of credence for the
whole Confederacy address them to Zurich, the chief Canton.
The Ambassador of France, who has most to do with the Con
federacy, is complimented at his quarters by deputies from the
whole body.
802 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
Vices of the Constitution.
1. Disparity in size of Cantons.
2. Different principles of Government in different Cantons.
3. Intolerance in Religion.
4. Weakness of the Union. The common bailages, which
served as a cement, sometimes become occasions of quarrels. —
Dictre de Suisse.
In a treaty in 1683 with Victor Amadceus, of Savoy, it is stip
ulated that he shall interpose as mediator in disputes between
the Cantons, and, if necessary, use force against the party re
fusing to submit to the sentence. — Diet™ de Suisse. A striking
proof of the want of authority in the whole over its parts.
Belgic Confederacy.
Established in 1679, by the Treaty called the Union of
Utrecht. — Code de THumanite.
The provinces came into this Union slowly. Guelderland,
the smallest of them, made many difficulties. Even some of the
Cities and Towns pretended to annex conditions to their ac
ceding. — Id.
When the Union was originally established, a committee, com
posed of deputies from each province, was appointed to regulate
affairs, and to convoke the provinces according to article XIX
of the Treaty. Out of this Committee grew the States Gen
eral, (Id.,) who, strictly speaking, are only the Representatives
of the States General, who amount to 800 members. — Temple,
p. 112.
The number of Deputies to the States General from each prov
ince not limited, but have only a single voice. They amount
commonly, altogether, to 40 or 50. They hold their seats, some
for life, some for 6, 3, and 1 years, and those of Groningen and
Overyssel during pleasure. They are paid, but very moder
ately, by their respective constituents, and are amenable to their
Tribunals only. — Code de 1'Hum. No military man is depu-
table to the States General. — Id.
Ambassadors of Republic have session and deliberation, but
no suffrage in States Gen1. — Id. The grand pensioner of Hol
land, as ordinary deputy from Holland, attends always in the
1787. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 3Q3
States General, and makes the propositions of that province to
States General. — Id.
They sit constantly at the Hague since 1593, and every day
in +he week except Saturday and Sunday. The States of Hol
land, in granting this residence, reserve, by way of protestation,
the rights, the honors, and prerogatives, belonging to them as
sovereigns of the province, yielding the States General only a
rank in certain public ceremonies. — Id.
The eldest deputy from each province presides for a week by
turns. The President receives letters, £c., from the Ministers
of the Republic at foreign Courts, and of foreign Ministers re
siding at the Hague, as well as of all petitions presented to the
Assembly; all which he causes to be read by the Secretary. — Id.
The Secretary, besides correcting and recording the Resolu
tions, prepares and despatches instructions to Ministers abroad,
and letters to foreign powers. He assists, also, at conferences
held with foreign Ministers, and there gives his voice. He has a
deputy when there is not a second Secretary. The agent of the
States General is charged with the Archives, and is also em
ployed on occasions of receiving foreign Ministers or sending
Messages to them. — Id.
Federal Authority.
The avowed objects of the Treaty of Union: 1. To fortify
the Union. 2. To repel the common enemy. — Id.
The Union is to be perpetual in the same manner as if the
Confederates formed one province only, without prejudice, how
ever, to the privileges and rights of each province and City. —
Id.
Differences between provinces and between cities are to be
settled by the ordinary Judges, by arbitration, by amicable
agreement, without the interference of other provinces, other
wise than by way of accommodation. The Stadtholder is to
decide such differences in the last resort. — Id.
No change to be made in the articles of Union without unan
imous consent of the parties, and everything done contrary to
them to be null and void. — Id.
States General.
304 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
1. Execute, without consulting their constituents, treaties and
alliances already formed. — Id.
2. Take oaths from Generals and Governors, and appoint
Field Deputies.
3. The collection of duties on imports and exports, and the
expedition of safe conducts, are in their name and by their offi
cers. — Id.
4. They superintend and examine accounts of the E. India
Company. — Id.
5. Inspect the Mint, appoint les Maitres de la Monnoye, fix
la faille and la valeur of the coin, having always regard to the
regular rights of the provinces within their own Territories.—
Id.
6. Appoint a Treasurer General and Receiver General of the
Quotas furnished by the provinces. — Id.
7. Elect, out of a double nomination, the fiscal and other
officers within the departments of the admiralties, except that
the High officers of the fleet are appointed by the Admiral
General, to whom the maritime provinces have ceded this
right. — Id. The Navy, supported by duties on foreign trade,
appropriated thereto by the maritime provinces, for the benefit
of the whole Republic. — Id.
8. They govern as sovereigns the dependent territories, ac
cording to the several capitulations. — Id.
9. They form Committees of their own body, of a member
from each deputation, for foreign affairs, finances, marine, and
other matters. At all these conferences the Grand Pensioner
of Holland and the secretary of the States General attend, and
have a deciding voice. — Id.
10. Appoint and receive Ambassadors, negociate with foreign
powers, deliberate on war, peace, alliances, the raising forces,
care of fortifications, military affairs to a certain degree, the
equipment of fleets, building of ships, directions concerning
money. — Id. But they can neither make peace, nor war, nor
truces, nor treaties, nor raise troops, nor impose taxes, nor do
other acts requiring unanimity, without consulting and obtain
ing the sanction of the Provinces. — Id. Coining money also
1787. NOTES OX CONFEDERACIES. 305
requires unanimity and express sanction of provinces. — Temple.
Repealing an old law on same footing. — Burrish. Batav. illus-
trata. In points not enumerated in this article, plurality of
voices decides. — Code de 1'Hum.
11. Composition and publication of edicts and proclamations
relative both to the objects expressed in the articles of union and
to the measures taken for the common good, are in the name
of the States ; and altho' they are addressed to the States of the
Provinces, who announce them with their sanction, still it is in
the name of the States General that obedience is required of all
the inhabitants of the Provinces. — Code de 1'Hum.
The Provinces have reserved to themselves —
1. Their sovereignty within their own limits in general.—
Code de 1'Hum.
2. The right of coining money, as essential to sovereignty;
but agreed, at the same time, that the money which should be
current throughout the Republic should have the same intrinsic
value. To give effect to which regulation a mint is established
at the Hague, under a chamber which has the inspection of all
money struck, either in name of States General or particular
provinces, as also of foreign coin. — Id. Coining money not in
provinces or cities, but in the generality of union, by common
agreement. — Temple.
3. Every province raises what money and by what means it
pleases, and sends its quota to Receiver General. — Temple.
The quotas were not settled without great difficulty. — Id.
4. The naming to Governments of Towns within themselves;
keeping keys, and giving word to Magistrates; a power over
troops in all things not military; conferring Col8, commissions
and inferior posts in such Regiments as are paid by the prov
inces; respectively taking oath of fidelity; concerning a revo
cation of all which the States General are not permitted to
deliberate. — Id.
The provinces are restricted —
1. From entering into any foreign treaties without consent
of the rest. — Code de THum.
VOL. i. 20
306 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
2. From establishing imposts prejudicial to others without
general consent. — Id.
3. From charging their neighbors with higher duties than
their own subjects. — Id.
Council of State composed of deputies from the provinces,
in different proportions. 3 of them are for life; the rest gener
ally for 3 years ; they vote per capita. — Temple.
They arc subordinate to the States General, who frequently,
however, consult with them. In matters of war which require
secrecy they act of themselves. Military and fiscal matters
are the objects of their administration.
They execute the Resolutions of the States General, propose
requisitions of men and money, and superintend the fortifica
tions, <fec., and the affairs, revenues, and Governments, of the
conquered possessions. — Temple.
Chamber of Accounts was erected for the ease of the Council
of State. It is subordinate to the States General; is composed
of two deputies from each province, who are changed trien-
nially. They examine and state all accounts of the several
Receivers; controul and register orders of Council of State
disposing of the finances. — Id.
College of Admiralty, established by the States General,
1597, is subdivided into five, of which three are in Holland,
one in Zealand, one in Friezland, each composed of seven depu
ties, four appointed by the province where the admiralty
resides, and three by the other provinces. The vice admiral
presides in all of them when he is present. — Temple.
They take final cognizance of all crimes and prizes at sea;
of all frauds in customs; provide
quota of fleets resolved on by States General; appoint Captains
and superior officers of each squadron; take final cognizance,
also, of civil matters within 600 florins, an appeal lying to
States General for matters beyond that sum. — Code de 1'Hum.
and Temple.
The authority of States General in Admiralty Department
is much limited by the influence and privileges of maritime prov-
17S7. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 397
inces, and the jurisdiction herein is full of confusion and contra
diction. — Code de 1'Humanite.
Stadtholder, who is now hereditary, in his political capacity
is authorized —
1. To settle differences between provinces, provisionally, till
other methods can be agreed on, which having never been, this
prerogative may be deemed a permanent one. — Code de FHum.
2. Assists at deliberations of States General and their par
ticular conferences; recommends and influences appointment of
Ambassadors. — Id.
3. Has seat and suffrage in Council of State. — Id.
4. Presiding in the provincial Courts of Justice, where his
name is prefixed to all public acts. — Id.
5. Supreme Creator of most of the Universities. — Id.
6. As Stadtholder of the provinces, has considerable rights
partaking of the sovereignty; as appointing town magistrates,
on presentation made to him of a certain number. Executing
provincial decrees, <fcc. — Id. and Mably; Etud. de 1'hist.
7. Gives audiences to Ambassadors, and may have agents
with their Sovereigns for his private affairs. — Mab. Ibid.
8. Exercises power of pardon. — Temple.
In his Military capacity as Captain General—
1. Commands forces; directs marches; provides for garri
sons; and, in general, regulates military affairs. — Code de
FHum.
2. Disposes of all appointments, from Ensigns to Col8. The
Council of State having surrendered to him the appointments
within their disposal, (Id.,) and the States General appoint the
higher grades on his recommendation. — Id.
3. Disposes of the Governments, &c., of the fortified towns,
tho7 the commissions issue from the States General. — Id.
In his Marine capacity as Admiral General —
1. Superintends and directs everything relative to naval
forces and other affairs within Admiralty. — Id.
2. Presides in the admiralties in person or by proxy. — Id.
3. Appoints Lieufc. Admirals and officers under them. — Id.
4. Establishes Councils of war, whose sentences are in the
308 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
name of the States General and his Highness, and are not exe
cuted till he approves. — Id.
The Stadtholder has a general and secret influence on the
great machine which cannot be defined. — Id.
His revenue from appointments amounts to 300,000 florins,
to which is to be added his extensive patrimonies. — Id.
The standing army of the Republic, 40,000 men.
Vices of the Constitution.
The Union of Utrecht imports an authority in the States Gen
eral seemingly sufficient to secure harmony; but the jealousy in
each province of its sovereignty renders the practice very dif
ferent from the Theory. — Code de THum.
It is clear that the delay occasioned by recurring to seven
independent provinces, including about 52 voting Cities, &c., is
a vice in the Belgic Republic which exposes it to the most fatal
inconveniences. Accordingly, the fathers of their country have
endeavored to remedy it, in the extraordinary assemblies of the
States General in 1584, in 1651, 1716, 1717, but, unhappily,
without effect. This vice is, notwithstanding, deplorable. — Id.
Among other evils, it gives foreign Ministers the means of ar
resting the most important deliberations by gaining a single
Province or City. This was done by France in 1726, when the
Treaty of Hanover was delayed a whole year. In 1688 the
States concluded a Treaty of themselves, but at the risk of their
heads. — Id. It is the practice, also, in matters of contribution
or subsidy, to pass over this article of the Union; for where
delay would be dangerous, the consenting provinces furnish
their quotas without waiting for the others; but by such means
the Union is weakened, and, if often repeated, must be dis
solved. — Id.
Foreign Ministers elude matters taken ad referendum, by tam
pering with the Provinces and Cities. — Temple, p. 116.
Treaty of Union obliges each Province to levy certain con
tributions. But this article never could and probably never
will be executed, because the inland provinces, who have little
commerce, cannot pay an equal Quota. — Burrish. Bat. illustrat.
17b7. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES. 309
Deputations from agreeing to disagreeing Provinces fre
quent. — Tern.
It is certain that so many independent corps and interests
could not be kept together without such a center of union as
the Stadtholdership, as has been allowed and repeated in so
many solemn acts. — Code de 1'Hum.
In the intermission of the Stadtholdership, Holland, by her
riches and authority, which drew the others into a sort of de
pendence, supplied the place. — Temple.
With such a Government the Union never could have sub
sisted, if, in effect, the provinces had not within themselves a
spring capable of quickening their tardiness and impelling them
to the same way of thinking. This spring is the Stadtholder.
His prerogatives are immense — 1, &c., <fec. A strange effect of
human contradictions. Men too jealous to confide their liberty
to their representatives, who are their equals, abandoned it to
a Prince, who might the more easily abuse it, as the affairs of
the Republic were important, and had not then fixed them
selves.— Mably Etude D'Hist., 205—6.
Grotius has said that the hatred of his countrymen against
the House of Austria kept them from being destroyed by the
vices of their Constitution. — Ibid.
The difficulty of procuring unanimity has produced a breach
of fundamentals in several instances. Treaty of Westphalia was
concluded without consent of Zealand, &c. — D'Albon and Tem
ple. These tend to alter the constitution. — D'Albon.
It appears by several articles of the Union that the confede
rates had formed the design of establishing a General tax, [Im-
pot,] to be administered by the States Gen1. But this design, so
proper for bracing this happy Union, has not been executed. —
Code de THum.
Germanic Confederacy took its present form in the year
_.__Code de 1'Hum.
The Diet is to be convoked by the Emperor, or, on his failure,
by the Archbishop of Mentz, with consent of Electors, once in
ten years at least from the last adjournment, and six months
310 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
before the time of meeting. Ratisbon is the seat of the Diet
since 1663.
The members amount to 285, and compose three colleges, to
wit: that of the Electors, of Princes, of Imperial Cities. The
voices amount to 159, of which 153 are individual and 6 col
lective. The latter are particular to the College of Princes, and
are formed out of 39 prelates, <fec., and 93 Counts, <fec. The
individual voices are common to the three Colleges, and are
given by 9 Electors; 94 Princes, 33 of the ecclesiastical and 61
of the secular Bench; and 50 Imperial Cities, 13 of the Rhenish,
and 37 of the Suabian Bench. The King of Prussia has nine
voices, in as many different capacities. — Id.
The three Colleges assemble in the same House, but in differ
ent apartments. — Id.
The Emperor, as head of the Germanic body, is President of
the Diet. He and others are represented by proxies at pres
ent.— Id.
The deliberations are grounded on propositions from Emper
or, and commence in the College of Electors, from whence they
pass to that of the Princes, and thence to that of the Imperial
Cities. They are not resolutions till they have been passed in
each. When the Electors and Princes cannot agree, they con
fer; but do not confer with the Imperial Cities. Plurality of
voices decide in each College, except in matters of Religion and
a few reserved cases, in which, according to the Treaty of West
phalia and the Imperial Capitulations, the Empire is divided
into the Catholic and Evangelic Corps. — Id.
After the Resolutions have passed the three Colleges they
are presented to the Representative of the Emperor, without
whose ratification they are null. — Id. They are called placita
after passing the three Colleges; conclusa, after ratification by
Emperor. — Id.
The collection of acts of one Diet is called the Recess, which
cannot be made up and have the force of law till the close of
the Diet. The subsisting diet has not been closed for more than
a hundred years; of course it has furnished no effective Resolu-
1787. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES.
tion. though a great number of interesting ones have passed.
This delay proceeds from the Imperial Court, who refuse to
grant a recess, notwithstanding the frequent and pressing ap
plications made for one. — Id.
Federal Authority.
The powers as well as the organization of the Diet have
varied at different times. Antiently it elected as a corps the
Emperors, and judged of their conduct. The Golden Bull gives
this right to the Electors alone. Antiently it regulated tolls;
at present the Electors alone do this. — Id.
The Treaty of Westphalia and the capitulations of the Em
perors, from Charles Y downwards, define the present powers
of the Diet. These concern — 1. Legislation of the Empire. 2.
War and peace, and alliances. 3. Raising troops. 4. Contri
butions. 5. Construction of fortresses. 6. Money. 7. Ban of
the Empire. 8. Admission of new princes. 9. The Supreme
tribunals. 10. Disposition of grand fiefs and grand charges.
In all these points the Emperor and Diet must concur. — Id.
The Ban of the Empire is a sort of proscription, by which the
disturbers of the public peace are punished. The offender's life
and goods are at the mercy of every one; formerly, the Empe
rors themselves pronounced the ban against those who offended
them. It has been since regulated that no one shall be exposed
to the ban without the examination and consent of the Diet. —
Encyclop.
By the Ban the party is outlawed, degraded from all his fed
eral rights, his subjects absolved from their allegiance, and his
possessions forfeited. — Code de PHum.
The Ban is incurred when the Emperor or one of the supreme
Tribunals address an order to any one, on pain, in case of dis
obedience, of being proscribed ipso facto. — Id.
The Circles, formerly, were in number six only. There are
now ten. They were instituted for the more effectual preserva
tion of the public peace, and the execution of decrees of Diet
and supreme Tribunals against contumacious members, for which
purposes they have their particular diets, with the chief Prince
of the circle at their head, have particular officers for command-
WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
ing the forces of the Circle, levy contributions, see that justice
is duly administered, that the coin is not debased, that the cus
toms are not unduly raised. — Savage, vol. 2, p. 35.
If a circle fail to send its due succours, it is to pay damages
suffered therefrom to its neighbours. If a member of the circle
refuse, the Col. of the circle is to admonish; and if this be in
sufficient, the delinquent party is to be compelled under a sen
tence from the Imperial Chamber. — Id.
Imperial Chamber, established in 1495 by the Diet, as a means
of public peace, by deciding controversies between members of
the Empire. — Code dc 1'Hum.
This is the first Tribunal of the Empire. It has an appellate
jurisdiction in all Civil and fiscal causes, or where the public
peace may be concerned. It has a concurrent jurisdiction with
the Aulic Council, and causes cannot be removed from one to
the other. — Id.
The Judges of this Tribunal are appointed partly by the Em
peror, partly by Electors, partly by circles; are supported by
all the States of the Empire, excepting the Emperor. They are
badly paid, though great salaries are annexed to their offices. —
Id.
In every action, real or personal, The Diet, Imperial Cham
ber, and Aulic Council, are so many supreme Courts, to which
none of the States can demur. The jurisprudence by which
they govern themselves are, according to the subject-matter:
1. The provincial laws of Germany. 2. The Scripture. 3.
The law of nature. 4. Law of Nations. 5. The Roman law.
6. The canon law. 7. The foedal law of the Lombards. — Id.
Members of Diet, as such, are subject in all public affairs to be
judged by Emperor and Diet; as individuals in private capacity,
are subject to Aulic Council and Imperial Chamber. — Id.
The members have reserved to themselves the right — 1. To
enter into war and peace with foreign powers. 2. To enter
into alliances with foreign powers and with one another, not
prejudicial to their engagements to the Empire. — Code de
1'Hum. 3. To make laws, levy taxes, raise troops, to deter
mine on life and death. — Savage. 4. Coin money. — Id. 5.
1787. NOTES ON CONFEDERACIES.
Exert territorial sovereignty within their limits in their own
name. — Code de 1'Hum. 6. To grant pardons. — Savage, p. 44.
7. To furnish their quotas of troops, equipped, mounted, and
armed, and to provide for sustenance of them, as if they served
at home. — Code de 1'Hum.
Adic Council, [established by Diet in 1512. — Encyclop.,]
composed of members appointed by the Emperor. — Code de
1'Hum.
Its cognizance is restrained to matters above 2,000 crowns;
is concurrent with the jurisdiction of the Imperial Chamber in
controversies between the States; also, in those of subjects of
the Empire by way of appeal from subaltern Tribunals of the
Empire, and from sovereign Tribunals of Princes. — Id. Arms
are to be used for carrying its decrees into execution, as was
done in 1718 by the troops of the Circle of upper Rhine, in a
controversy between Landgrave of Hesse Cassel and Prince of
Hesse of Rhinntz.— Id.
Members of Empire restricted —
1. From entering into Confederacies prejudicial to the Em
pire.
2. From laying tolls or customs upon bridges, rivers, or pass
ages, to which strangers are subject, without consent of the
Emperor in full diet.
3. Cannot give any other value to money, nor make any
other kind of money, than what is allowed by the Empire. —
Savage, vol. 2, p. 45.
4. (By edict of 1548, particularly,) from taking arms one
against another; from doing themselves justice; from affording
retreat, much more assistance, to infractors of the public peace;
the ban of the Empire being denounced against the transgress
ors of these prohibitions, besides a fine of 2,000 marks of Gold
and loss of regalities. — Code d'Hum.
Emperor has the prerogative — 1. Of exclusively making
propositions to the Diet. 2. Presiding in all Assemblies and
Tribunals o . the Empire when he chooses. 3. Of giving suf
frage in all affairs treated in the Diet. 4. Of negativing their
resolutions. 5. Of issuing them in his own name. 6. Of watch-
314 WORKS OF MADISON. 17557.
ing over the safety of the Empire. 7. Of naming Ambassadors
to negociate within the Empire, as well as at foreign Courts,
affairs concerning the Germanic Corps. 8. Of re-establishing
in good fame persons dishonored by Council of war and civil
Tribunals. — Code d'Hum. 9. Of giving investiture of the prin
cipal immediate fiefs of the Empire; which is not, indeed, of much
consequence. 10. Of conferring vacant electorates. 11. Of
preventing subjects from being withdrawn from the jurisdiction
of their proper judge. 12. Of conferring charges of the Em
pire. 13. Of conferring dignities and titles, as of Kings, &c.
14. Of instituting military orders. 15. Of granting the der
nier resort. 16. Of judging differences and controversies
touching tolls. 17. Of deciding contests between Catholic and
Protestant States, touching precedence, &c. — Id. 18. Of found
ing Universities within the lands of the States, so far as to make
the person endowed with Academic honors therein be regarded
as such throughout Germany. 19. Of granting all sorts of
privileges not injurious to the States of the Empire. 20. Of
establishing great fairs. 21. Of receiving the droit des Postes
generales. 22. Of striking money, but without augmenting or
diminishing its value. 23. Of permitting strangers to enlist
soldiers, conformably to Recess of 1654. — Id. 24. Of receiv
ing and applying Revenues of Empire. — Savage, p. . He
cannot make war or peace, nor laws, nor levy taxes, nor alter
the denomination of money, nor weights or measures. — Savage,
v. 2, p. 35. The Emperor, as such, does not properly possess
any territory within the Empire, nor derive any revenue for
his support. — Code de 1'Hum.
Vices of the Constitution.
1. The Quotas are complained of, and supplied very irregu
larly and defectively. — Code de 1'Hum. Provision is made by
decree of diet for enforcing them, but it is a delicate matter to
execute it against the powerful members. — Id.
2. The establishment of the Imperial Chamber has not been
found an efficacious remedy against civil wars. It has com
mitted faults. The Ressortissans have not always been docile.—
Id.
17R7 LETTERS. 315
3. Altho' the establishment of Imperial Chambers, £c., give
a more regular form to the police of the fiefs, it is not to be
supposed they are capable of giving a certain force to the laws
and maintaining the peace of the Empire, if the House of Aus
tria had not acquired power enough to maintain itself on the
Imperial Throne, to make itself respected, and to give orders
which it might be imprudent to despise, as the laws were there
fore despised. — Mably Etude de hist., p. 130.
[Jealousy of the Imperial authority seems to have been a
great cement of the Confederacy.]
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, April 19th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — No definitive steps are yet taken for the trans
portation of your furniture. I fear we shall be obliged to make
use of a conveyance to Norfolk as soon as one shall offer. 1
have examined the workmanship of the man in Chappel street.
•The face of it is certainly superior to that of your workman.
Whether it may prove much so for substantial purposes, I do not
undertake to say. Should Mrs. Monroe not be pleased with the
articles, I would recommend that you dispose of them, which
may be done, probably, without loss, and send us a commission
to replace them. I think we could please you both, and on terms
not dearer than that of your purchase. We learn nothing yet
of a remittance from S. Carolina.
The business of the Mississippi will, I think, come to a point
in a few days. You shall know the result in due time.
A motion was lately made to remove shortly to Philadelphia;
six States would have been for it. Rhode Island was so at first,
and would have been a seventh. One of the delegation was
overpowered by exertions of his. Eastern brethren. I need not
rehearse to you the considerations which operated on both sides.
Your conjectures will not mistake them. My own opinion is,
that there are strong objections against the moment, [move
ment?] objections which nothing would supersede but the diffi-
316 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
culty of bringing the sense of the Union to an efficient vote
in Congress, and the danger of losing altogether a proper
measure by waiting for a proper time. A middle way would
have been my choice; that is, to fix Philadelphia for the meet
ing of the ensuing Congress, and to remain here in the mean
time. This would have given time for all preliminary arrange
ments, would have steered clear of the Convention, and, by se
lecting a natural period for the event, and transferring the
operation of it to our successors in office, all insinuations of
suddenness, and of personal views, would have been repelled.
I hear with great pleasure that you are to aid the delibera
tions of the next Assembly, and with much concern that paper
money will probably be among the bad measures which you will
have to battle. Wishing you success in this and all your other
labours for the public and for yourself, I remain, with best re
spects to Mrs. Monroe,
Yours affectionately.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, April 22nd, 1787.
MY DEAR SIK, — The period since my last has afforded such
scanty materials for a letter, that I have postponed it till I have
now to thank you for yours of the 7th instant, which came to
hand two days ago. I always feel pleasure in hearing from you,
but particularly when my concern for your doubtful health is re
lieved by such an evidence in its favor. At the same time, I
must repeat my wishes to forego this pleasure whenever it may
interfere with the attention which you owe to your ease, your
business, or your other friends.
I do not learn that any symptoms yet appear of a return of
the insurgent spirit in Massachusetts. On the contrary, it is
said that the malcontents are trying their strength in a more
regular form. This is the crisis of their elections; and if they
can muster sufficient numbers, their wicked measures are to be
1787. LETTERS. 317
sheltered under the form? of the Constitution. How far their
influence may predominate in the current appointments is un
certain; but it is pretty certain that a great change in the ru
lers of that State is taking place, and that a paper emission, if
nothing worse, is strongly apprehended. Governor Bowdoin
is already displaced jn favor of Mr. Hancock, whose acknowl
edged merits are not a little tainted by an obsequiousness to
popular follies. A great change has also taken place in the
Senate, and a still greater is prognosticated in the other branch
of the Legislature.
We are flattered with the prospect of a pretty full and very
respectable meeting in next month. All the States have made
appointments, except Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island.
The last has refused. Maryland will certainly concur. The
temper of Connecticut is equivocal. The turn of her elections,
which are now going on, is said to be rather unpropitious. The
absence of one or two States, however, will not materially affect
the deliberations of the Convention. Disagreement in opinion
among the present is much more likely to embarrass us. The
nearer the crisis approaches, the more I tremble for the issue.
The necessity of gaining the concurrence of the Convention in
some system that will answer the purpose, the subsequent ap
probation of Congress, and the final sanction of the States, pre
sent a series of chances which would inspire despair in any
case where the alternative was less formidable. The difficulty,
too, is not a little increased by the necessity which will be pro
duced, by encroachments on the State Constitutions, of obtain
ing not merely the assent of the Legislatures, but the ratifica
tion of the people themselves. Indeed, if such encroachments
could be avoided, a higher sanction than the Legislative au
thority would be necessary to render the laws of the Confed
eracy paramount to the acts of its members.
I inclose a late act of Congress, which will shew you the light
in which they view and inculcate a compliance with the Treaty
of peace. We were not unaware of the bitterness of the pill to
many of our countrymen, but national considerations overruled
that objection. An investigation of the subject had proved that
318 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
the violations on our part were not only most numerous and
important, but were of earliest date. And the assurances on
the other part are explicit, that a reparation of our wrongful
measures shall be followed by an immediate and faithful execu
tion of the Treaty by Great Britain.
Congress are at present deliberating on the most proper plan
for disposing of the Western lands, and providing a criminal
and civil administration for the Western settlements beyond
the Ohio. The latter subject involves great difficulties. On
the former, also, opinions are various. Between 6 and 700,000
acres have been surveyed in Townships, and are to be sold as
soon as they shall be duly advertised. The sale was at first to
have been distributed throughout the States. This plan is now
exchanged for the opposite extreme. The sale is to be made
where Congress sit. Unquestionably, reference ought to have
been had, in fixing on the place, either to the center of the
Union or to the proximity of the premises. In providing for
the unsurveyed lands, the difficulty arises from the Eastern at
tachment to townships, and the Southern, to indiscriminate
locations. A copper coinage was agreed on yesterday, to the
amount of upwards of two hundred thousand dollars; 15 per
cent, is to be drawn into the federal Treasury from this opera
tion.
Our affair with Spain is on a very delicate footing. It is not
easy to say what precise steps would be most proper to be taken
on our side, and extremely difficult to say what will be actually
taken. Many circumstances threaten an Indian war, but the
certainty of it is not established. A British officer was lately
here from Canada, as has been propagated, but not on a mission
to Congress. His business was unknown, if he had any that
was important.
I am extremely concerned, though not much surprised, at the
danger of a paper emission in Virginia. If Mr. Henry should
erect the standard, he will certainly be joined by sufficient force
to accomplish it. Remorse and shame are but too feeble re
straints on interested individuals against unjust measures, and
are rarely felt at all by interested multitudes.
LETTERS. 319
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
April 23d, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — The vigorous measures finally pursued by the
Government of Massachusetts against the insurgents had the
intended effect of dispersing them. By some it was feared that
they would re-embody on the return of favorable weather. As
yet, no symptom of such a design has appeared. It would seem
that they mean to try their strength in another way ; that is,
by endeavoring to give the elections such a turn as may pro
mote their views under the auspices of Constitutional forms.
How far they may succeed is not yet reducible to certainty.
That a great change will be effected in the component members
of the Government is certain, but the degree of influence im-
putable to the malcontents cannot be well known till some
specimen shall be given of the temper of the new rulers. A
great proportion of the Senate is changed, and a greater pro
portion of the other branch it is expected will be changed. A
paper emission, at least, is apprehended from this revolution in
their councils.
Considerable changes are taking place, I hear, in the County
elections in Virginia, and a strong itch beginning to return for
paper money. Mr. Henry is said to have the measure in con
templation, and to be laying his train for it already. He will,
however, be powerfully opposed by Col. Mason, if he should be
elected and be able to serve ; by Monroe, Marshall, and Lud-
well Lee, (son of R. H. Lee,) who are already elected ; and
sundry others of inferior rank. Mr. Harrison, the late Gov
ernor, has so far regained the favor of Charles City as to be re
instated a representative. The part which he will take is un
certain. From his repeated declarations he ought to be adverse
to a paper emission.
320 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
Notes on the Confederacy. — April, 1787.
Vices of the Political Ohsprvatirm* V»v T AT
system of the U. States. ons W J • M<
1. Failure of the States l- This evil has been so full>7 experienced
to comply with the Con- both during the war and since the peace,
ions' results so naturally from the number and
independent authority of the States, and has been so uniformly
exemplified in every similar Confederacy, that it may be con
sidered as not less radically and permanently inherent in, than
it is fatal to the object of, the present system.
2. Encroachments by 2« Examples of this arc numerous, and
the States on the federal repetitions may be foreseen in almost every
case where any favorite object of a State
shall present a temptation. Among these examples are the
wars and treaties of Georgia with the Indians, the unlicensed
compacts between Virginia and Maryland, and between Penn
sylvania and New Jersey, the troops raised and to be kept up
by Massachusetts.
3. Violations of the 3' From the number of Legislatures, tlje
law of nations and of sphere of life from which most of their
members are taken, and the circumstances
under which their legislative business is carried on, irregulari
ties of this kind must frequently happen. Accordingly, not a
year has passed without instances of them in some one or other
of the States. The Treaty of Peace, the treaty with France,
the treaty with Holland, have each been violated. [See the
complaints to Congress on these subjects.] The causes of these
irregularities must necessarily produce frequent violations of
the law of nations in other respects.
As yet, foreign powers have not been rigorous in animad
verting on us. This moderation, however, cannot be mistaken
for a permanent partiality to our faults, or a permanent security
against those disputes with other nations, which, being among
the greatest of public calamities, it ought to be least in the
power of any part of the community to bring on the whole.
1787. NOTES ON THE CONFEDERACY. 321
-i. Trespasses of the 4 These are alarming symptoms, and
States on the rights of may be daily apprehended, as we are ad
monished by daily experience. See the
law of Virginia restricting foreign vessels to certain ports; of
Maryland in favor of vessels belonging to her own citizens • of
N. York in favor of the same.
Paper money, instalments of debts, occlusion of courts, making
property a legal tender, may likewise be deemed aggressions
on the rights of other States. As the citizens of every State,
aggregately taken, stand more or less in the relation of cred
itors or debtors to the citizens of every other State, acts of the
debtor State in favor of debtors affect the creditor State in the
same manner as they do its own citizens, who are, relatively,
creditors towards other citizens. This remark may be extended
to foreign nations. If the exclusive regulation of the value
and alloy of coin was properly delegated to the federal author
ity, the policy of it equally requires a controul on the States
in the cases above mentioned. It must have been meant — 1.
To preserve uniformity in the circulating medium throughout the
nation. 2. To prevent those frauds on the citizens of other
States, and the subjects of foreign powers, which might disturb
the tranquillity at home, or involve the union in foreign con
tests.
The practice of many States in restricting the commercial
intercourse with other States, and putting their productions
and manufactures on the same footing with those of foreign
nations, though not contrary to the federal articles, is certainly
adverse to the spirit of the Union, and tends to beget retalia
ting regulations, not less expensive and vexatious in themselves
than they are destructive of the general harmony.
5. Want of concert in 5' This defect is strongly illustrated in
matters where common the state of our commercial affairs. How
much has the national dignity, interest,
and revenue, suffered from this cause ? Instances of inferior
moment are the want of uniformity in the laws concerning
naturalization and literary property; of provision for national
seminaries; for grants of incorporation for national purposes,
VOL. i. 21
322 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
for canals, and other works of general utility; which may at
present be defeated by the perverseness of particular States
whose concurrence is necessary.
6 Want of Guaranty 6. ^^e Confederation is silent on this
to the states of their point, and therefore by the second article
Constitutions and laws ,11 T /» ,n * -, i ,1 •, , . i
against internal vio- the hands oi the lederal authority are tied,
icnce. According to Republican Theory, Right
and power, being both vested in the majority, are held to be
synonymous. According to fact and experience, a minority
may, in an appeal to force, be an overmatch for the majority:
1. If the minority happen to include all such as possess the
skill and habits of military life, and such as possess the great
pecuniary resources, one-third only may conquer the remaining
two-thirds. 2. One-third of those who participate in the choice
of the rulers may be rendered a majority by the accession of
those whose poverty excludes them from a right of suffrage,
and who, for obvious reasons, will be more likely to join the
standard of sedition than that of the established Government.
3. Where slavery exists, the republican Theory becomes still
more fallacious.
7. A sanction is essential to the idea of
7. Want of sanction to , . n ^
the laws, and of coercion law, as coercion is to that ot Government,
in the Government of T1 federal SyStem being destitute of both,
the Contederacy. J
wants the great vital principles of a Politi
cal Constitution. Under the form of such a Constitution, it is
in fact nothing more than a treaty of amity, of commerce, and
of alliance, between independent and Sovereign States. From
what cause could so fatal an omission have happened in the
articles of Confederation? From a mistaken confidence that
the justice, the good faith, the honor, the sound policy of the
several legislative assemblies would render superfluous any ap
peal to the ordinary motives by which the laws secure the obe
dience of individuals; a confidence which does honor to the
enthusiastic virtue of the compilers, as much as the inexperience
of the crisis apologizes for their errors. The time which has
since elapsed has had the double effect of increasing the light
and tempering the warmth with which the arduous work may
1787. NOTES ON THE CONFEDERACY. 323
be revised. It is no longer doubted that a unanimous and punc
tual obedience of 13 independent bodies to the acts of the fed
eral Government ought not to be calculated on. Even during the
war, when external danger supplied in some degree the defect
of legal and coercive sanctions, how imperfectly did the States
fulfil their obligations to the Union? In time of peace we see
already what is to be expected. How, indeed, could it be other
wise? In the first place, every general act of the Union must
necessarily bear unequally hard on some particular member or
members of it; secondly, the partiality of the members to their
own interests and rights, a partiality which will be fostered by
the courtiers of popularity, will naturally exaggerate the ine
quality where it exists, and even suspect it where it has no ex
istence; thirdly, a distrust of the voluntary compliance of each
other may prevent the compliance of any, although it should be
the latent disposition of all. Here are causes and pretexts
which will never fail to render federal measures abortive. If
the laws of the States were merely recommendatory to their
citizens, or if they were to be rejudged by county authorities,
what security, what probability would exist that they would be
carried into execution? Is the security or probability greater
in favor of the acts of Congress, which, depending for their ex
ecution on the will of the State legislatures, are, tho' nomi
nally authoritative, in fact recommendatory only?
S. Want of ratification 8« In S0me °f the States the Confedera-
by the people of the ar- tion is recognized by and forms a part of
tides of Confederation. ,v /-^ ,., ,• .11
the Constitution. In others, however, it
has received no other sanction than that of the legislative au
thority. From this defect two evils result: 1. Whenever a law
of a State happens to be repugnant to an act of Congress, par
ticularly when the latter is of posterior date to the former, it
will be at least questionable whether the latter must not pre
vail; arid as the question must be decided by the Tribunals of
the State, they will be most likely to lean on the side of the
State.
2. As far as the union of the States is to be regarded as a
league of sovereign powers, and not as a political Constitution,
324 WORKS OF MADISON. 1737.
by virtue of which they are become one sovereign power, so far
it seems to follow, from the doctrine of compacts, that a breach
of any of the articles of the Confederation by any of the parties
to it absolves the other parties from their respective obliga
tions, and gives them a right, if they choose to exert it, of dis
solving the Union altogether.
9. Multiplicity of laws 9- In developing the evils which viciate
in the several States. the political system of the United States,
it is proper to include those which are found within the States
individually, as well as those which directly affect the States
collectively, since the former class have an indirect influence on
the general malady, and must not be overlooked in forming a
compleat remedy. Among the evils, then, of our situation, may
well be ranked the multiplicity of laws, from which no State is
exempt. As far as laws are necessary to mark with precision
the duties of those who are to obey them, and to take from
those who are to administer them a discretion which might be
abused, their number is the price of liberty. As far as laws
exceed this limit they are a nuisance; a nuisance of the most
pestilent kind. Try the Codes of the several States by this
test, and what a luxuriancy of legislation do they present. The
short period of independency has filled as many pages as the
century which preceded it. Every year, almost every session,
adds a new volume. This may be the effect in part, but it can
only be in part, of the situation in which the revolution has
placed us. A review of the several Codes will shew that every
necessary and useful part of the least voluminous of them might
be compressed into one-tenth of the compass, and at the same
time be rendered ten-fold as perspicuous.
10. Mutability of the 10- This evil is intimately connected
laws of the States. with the former, yet deserves a distinct
notice, as it emphatically denotes a vicious legislation. We
daily see laws repealed or superseded before any trial can have
been made of their merits, and even before a knowledge of them
can have reached the remoter districts within which they were
to operate. In the regulations of trade, this instability becomes
a snare not only to our citizens, but to foreigners also.
1787. NOTES ON THE CONFEDERACY. 325
11. injustice of the H- If the multiplicity and mutability of
laws of the States. }aws prOve a want of wisdom, their injus
tice betrays a defect still more alarming; more alarming, not
merely because it is a greater evil in itself, but because it brings
more into question the fundamental principle of republican
Government, that the majority who rule in such Governments
are the safest guardians both of public good and of private
rights. To what causes is this evil to be ascribed?
These causes lie — 1. In the representative bodies. 2. In the
people themselves.
1. Representative appointments are sought from 3 motives:
1. Ambition. 2. Personal interest. 3. Public good. Unhap
pily, the two first are proved by experience to be most preva
lent. Hence, the candidates who feel them, particularly the
second, are most industrious and most successful in pursuing
their object; and forming often a majority in the legislative
Councils, with interested views, contrary to the interest and
views of their constituents, join in a perfidious sacrifice of the
latter to the former. A succeeding election, it might be sup
posed, would displace the offenders, and repair the mischief.
But how easily are base and selfish measures masked by pre
texts of public good and apparent expediency? How fre
quently will a repetition of the same arts and industry which
succeeded in the first instance again prevail on the unwary to
misplace their confidence?
How frequently, too, will the honest but unenlightened rep
resentative be the dupe of a favorite leader, veiling his selfish
views under the professions of public good, and varnishing his
sophistical arguments with the glowing colours of popular elo
quence?
2. A still more fatal, if not more frequent cause, lies among
the people themselves. All civilized societies are divided into
different interests and factions, as they happen to be creditors
or debtors, rich or poor, husbandmen, merchants, or manufac
turers, members of different religious sects, followers of differ
ent political leaders, inhabitants of different districts, owners
of different kinds of property, &c., &c. Un republican Govern-
326 WORKS OF MADISON. 17R7.
ment, the majority, however composed, ultimately give the law.
Whenever, therefore, an apparent interest or common passion
unites a majority, what is to restrain them from unjust viola
tions of the rights and interests of the minority, or of individ
uals? Three motives only: 1. A prudent regard to their own
good, as involved in the general and permanent good of the
community. This consideration, although of decisive weight
in itself, is found by experience to be too often unheeded. It is
too often forgotten, by nations as well as by individuals, that
honesty is the best policy. 2dly. Respect for character. How
ever strong this motive may be in individuals, it is considered
as very insufficient to restrain them from injustice. In a mul
titude its efficacy is diminished in proportion to the number
which is to share the praise or the blame. Besides, as it has
reference to public opinion, which, within a particular society,
is the opinion of the majority, the standard is fixed by those
whose conduct is to be measured by it. The public opinion
without the society will be little respected by the people at
large of any Country. Individuals of extended views and of
national pride may bring the public proceedings to this stand
ard, but the example will never be followed by the multitude.
Is it to be imagined that an ordinary citizen or even Assembly
man of R. Island, in estimating the policy of J^ajjCT jnoney, ever
considered or cared in what light the measure would be viewed
in France or Holland, or even in Massachusetts or Connecti
cut? It was a sufficient temptation to both that it was for
their interest; it was a sufficient sanction to the latter that it
was popular in the State; to the former, that it was so in the
neighbourhood. 3dly. Will Religion, the only remaining mo
tive, be a sufficient restraint? It is not pretended to be such,
on men individually considered. Will its effect be greater on
them considered in an aggregate view? Quite the reverse.
The conduct of every popular assembly acting on oath, the
strongest of religious ties, proves that individuals join without
remorse in acts against which their consciences would revolt
if proposed to them under the like sanction, separately, in their
closets. When, indeed, Religion is kindled into enthusiasm,
1787. NOTES ON THE CONFEDERACY. 307
its force, like that of other passions, is increased by the sym
pathy of a multitude. But enthusiasm is only a temporary
state of religion, and, while it lasts, will hardly be seen with
pleasure at the helm of Government. Besides, as religion in
its coolest state is not infallible, it may become a motive to
oppression as well as a restraint from injustice. Place three
individuals in a situation wherein the interest of each depends
on the voice of the others, and give to two of them an interest
opposed to the rights of the third. Will the latter be secure?
The prudence of every man would shun the danger. The rules
;md forms of justice suppose and guard against it. Will two
thousand in a like situation be less likely to encroach on the
rights of one thousand? The contrary is witnessed by the no
torious factions and oppressions which take place in corporate
towns, limited as the opportunities are, and in little republics,
when uncontrouled by apprehensions of external danger. (If an
enlargement of the sphere is found to lessen the insecurity of
private rights, it is not because the impulse of a common inter-
/est or passion is less predominant in this case with the major
ity, but because a common interest or passion is less apt to be
felt, a~nd the requisite combinations less easy to be formed, by a
great than by a small number. The society becomes broken
info a greater variety of interests and pursuits of passions,
Which check each other, whilst those who may feel a common
(sentiment have less opportunity of communication and concert!)
It may be inferred that the inconveniences of popular States,
contrary to the prevailing Theory, are in proportion not to the
extent, but to the narrowness of their limits.
The great desideratum in Government is such a modification
of the sovereignty as will render it sufficiently neutral between
the different interests and factions to controul one part of the
society from invading the rights of another, and, at the same
time, sufficiently controuled itself from setting up an interest
adverse to that of the whole society. In absolute Monarchies
the prince is sufficiently neutral towards his subjects, but fre
quently sacrifices their happiness to his ambition or his avarice.
In small Republics, the sovereign will is sufficiently controuled
328 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
from such a sacrifice of the entire Society, but is not sufficiently
neutral towards the parts composing it. As a limited monarchy
tempers the evils of an absolute one, so an extensive Republic
meliorates the administration of a small Republic.
An auxiliary desideratum for the melioration of the Repub
lican form is such a process of elections as will most certainly
extract from the mass of the society the purest and noblest
characters which it contains; such as will at once feel most
strongly the proper motives to pursue the end of their appoint
ment, and be most capable to devise the proper means of attain
ing it.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA. May 15, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — Monday last was the day for the meeting of the
Convention. The number as yet assembled is but small. Among
the few is General Washington, who arrived on Sunday evening,
amidst the acclamations of the people, as well as more sober
marks of the affection and veneration which continues to be
felt for his character. The Governor, Messrs. Wythe and Blair,
and Doctor McClurg, are also here. Col. Mason is to be here
in a day or two. There is a prospect of a pretty full meeting
on the whole, though there is less punctuality in the outset than
was to be wished. Of this the late bad weather has been the
principal cause. I mention these circumstances because it is
possible this may reach you before you hear from me through
any other channel, and I add no others because it is merely
possible.
TO HONBLE EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, May 27, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — I have put off, from day to day, writing to my
friends from this place, in hopes of being able to say something
of the Convention. Contrary to every previous calculation, the
1787. LETTERS. 329
bare quorum of seven States was not made up till the day be
fore yesterday. The States composing it are New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and
South Carolina. Individual members are here from Massachu
setts, Maryland, and Georgia, and our intelligence promises a
complete addition of the first and last, as also of Connecticut,
by to-morrow. General Washington was called to the chair
by a unanimous voice, and has accepted it. The secretary is a
Major Jackson. This is all that has yet been done, except the
appointment of a committee for preparing the rules by which
the Convention is to be governed in their proceedings. A few
days will now furnish some data for calculating the probable
result of the meeting. In general, the members seem to accord
in viewing our situation as peculiarly critical, and on being
averse to temporizing expedients. I wish they may as readily
agree when particulars are brought forward. Congress are
reduced to five or six States, and are not likely to do anything
during the term of the Convention.
A packet has lately arrived from France, but brings no news.
I learnt with great pleasure, by the Governor, that you con
tinued to enjoy a comfortable degree of health, and heartily
wish this may find it still further confirmed; being, with sincere
affection and the highest esteem,
Your obed* friend and serv.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, May 27th, 1787.
HOND SIR, — We have been here for some time, suffering a
daily disappointment from the failure of the deputies to assem
ble for the Convention. Seven States were not made up till
the day before yesterday. Our intelligence from New York
promises an addition of three more by to-morrow. General
Washington was unanimously called to the chair, and has ac
cepted it. It is impossible, as yet, to form a judgment of the
330 WORKS OF MADISON. 1737.
result of this experiment. Every reflecting man becomes daily
more alarmed at our situation. The unwise and wicked pro
ceedings of the Governments of some States, and the unruly
temper of the people of others, must, if persevered in. soon pro
duce some new scenes among us.
My enquiries concerning the iron do not promise any supply
from the quarter you wished it, nor do I find the advantage
which formerly existed in sending the other articles. The late
regulations of Trade here and in Virginia, particularly the act
of the latter requiring the cargoes destined to Frederiksburg,
&c., to be deposited, in the first instance, at ports below, are ob
structions to the intercourse. Tobacco, however, of the first
quality, may be sent hither to advantage. Old Tobacco of this
description will command six dollars. Mine, which has arrived
safe, being neiv, will not, I fear, fetch me more than 32-9., Vir
ginia currency.
Mr. William Strother, who was lately here, gave me the first
information of the event of the election. I was not more con
cerned than surprised at the rejection of Major Moore. I am
unable, utterly, to account for so sudden and great a change in
the disposition of the people towards him. False reports occur
as the most probable cause.
I have enjoyed good health since I left Virginia, and learnt
with much pleasure, from Mr. Strother, that he had heard noth
ing otherwise with respect to my friends in general in Orange.
Remember me affectionately to my mother and the rest of the
family, and accept of the dutiful regards of,
Your son.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, Juno 6th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — The day fixed for the meeting of the Convention
was the 14th ultimo. On the 25th, and not before seven States
were assembled, General Washington was placed, una voce, in
1787. LETTERS. 331
the chair. The secretaryship was given to Major Jackson.
The members present are: from Massachusetts; Mr. Gerry, Mr.
Gorham, Mr. King, Mr. Strong. From Connecticut; Mr. Sher
man, Doctor S. Johnson, Mr. Ellsworth. From New York;
Judge Yates, Mr. Lansing, Mr. Hamilton. New Jersey; Gov
ernor Livingston, Judge Brearley, Mr. Patterson, Attorney
General; [Mr. Houston and Mr. Clarke are absent members.]
From Pennsylvania; Dr. Franklin, Mr. Morris, Mr. Wilson,
Mr. Fitzsimmons, Mr. G. Clymer, General Mifflin, Mr. Gouver-
neur Morris, Mr. Ingersoll. From Delaware; Mr. John Dick-
enson, Mr. Reed, Mr. Bedford, Mr. Broome, Mr. Bassett. From
Maryland; Major Jenifer only. Mr. McHenry, Mr. Daniel
Carroll, Mr. John Mercer, Mr. Luther Martin, are absent
members. The three last have supplied the resignations of
Mr. Stone, Mr. Carroll of Carrolton, and Mr. T. Johnson, as
I have understood the case. From Virginia; General Wash
ington, Governor Randolph, Mr. Blair, Col. Mason, Doctor
McClurg, J. Madison. Mr. Wythe left us yesterday, being
called home by the serious declension of his lady's health.
From North Carolina; Col. Martin, late Governor, Doctor
Williamson, Mr. Spaight, Col. Davy; Col. Blount is another
member, but is detained by indisposition at New York. From
South Carolina; Mr. John Rutledge, General Pinckuey, Mr.
Charles Pinckney, Major Pierce Butler; Mr. Laurens is in
the Commission from that State, but will be kept away by the
want of health. From Georgia; Col. Few, Major Pierce, for
merly of Williamsburg, and aid to General Greene, Mr. Hous
ton. Mr. Baldwin will be added to them in a few days.
Welton and Pendleton are also in the deputation. New
Hampshire has appointed Deputies, but they are not expected,
the State treasury being empty, it is said, and a substitution of
private resources being inconvenient or impracticable. I men
tion this circumstance to take off the appearance of backward
ness, which that State is not in the least chargeable with, if we
are rightly informed of her disposition. Rhode Island has not
yet acceded to the measure. As their Legislature meet very
frequently, and can at any time be got together in a week, it is
332 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787>
possible that caprice, if no other motive, may yet produce a
unanimity of the States in this experiment.
In furnishing you with this list of names, I have exhausted
all the means which I can make use of for gratifying your
curiosity. It was thought expedient, in order to secure un
biassed discussion within doors, and to prevent misconceptions
and misconstructions without, to establish some rules of caution,
which will for no short time restrain even a confidential com
munication of our proceedings. The names of the members
will satisfy you that the States have been serious in this busi
ness. The attendance of General Washington is a proof of the
light in which he regards it. The whole community is big
with expectation, and there can be no doubt but that the result
will in some way or other have a powerful effect on our
destiny.
Mr. Adams' book, which has been in your hands, of course
has excited a good deal of attention. An edition has come out
here, and another is in the press at N. York. It will probably
be much read, particularly in the Eastern States, and contribute,
with other circumstances, to revive the predelictions of this
country for the British Constitution. Men of learning find
nothing new in it; men of taste many things to criticise; and
men without either, not a few things which they will not under
stand. It will, nevertheless, be read and praised, and become
a powerful engine in forming the public opinion. The name
and character of the author, with the critical situation of our
affairs, naturally account for such an effect. The book also lias
merit, and I wish many of the remarks in it which are un
friendly to republicanism may not receive fresh weight from
the operations of our governments.
I learn from Virginia that the appetite for paper money
grows stronger every day. Mr. Henry is an avowod patron
of the scheme, and will not fail, I think, to carry it through,
unless the County [Prince Edward] which he is to represent
shall bind him hand and foot by instructions. I am told that
this is in contemplation. He is also said to be unfriendly to an
acceleration of Justice. There is good reason to believe that
17*7. LETTERS, 333
he is hostile to the object of the Convention, and that he wishes
either a partition or total dissolution of the Confederacy.
I sent you a few days ago, by a vessel going to France, a box
with peccan nuts planted in it. Mr. John Yaughan was so
good as to make arrangements with the captain, both for their
preservation during the voyage and the conveyance of them
afterwards. I had before sent you, via England, a few nuts
sealed up in a letter.
Mr. Wythe gave me favorable accounts of your nephew in
Williamsburg : and from the President of Hampden Sidney,
who was here a few days ago, I received information equally
pleasing of your younger nephew.
I must beg you to communicate my affectionate respects to
our friend Mazzei, and to let him know that I have taken every
step for securing his claim on Dorman which I judged most
likely to succeed. There is little doubt that Congress will
allow him more than he owes Mr. Mazzei, and I have got from
him such a draught on the Treasury board as I think will ensure
him the chance of that fund. Dorman is at present in Virginia,
where he has also some claims and expectations, but they are
not in a transferable situation. I intended to have written to
Mazzei, and must beg his pardon for not doing it. It is really
out of my power at this time.
Adieu. Yours affectionately.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, July 18th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — The Convention continue to sit, and have been
closely employed since the commencement of the session. I am
still under the mortification of being restrained from disclosing
any part of their proceedings. As soon as I am at liberty, I
will endeavour to make amends for my silence, and if I ever
have the pleasure of seeing you, shall be able to give you pretty
full gratification. I have taken lengthy notes of everything
334 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
that has yet passed, and mean to go on with the drudgery, if no
indisposition obliges me to discontinue it. It is not possible to
form any judgment of the future duration of the session. I am
led by sundry circumstances to guess that the residue of the
work will not be very quickly despatched. The public mind is
very impatient for the event, and various reports are circula
ting which tend to inflame curiosity. I do not learn, however,
that any discontent is expressed at the concealment; and have
little doubt that the people will be as ready to receive as we
shall be able to propose a Government that will secure their
liberties and happiness.
I am not able to give you any account of what is doing at
New York. Your correspondents there will no doubt supply
the omission. The paper money here ceased to circulate very
suddenly a few days ago. It had been for some time vibrating
between a depreciation of 12 and of 20 per cent. Its entire
stagnation is said to have proceeded from a combination of a
few people with whom the country people deal on market days
against receiving it. The consequence was that it was refused
in the market, and great distress brought on the poorer citi
zens. Some of the latter began in turn to form combinations of
a more serious nature, in order to take revenge on the supposed
authors of the stagnation. The timely interposition of some
influential characters prevented a riot, and prevailed on the
persons who were opposed to the paper to publish their willing
ness to receive it. This has stifled the popular rage, and got
the paper into circulation again. It is, however, still consider
ably below par, and must have received a wound which will not
easily be healed. Nothing but evil springs from this imaginary
money wherever it is tried, and yet the appetite for it where it
has not been tried continues to be felt. There is great reason
to fear that the bitterness of the evil must be tasted in Virginia
before the appetite there will be at an end.
The wheat harvest throughout the continent has been uncom
monly fine, both in point of quantity and quality. The crops
of corn and Tobacco on the ground in Virginia are very differ
ent in different places. I rather fear that in general they are
1787. LETTERS. 335
both bad, particularly the former. I have just received a letter
from Orange, which complains much of appearances in that
neighborhood, but says nothing of them in the parts adjacent.
Present my best respects to Mr. Short and Mr. Mazzei. Noth
ing has been done since my last to the latter with regard to his
affair with Dorman.
Wishing you all happiness, I am, dear sir, your affectionate
friend and serv.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, July 28th, 1787.
HoxDSiR,— ********
I am sorry that I cannot gratify your wish to be informed of
the proceedings of the Convention. An order of secrecy leaves
me at liberty merely to tell you that nothing definitive is yet
done, that the Session will probably continue for some time yet,
that an adjournment took place on thursday last until Monday
week, and that a Committee is to be at work in the mean time.
Late information from Europe presents a sad picture of things
in Holland. Civil blood has been already spilt, and various
circumstances threaten a torrent of it. Many, it is said, are
flying with their property to England. How much is it to be
lamented that America does not present a more inviting asy
lum!
Congress have been occupied for some time past on Western
affairs. They have provided for the Government of the Coun
try by an ordinance, of which a copy is herewith inclosed.
They have on the anvil, at present, some projects for the most
advantageous sale of the lands. Col. Carrington informs me that
Indian affairs wear a very hostile appearance; that money must
in all probability be expended in further treaties; that a Gen
eral Confederacy has been formed of all the nations and tribes
from the six nations, inclusive, to the Mississippi, under the au
spices of Brandt; that a General Council was held in December
336 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
last in form, near Detroit, in which was considered as griev
ances the surveying of lands on the North West side of the
Ohio, the pretext being, as usual, that the treaties which pre
ceded that measure were made by parts only of the Nations
whose consent was necessary, and that a united representation
of this grievance has been received by Congress. That as to
the hostilities on Kentucky, the superintendent of Indian affairs,
or, in case of his inability to go, Col. Harmar, is ordered to
proceed immediately to some convenient place for holding a
Treaty with the hostile tribes, and by that means restore, if
possible, peace in that quarter. In the mean time, Col. Harmer
is so to fort the federal troops as to provide the best defence
for the country, and to call for such aids of Militia as he shall
find necessary.
The crops of wheat in this and the neighbouring States, and,
indeed, throughout the Continent, as far as I can learn, have
been remarkably fine. I am sorry to hear that your crops of
corn are likely to be so much shortened by the dry weather.
The weather has been dry in spots in this quarter. At present
it is extremely seasonable just here, and I do not know that it
is otherwise elsewhere. I hope Virginia partakes of the bless
ing.
A letter from my brother gave me the first notice of your in
disposition. It is my most fervent wish that this may find your
health thoroughly re-established, and that of my mother and the
rest of the family unimpaired. Being, with entire affection, your
dutiful son.
TO JAMES MADISON, SENR.
PHILADELPHIA, Septr 4th, 1787.
HOND SIR, — The Convention has not yet broken up, but its
session will probably continue but a short time longer. Its
proceedings are still under the injunction of secrecy. We hear
that a spirit of insurrection has shown itself in the County of
1787. LETTERS. 337
Green Briar. Some other Counties have been added by report
as infected with the same spirit; but the silence of #19 letters
from Richmond on thJs latter fact gives us hopes that the Re
port is not well founded. We understand, also, that the upper
parts of the country have suffered extremely from the drought,
and that the crops will not suffice for the subsistence of the in
habitants. I hope the account is exaggerated, and wait with
some impatience for a confirmation of this hope.
The crops of wheat in this quarter have been uncommonly
fine, and the latter rains have been so seasonable for the corn
that the prospect of that crop is tolerably good. The price of
good Tobacco here at present is 40$., Virginia money.
As soon as the tie of secrecy shall be dissolved I will forward
the proceedings of the Convention. In the mean time, with my
affectionate regards for all the family,
I remain, your dutiful son.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, Septr 6th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — My last was intended for the August packet, and
put into the hands of Commodore Paul Jones. Some disap
pointments prevented his going, and as he did not know but its
contents might be unfit for the ordinary conveyance, he retained
it. The precaution was unnecessary. For the same reason the
delay has been of little consequence. The rule of secrecy in the
Convention rendered that, as it will this letter, barren of those
communications which might otherwise be made. As the Con
vention will shortly rise, I should feel little scruple in disclo
sing what will be public here before it could reach you, were it
practicable for me to guard by cypher against an intermediate
discovery. But I am deprived of this resource by the shortness
of the interval between the receipt of your letter of June 20 and
the date of this. This is the first day which has been free from
Committee service, both before and after the hours of the House,
i 22
338 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
and the last that is allowed me by the time advertised for the
sailing of the packet.
The Convention consists now, as it has generally done, of
eleven States. There has been no intermission of its session
since a house was formed, except an interval of about ten days
allowed a committee appointed to detail the general proposi
tions agreed on in the House. The term of its dissolution can
not be more than one or two weeks distant. A Government
will probably be submitted to the people of the States, consist
ing of a President, cloathed with Executive power; a Senate
chosen by the Legislatures, and another House chosen by the
people of the States, jointly possessing the Legislative power;
and a regular Judiciary establishment. The mode of constituting
the Executive is among the few points not yet finally settled.
The Senate will consist of two members from each State, and
appointed sexennially. The other House, of members appointed
biennially by the people of the States, in proportion to their
number. The Legislative power will extend to taxation, trade,
and sundry other general matters. The powers of Congress
will be distributed, according to their nature, among the several
departments. The States will be restricted from paper money,
and in a few other instances. These are the outlines. The ex
tent of them may. perhaps, surprize you. I hazard an opinion,
nevertheless, that the plan, should it be adopted, will neither
effectually answer its national object, nor prevent the local mis
chiefs which everywhere excite disgusts against the State Gov
ernments. The grounds of this opinion will be the subject of a
future letter.
I have written to a friend in Congress, intimating, in a covert
manner, the necessity of deciding and notifying the intentions
of Congress with regard to their foreign Ministers after May
next, and have dropped a hint on the communications of Dumas.
Congress have taken some measures for disposing of the pub
lic land, and have actually sold a considerable tract. Another
bargain, I learn, is on foot for a further sale.
Nothing can exceed the universal anxiety for the event of the
meeting here. Reports and conjectures abound concerning the
1787. LETTERS. 339
nature of the plan which is to be proposed. The public, how
ever, is certainly in the dark with regard to it. The Conven
tion is equally in the dark as to the reception which may be
given to it on its publication. All the prepossessions are on
the right side, but it may well be expected that certain char
acters will wage war against any reform whatever. My own
idea is, that the public mind will now, or in a very little time,
receive anything that promises stability to the public Councils
and security to private rights, and that no regard ought to be
had to local prejudices or temporary considerations. If the
present moment be lost, it is hard to say what may be our fate.
Our information from Virginia is far from being agreeable.
In many parts of the Country the drought has been extremely
injurious to the Corn. I fear, tho' I have no certain informa
tion, that Orange and Albemarle share in the distress. The
people, also, are said to be generally discontented. A paper
emission is again a topic among them; so is an instalment of all
debts, in some places, and the making property a tender in
others. The taxes are another source of discontent. The
weight of them is complained of, and the abuses in collecting
them still more so. In several Counties the prisons, and Court
Houses, and Clerks7 offices, have been wilfully burnt. In Green
Briar, the course of Justice has been mutinously stopped, and
associations entered into against the payment of taxes. No
other County has yet followed the example. The approaching
meeting of the Assembly will probably allay the discontents on
one side by measures which will excite them on another.
Mr. Wythe has never returned to us. His lady, whose ill
ness carried him away, died some time after he got home. The
other deaths in Virginia are Col. A. Gary, and a few days ago,
Mrs. Harrison, wife of Benjamin Harrison, Junr, and sister of
J. F. Mercer.
Wishing you all happiness, I remain, dear sir, yours affection
ately.
Give my best wishes to Mazzei. I have received his letter
340 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
and book, and will write by the next packet to Mm. Dorman
is still in Virginia. Congress have done nothing for him in his
affair. I am not sure that 9 States have been assembled of late.
At present, it is doubtful whether there are seven.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, September 20th. 1787.
DEAR SIR, — The privilege of franking having ceased with
the Convention, I have waited for this opportunity of inclosing
you a copy of the proposed Constitution for the United States.
I forbear to make any observations on it, either on the side of
its merits or its faults. The best judges of both will be those
who can combine with a knowledge of the collective and per
manent interest of America a freedom from the bias resulting
from a participation in the work. If the plan proposed be
worthy of adoption, the degree of unanimity attained in the
Convention is a circumstance as fortunate as the very respect
able dissent on the part of Virginia is a subject of regret. The
double object of blending a proper stability and energy in the
Government with the essential characters of the republican
form, and of tracing a proper line of demarkation between the
national and State authorities, was necessarily found to be as
difficult as it was desirable, and to admit of an infinite diver
sity concerning the means among those who were unanimously
agreed concerning the end.
I find, by a letter from my father, that he and rny uncle Eras
mus have lately paid their respects to Edmundsbury. I infer
from his silence as to your health that no unfavorable change
had happened in it. That this may find it perfectly re-estab
lished is the sincere and affectionate wish of,
Dear sir, your friend and humble serv*.
1787. LETTERS. 341
TO JAMES MADISOX, SENR.
NEW YORK, Sept' 30th, 1787.
HOND SIR, — By Mr. Blair, who left Philadelphia immediately
after the rising of the Convention, I sent to the care of Mr. F.
Maury a copy of the new Constitution proposed for the U. S.
Mr. Blair set out in such haste that I had no time to write by
him, and I thought the omission of the less consequence, as your
last letter led me to suppose that you must, about that time, be
absent on your trip to Frederick.
I arrived here on monday last. The act of the Convention
was then before Congress. It has been since taken up, and by
a unanimous vote forwarded to the States, to be proceeded on
as recommended by the Convention. What reception this new
system will generally meet with cannot yet be pronounced.
For obvious reasons, opposition is as likely to arise in Virginia
as anywhere. The city of Philadelphia has warmly espoused
it. Both parties there, it is said, have united on the occasion.
It may happen, nevertheless, that a country party may spring
up and give a preponderancy to the opposite scale. In this city
the general voice coincides with that of Philadelphia, but there
is less apparent unanimity, and it is pretty certain that the
party in power will be active in defeating the new system. In
Boston the reception given to it is extremely favorable, we are
told, but more will depend on the country than the town. The
echo from Connecticut and New Jerse}^, as far as it has reached
us, denotes a favorable disposition in those States.
I inclose a few plumb-stones from an excellent tree. I am
aware that this is not the true mode of propagating the fruit,
but it sometimes succeeds, and sometimes even improves the
fruit.
With my affectionate regards to my mother and the family,
I remain, your dutiful son.
342 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, October 14, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — The letter herewith enclosed was put into my
hands yesterday by Mr. de Crevecoeur, who belongs to the Con
sular establishment of France in this country. I add to it a
pamphlet which Mr. Pinckney has submitted to the public, or
rather, as he professes, to the perusal of his friends, and a
printed sheet containing his ideas on a very delicate subject,
too delicate, in my opinion, to have been properly confided to
the press. He conceives that his precautions against any further
circulation of the piece than he himself authorizes are so effect
ual as to justify the step. I wish he may not be disappointed.
In communicating a copy to you, I fulfil his wishes only.
No decisive indications of the public mind in the Northern
and middle States can yet be collected. The reports continue to
be rather favorable to the act of the Convention from every quar
ter ; but its adversaries will naturally be latest in shewing them
selves. Boston is certainly friendly. An opposition is known
to be in petto in Connecticut, but it is said not to be much
dreaded by the other side. Rhode Island will be divided on
this subject in the same manner that it has been on the question
of paper money. The newspapers here have contained sundry
publications animadverting on the proposed Constitution, and
it is known that the Government party are hostile to it. There
are on the other side so many able and weighty advocates, and
the conduct of the Eastern States, if favorable, will add so much
force to their arguments, that there is at least as much ground
for hope as for apprehension. I do not learn that any opposi
tion is likely to be made in New Jersey. The temper of Penn
sylvania will be best known to you from the direct information
which you cannot fail to receive through the newspapers and
other channels.
Congress have been of late employed chiefly in settling the
requisition, and in making some arrangements for the Western
country. The latter consist of the appointment of a Governor
and Secretary, and the allotment of a sum of money for Indian
1787. LETTERS. 343
treaties, if they should be found necessary. The requisition, so
far as it varies our fiscal system, makes the proportion of In
dents receivable independently of specie, and those of different
years indiscriminately receivable for any year, and does not, as
heretofore, tie down the States to a particular mode of obtain
ing them. Mr. Adams has been permitted to return home after
February next, and Mr. Jefferson's appointment continued for
three years longer.
With the most perfect esteem, and most affectionate regard,
I remain, dear sir,
Your obt friend and serv*.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, Ocf 24th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — My two last, though written for the two last
packets, have unluckily been delayed till this conveyance. The
first of them was sent from Philadelphia to Commodore Jones,
in consequence of information that he was certainly to go by
the packet then about to sail. Being detained here by his busi
ness with Congress, and being unwilling to put the letter into
the mail without my approbation, which could not be obtained
in time, he detained the letter also. The second was sent from
Philadelphia to Col. Carrington, with a view that it might go
by the last packet, at all events, in case Commodore Jones
should meet with further detention here. By ill luck he was
out of Town, and did not return till it was too late to make use
of the opportunity. Neither of the letters were, indeed, of much
consequence at the time, and are still less so now. I let them
go forward, nevertheless, as they may mention some circum
stances not at present in my recollection, and as they will pre
vent a chasm in my part of a correspondence which I have so
many motives to cherish by an exact punctuality.
You will herewith receive the result of the Convention, which
continued its session till the 17th of September. I take the lib-
344 WORKS OF MADISON. 17P7.
erty of making some observations on the subject, which will
help to make up a letter, if they should answer no other pur
pose.
It appeared to be the sincere and unanimous wish of the Con
vention to cherish and preserve the Union of the States. No
proposition was made, no suggestion was thrown out, in favor
of a partition of the Empire into two or more Confederacies.
It was generally agreed that the objects of the Union could
not be secured by any system founded on the principle of a con
federation of Sovereign States. A voluntary observance of the
federal law by all the members could never be hoped for. A
compulsive one could evidently never be reduced to practice,
and if it could, involved equal calamities to the innocent and
the guilty, the necessity of a military force, both obnoxious and
dangerous, and, in general, a scene resembling much more a civil
war than the administration of a regular Government.
Hence was embraced the alternative of a Government which,
instead of operating on the States, should operate without their
intervention on the individuals composing them; and hence the
change in the principle and proportion of representation.
This ground-work being laid, the great objects which pre
sented themselves were: 1. To unite a proper energy in the Ex
ecutive, and a proper stability in the Legislative departments,
with the essential characters of Republican Government. 2.
To draw a line of demarkation which would give to the Gene
ral Government every power requisite for general purposes,
and leave to the States every power which might be most bene
ficially administered by them. 3. To provide for the different
interests of different parts of the Union. 4. To adjust the clash
ing pretensions of the large and small States. Each of these
objects was pregnant with difficulties. The whole of them to
gether formed a task more difficult than can be well conceived
by those who were not concerned in the execution of it. Add
ing to these considerations the natural diversity of human opin
ions on all new and complicated subjects, it is impossible to
consider the degree of concord which ultimately prevailed as
less than a miracle.
LETTERS. 345
The first of these objects, as respects the Executive, was pecu
liarly embarrassing. On the question whether it should consist
of a single person or a plurality of co-ordinate members, on the
mode of appointment, on the duration in office, on the degree of
power, on the re-eligibility, tedious and reiterated discussions
took place. The plurality of co-ordinate members had finally
but few advocates. Governor Randolph was at the head of
them. The modes of appointment proposed were various: as
by the people at large, by electors chosen by the people, by the
Executives of the States, by the Congress; some preferring a
joint ballot of the two Houses; some, a separate concurrent bal
lot, allowing to each a negative on the other house; some, a
nomination of several candidates by one House, out of whom a
choice should be made by the other. Several other modifica
tions were started. The expedient at length adopted seemed
to give pretty general satisfaction to the members. As to the
duration in office, a few would have preferred a tenure during
good behaviour; a considerable number would have done so in
case an easy and effectual removal by impeachment could be
settled.
It was much agitated whether a long term, seven years for
example, with a subsequent and perpetual ineligibility, or a short
term, with a capacity to be re-elected, should be fixed. In favor
of the first opinion were urged the danger of a gradual degen
eracy of re-elections from time to time, into first a life and then
a hereditary tenure, and the favorable effect of an incapacity to
l>e reappointed on the independent exercise of the Executive
authority. On the other side it was contended that the pros
pect of necessary degradation would discourage the most dig
nified characters from aspiring to the office ; would take away
the principal motive to the faithful discharge of its duties — the
"hope of being rewarded with areappointinent ; would stimulate
ambition to violent efforts for holding over the Constitutional
term; and instead of producing an independent administration
and a firmer defence of the constitutional rights of the depart
ment, would render the officer more indifferent to the impor
tance of a place which he would soon be obliged to quit forever,
346 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
and more ready to yield to the encroachments of the Legisla
ture, of which he might again be a member.
The questions concerning the degree of power turned chiefly
on the appointment to offices, and the controul on the Legisla
ture. An absolute appointment to all offices, to some offices, to
no offices, formed the scale of opinions on the first point. On
the second, some contended for an absolute negative, as the only
possible mean of reducing to practice the theory of a free Gov
ernment, which forbids a mixture of the Legislative and Exec
utive powers. Others would be content with a revisionary
power, to be overruled by three-fourths of both Houses. It was
warmly urged that the judiciary department should be associ
ated in the revision. The idea of some was, that a separate
revision should be given to the two departments; that if either
objected, two-thirds, if both, three-fourths, should be necessary
to overrule.
In forming the Senate, the great anchor of the government,
the questions, as they come within the first object, turned mostly
on the mode of appointment, and the duration of it. The diifer-
ent modes proposed were: 1. By the House of Representatives.
2. By the Executive. 3. By electors chosen by the people for
the purpose. 4. By the State Legislatures. On the point of
duration, the propositions descended from good behaviour to
four years, through the intermediate terms of nine, seven, six,
and five years. The election of the other branch was first de
termined to be triennial, arid afterwards reduced to biennial.
The second object, the due partition of power between the
General and local Governments, was perhaps, of all, the most
nice and difficult. A few contended for an entire abolition of
the States; some, for indefinite power of Legislation in the
Congress, with a negative on the laws of the States; some, for
such a power without a negative; some, for a limited power of
legislation, with such a negative; the majority, finally, for a
limited power without the negative. The question with regard
to the negative underwent repeated discussions, and was finally
rejected by a bare majority. As I formerly intimated to you
my opinion in favor of this ingredient, I will take this occasion
1787. LETTERS. 347
of explaining myself on the subject. Such a check on the
States appears to me necessary — 1. To prevent encroachments
on the General authority. 2. To prevent instability and in
justice in the legislation of the States.
]. Without such a check in the whole over the parts, our
system involves the evil of imperia in imperio. If a compleat
supremacy somewhere is not necessary in every society, a con-
trouling power at least is so, by which the general authority
may be defended against encroachments of the subordinate
authorities, and by which the latter may be restrained from
encroachments on each other. If the supremacy of the British
Parliament is not necessary, as has been contended, for the
harmony of that Empire, it is evident, I think, that without the
royal negative, or some equivalent controul, the unity of the system
would be destroyed. The want of some such provision seems
to have been mortal to the antient confederacies, and to be the
disease of the modern. Of the Lycian confederacy little is
known. That of the Amphictyons is well known to have been
rendered of little use whilst it lasted, and, in the end, to have been
destroyed by {lie predominance of the local over the federal
authority. The same observation may be made, on the author
ity of Polybius, with regard to the Achaan League. The
Helvetic System scarcely amounts to a confederacy, and is dis
tinguished by too many peculiarities to be a ground of com
parison.
The case of the United Netherlands is in point. The author
ity of a Statdholder, the influence of a standing Army, the
common interest in the conquered possessions, the pressure of
surrounding danger, the guarantee of foreign powers, are not
sufficient to secure the authority and interest of the generality
against the anti-federal tendency of the provincial sovereignties.
The German Empire is another example. A Hereditary chief,
with vast independent resources of wealth and power, a federal
Diet, with ample parchment authority, a regular Judiciary
establishment, the influence of the neighbourhood of great and
formidable nations, have been found unable either to maintain
the subordination of the members, or to prevent their mutual
WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
contests and encroachments. Still more to the purpose is our
own experience, both during the war and since the peace. En
croachments of the States on the general authority, sacrifices
of national to local interests, interferences of the measures of
different States, form a great part of the history of our political
system.
It may be said that the new Constitution is founded on
different principles, and will have a different operation. I
admit the difference to be material. It presents the aspect
rather of a feudal system of republics, if such a phrase may be
used, than of a Confederacy of independent States. And what
has been the progress and event of the feudal Constitutions?
In all of them a continual struggle between the head and the
inferior members, until a final victory has been gained, in some
instances by one, in others, by^ the other of them. In one
respect, indeed, there is a remarkable variance between the two
cases. In the feudal system, the sovereign, though limited, was
independent; and having no particular sympathy of interests
with the great Barons, his ambition had as full play as theirs
in the mutual projects of usurpation. In the American Consti
tution, the general authority will be derived entirely from the
subordinate authorities. The Senate will represent the States
in their political capacity; the other House will represent the
people of the States in their individual capacity. The former
will be accountable to their constituents at moderate, the latter
at short periods. The President also derives his appointment
from the States, and is periodically accountable to them. Tins
dependence of the General on the local authorities seems effec
tually to guard the latter against any dangerous encroachments
of the former; whilst the latter, within their respective limits,
will be continually sensible of the abridgement of their power,
and be stimulated by ambition to resume the surrendered por
tion of it.
We find the representatives of Counties and Corporations in
the Legislatures of the States much more disposed to sacrifice
the aggregate interest, and even authority, to the local views or
their constituents, than the latter to the former. I mean not by
1787. LETTERS. 349
these remarks to insinuate that an esprit de corps will not ex
ist in the National Government, or that opportunities may not
occur of extending its jurisdiction in some points. I mean only
that the danger of encroachments is much greater from the
other side, and that the impossibility of dividing powers of
legislation in such a manner as to be free from different con
structions by different interests, or even from ambiguity in the
judgment of the impartial, requires some such expedient as I
contend for. Many illustrations might be given of this impos
sibility. How long has it taken to fix, and how imperfectly is
yet fixed, the legislative power of corporations, though that
power is subordinate in the most compleat manner? The line
of distinction between the power of regulating trade and that
of drawing revenue from it, which was once considered the bar
rier of our liberties, was found, on fair discussion, to be abso
lutely undefinable. No distinction seems to be more obvious
than that between spiritual and temporal matters. Yet, wher
ever they have been made objects of Legislation, they have
clashed and contended with each other, till one or the other has
gained the supremacy. Even the boundaries between the Ex
ecutive, Legislative, and judiciary powers, though in general so
strongly marked in themselves, consist, in many instances, of
mere shades of difference.
It may be said that the Judicial authority, under our new sys
tem, will keep the States within their proper limits, and supply
the place of a negative on their laws. The answer is, that it is
more convenient to prevent the passage of a law than to declare
it void after it is passed; that this will be particularly the case
where the law aggrieves individuals, who may be unable to
support an appeal against a State to the Supreme Judiciary;
that a State which would violate the Legislative rights of the
Union would not be very ready to obey a Judicial decree in
support of them; and that a recurrence to force, which, in the
event of disobedience, would be necessary, is an evil which the
new Constitution meant to exclude as far as possible.
2. A Constitutional negative on the laws of the States seems
equally necessary to secure individuals against encroachments
350 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
on their rights. The mutability of the laws of the States is
found to be a serious evil. The injustice of them has been so
frequent and so flagrant as to alarm the most stedfast friends
of Republicanism. I am persuaded I do not err in saying that
the evils issuing from these sources contributed more to that
uneasiness which produced the Convention, and prepared the
public mind for a general reform, than those which accrued to
our national character and interest from the inadequacy of the
Confederation to its immediate objects. A reform, therefore,
which does not make provision for private rights, must be ma
terially defective. The restraints against paper emissions and
violations of contracts are not sufficient. Supposing them to be
effectual as far as they go, they are short of the mark. Injus
tice may be effected by such an infinitude of legislative expedi
ents, that where the disposition exists, it can only be controuled
by some provision which reaches all cases whatsoever. The
partial provision made supposes the disposition which will
evade it.
fit may be asked how private rights will be more secure under
the Guardianship of the General Government than under the
State Governments, since they are both founded on the repub
lican principle which refers the ultimate decision to the will of
the majority, and are distinguished rather by the extent within
which they will operate, than by any material difference in their
structure. A full discussion of this question would, if I mistake
not, unfold the true principles of Republican Government, and
prove, in contradiction to the concurrent opinions of the theo
retical writers, that this form of Government, in order to effect
its purposes, must operate not within a small but an extensive
sphere. I will state some of the ideas which have occurred to
me on this subject.
Those who contend for a simple democracy, or a pure repub
lic, actuated by the sense of the majority, and operating within
narrow limits, assume or suppose a case which is altogether
fictitious. They found their reasoning on the idea that the
people composing the Society enjoy not only an equality of po
litical rights, but that they have all precisely the same inter-
17S7. LETTERS. 351
osts and the same feelings in every respect. Were this in re
ality the case, their reasoning would be conclusive. The inter
est of the majority would be that of the minority also; the de
cisions could only turn on mere opinion concerning the good of
the whole, of which the major voice would be the safest criterion;
and within a small sphere, this voice could be most easily col
lected, and the public affairs most accurately managed.
We know, however, that no society ever did, or can, consist
of so homogeneous a mass of Citizens. In the Savage state, in
deed, an approach is made towards it, but in that state little or
no Government is necessary. £ln all civilized societies, distinc
tions are various and unavoidable. A distinction of property
results from that very protection which a free Government
gives to unequal faculties of acquiring it. There will be rich
and poor; creditors and debtors; a landed interest, a monied
interest, a mercantile interest, a manufacturing interest. These
classes may again be subdivided according to the different pro
ductions of different situations and soils, and according to dif
ferent branches of commerce and of manufactures. In addition
to these natural distinctions, artificial ones will be founded on
accidental differences in political, religious, or other opinions,
or an attachment to the persons of leading individuals. How
ever erroneous or ridiculous these grounds of dissention and
faction may appear to the enlightened Statesman or the benev
olent philosopher, the bulk of mankind, who are neither States
men nor philosophers, will continue to view them in a different
light.
It remains, then, to be enquired, whether a majority having
any common interest, or feeling any common passion, will find
sufficient motives to restrain them from oppressing the minority^
An individual is never allowed to be a judge, or even a witness,
in his own cause. If two individuals are under the bias of
interest or enmity against a third, the rights of the latter could
never be safely referred to the majority of the three. Will two
thousand individuals be less apt to oppress one thousand, or two
hundred thousand one hundred thousand ?
Three motives only can restrain in such cases: 1. A prudent
352 WORKS OF MADISON. I7h7.
regard to private or partial good, as essentially involved in the
general and permanent good of the whole. This ought, no
doubt, to be sufficient of itself. Experience, however, shews
that it has little effect on individuals, and perhaps still less on
a collection of individuals, and least of all on a majority with
the public authority in their hands. If the former are ready to
forget that honesty is the best policy, the last do more. They
often proceed on the converse of the maxim, that whatever is
politic is honest. 2. Respect for character. This motive is not
found sufficient to restrain individuals from injustice, and loses
its efficacy in proportion to the number which is to divide the
pain or the blame. Besides, as it has reference to public opin
ion, which is that of the majority, the standard is fixed by those
whose conduct is to be measured by it. 3. Religion. The in-
efficacy of this restraint on individuals is well known. The
conduct of every popular assembly, acting on oath, the strong
est of religious ties, shews that individuals join without remorse
in acts against which their consciences would revolt, if proposed
to them, separately, in their closets. When, indeed, Religion is
kindled into enthusiasm, its force, like that of other passions, is
increased by the sympathy of a multitude. But enthusiasm is
only a temporary state of Religion, and whilst it lasts will
hardly be seen with pleasure at the helm. Even in its coolest
state, it has been much oftener a motive to oppression than a
restraint from it.
If, then, there must be different interests and parties in
society, and a majority, when united by a common interest or
passion, cannot be restrained from oppressing the minority, what
remedy can be found in a republican Government, where the
majority must ultimately decide, but that of giving such an
extent to its sphere, that no common interest or passion will be
likely to unite a majority of the whole number in an unjust
pursuit? In a large society, the people are broken into so
many interests and parties, that a common sentiment is less
likely to be felt, and the requisite concert less likely to be
formed, by a majority of the whole. The same security seems
requisite for the civil as for the religious rights of individuals.
1787. LETTERS. 353
If the same sect form a majority, and have the power, other
sects will be sure to be depressed. Divide et impera, the
reprobated axiom of tyranny, is, under certain qualifications,
the only policy by which a republic can be administered on just
principles.
It must be observed, however, that this doctrine can only
hold within a sphere of a mean extent. As in too small a
sphere oppressive combinations may be too easily formed against
the weaker party, so in too extensive a one a defensive concert
may be rendered too difficult against the oppression of those
entrusted with the administration. The great desideratum in
Government is so to modify the sovereignty as that it may be
sufficiently neutral between different parts of the society to con-
troul one part from invading the rights of another, and at the
same time sufficiently controuled itself from setting up an
interest adverse to that of the entire society. In absolute
monarchies, the prince may be tolerably neutral towards differ
ent classes of his subjects, but may sacrifice the happiness of all
to his personal ambition or avarice. In small republics, the
sovereign will is controuled from such a sacrifice of the entire
society, but is not sufficiently neutral towards the parts com
posing it. /In the extended Republic of the United States, the
General Government would hold a pretty even balance between
the parties of particular States, and be at the same time suffi
ciently restrained, by its dependence on the community, from
betraying its general interests.)
Begging pardon for this immoderate digression, I return to
the third object above mentioned, the adjustments of the differ
ent interests of different parts of the continent. Some con
tended for an unlimited power over trade, including exports as
well as imports, and over slaves as well as other imports; some,
for such a power, provided the concurrence of two-thirds of both
Houses were required; some, for such a qualification of the
power, with an exemption of exports and slaves; others, for an
exemption of exports only. The result is seen in the Consti
tution. South Carolina and Georgia were inflexible on the
point of the Slaves.
VOL. i. 23
354 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
The remaining object created more embarrassment, and a
greater alarm for the issue of the Convention, than all the rest
put together. The little States insisted on retaining their
equality in both branches, unless a compleat abolition of the
State Governments should take place; and made an equality in
the Senate a sine qua non. The large States, on the other hand,
urged that as the new Government was to be drawn principally
from the people immediately, and was to operate directly on
them, not on the States; and, consequently, as the States would
lose that importance which is now proportioned to the impor
tance of their voluntary compliance with the requisitions of
Congress, it was necessary that the representation in both
Houses should be in proportion to their size. It ended in the
compromise which you will see, but very much to the dis
satisfaction of several members from the large States.
It will not escape you that three names only from Virginia
are subscribed to the act. Mr. Wythe did not return after the
death of his lady. Doctor McClurg left the Convention some
time before the adjournment. The Governor and Col. Mason
refused to be parties to it. Mr. Gerry was the only other mem
ber who refused. The objections of the Governor turn princi
pally on the latitude of the general powers, and on the connec
tion established between the President and the Senate. Fie
wished that the plan should be proposed to the States, with
liberty to them to suggest alterations, which should all be re
ferred to another General Convention, to be incorporated into
the plan as far as might be judged expedient. He was not in
veterate in his opposition, and grounded his refusal to subscribe
pretty much on his unwillingness to commit himself, so as not
to be at liberty to be governed by further lights on the subject.
Col. Mason left Philadelphia in an exceeding ill humour in
deed. A number of little circumstances, arising in part from
the impatience which prevailed towards the close of the busi
ness, conspired to whet his acrimony. He returned to Virginia
with a fixed disposition to prevent the adoption of the plan, if
possible. He considers the want of a Bill of Rights as a fatal
objection. His other objections are to the substitution of the
1787. LETTERS. 355
Senate in place of an Executive Council, and to the powers
vested in that body ; to the powers of the Judiciary ; to the vice
president being made president of the Senate; to the smallness
of the number of Representatives; to the restriction on the
States with regard to ex post facto laws; and most of all, prob
ably, to the power of regulating trade by a majority only of
each House. He has some other lesser objections. Being now
under the necessity of justifying his refusal to sign, he will, of
course, muster every possible one. His conduct has given great
umbrage to the County of Fairfax, and particularly to the Town
of Alexandria. He is already instructed to promote in the As
sembly the calling a Convention, and will probably be either
not deputed to the Convention, or be tied up by express instruc
tions. He did not object in general to the powers vested in
the National Government so much as to the modification. In
some respects he admitted that some further powers would have
improved the system. He acknowledged, in particular, that a
negative on the State laws and the appointment of the State
Executives ought to be ingredients; but supposed that the pub
lic-mind would not now bear them, and that experience would
hereafter produce these amendments.
The final reception which will be given by the people at large
to the proposed system cannot yet be decided. The Legislature
of New Hampshire was sitting when it reached that State, and
was well pleased with it. As far as the sense of the people
there has been expressed, it is generally favorable. Boston is
warm and almost unanimous in embracing it. The impression
on the country is not yet known. No symptoms of disapproba
tion have appeared. The Legislature of that State is now sit
ting, through which the sense of the people at large will soon
be promulged with tolerable certainty. The paper-money fac
tion in Rhode Island is hostile. The other party zealously at
tached to it. Its passage through Connecticut is likely to be
very smooth and easy. There seems to be less agitation in this
State [New York] than anywhere. The discussion of the sub
ject seems confined to the Newspapers. The principal charac
ters are known to be friendly. The Governour's party, which
356 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
has hitherto been the popular and most numerous one, is sup
posed to be on the opposite side; but considerable reserve is
practiced, of which he sets the example. New Jersey takes the
affirmative side, of course. Meetings of the people are declar
ing their approbation and instructing their representatives.
Pennsylvania will be divided. The City of Philadelphia, the
Republican party, the Quakers, and most of the Germans, es
pouse the Constitution. Some of the Constitutional leaders,
backed by the Western Country, will oppose. An unlucky fer
ment on the subject in their Assembly just before its late ad
journment has irritated both sides, particularly the opposition,
and by redoubling the exertions of that party may render the
event doubtful. The voice of Maryland, I understand from
pretty good authority, is, as far as it has been declared, strongly
in favor of the Constitution. Mr. Chase is an enemy, but the
Town of Baltimore, which he now represents, is warmly attached
to it, and will shackle him as far as it can. Mr. Paca will
probably be, as usual, in the politics of Chase.
My information from Virginia is as yet extremely imperfect.
I have a letter from General Washington, which speaks favor
ably of the impression within a circle of some extent; and
another from Chancellor Pendleton, which expresses his full
acceptance of the pktn, and the popularity of it in his district.
I am told, also, that Innes and Marshall are patrons of it. In
the opposite scale are Mr. James Mercer, Mr. R. H. Lee, Doc
tor Lee, and their connections, of course, Mr. M. Page, accord
ing to report, and most of the Judges and bar of the General
Court. The part which Mr. Henry will take is unknown here.
Much will depend on it. I had taken it for granted, from a
variety of circumstances, that he would be in the opposition,
and still think that will be the case. There are reports, how
ever, which favor a contrary supposition.
From the States South of Virginia nothing has been heard.
As the deputation from South Carolina consisted of some of its
weightiest characters, who have returned unanimously zealous
in favor of the Constitution, it is probable that State will read
ily embrace it. It is not less probable that North Carolina
1787. LETTERS. 357
will follow the example, unless that of Virginia should counter
balance it. Upon the whole, although the public mind will not
be fully known, nor finally settled, for a considerable time, ap
pearances at present augur a more prompt and general adop
tion of the plan than could have been well expected.
November 1. Commodore Paul Jones having preferred another
vessel to the packet, has remained here till this time. The in
terval has produced little necessary to be added to the above.
The Legislature of Massachusetts have, it seems, taken up the
act of the Convention, and have appointed, or probably will ap
point, an early day for its State Convention. There are letters,
also, from Georgia, which denote a favorable disposition. I
am informed from Richmond that the new Election law from
the Revised Code produced a pretty full House of Delegates, as
well as a Senate, on the first day. It had previously had equal
effect in producing full meetings of the freeholders for the county
elections. A very decided majority of the Assembly is said to
be zealous in favor of the New Constitution. The same is said
of the Country at large. It appears, however, that individuals
of great weight, both within and without the Legislature, are
opposed to it. A letter I just have from Mr. A. Stuart names
Mr. Henry, General Nelson, W. Nelson, the family of Cabells,
S* George Tucker, John Taylor, and the Judges of the General
Court, except P. Carrington. The other opponents he describes
as of too little note to be mentioned, which gives a negative in
formation of the characters on the other side. All are agreed
that the plan must be submitted to a Convention.
We hear from Georgia that that State is threatened with a
dangerous war with the Creek Indians. The alarm is of so
serious a nature that law-martial has been proclaimed, and they
are proceeding to fortify even the town of Savannah. The idea
there is, that the Indians derive their motives as well as their
means from their Spanish neighbours. Individuals complain,
also, that their fugitive slaves are encouraged by East Florida.
The policy of this is explained by supposing that it is consid
ered as a discouragement to the Georgians to form settlements
near the Spanish boundaries.
358 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
There are but few States on the spot here which will survive
the expiration of the federal year, and it is extremely uncertain
when a Congress will again be formed. We have not yet heard
who are to be in the appointment of Virginia for the next
year.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, October 28th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — I have received, and acknowledge with great
pleasure, your favor of the 8th inst. The remarks which you
make on the act of the Convention appear to me to be in gen
eral extremely well founded. Your criticism on the clause ex
empting vessels bound to and from a State from being obliged
to enter, &c., in another, is particularly so. This provision was
dictated by the jealousy of some particular States, and was in
serted pretty late in the Session. The object of it was what you
conjecture. The expression is certainly not accurate. Is not a
religious test, as far as it is necessary, or would operate, in
volved in the oath itself? If the person swearing believes in
the Supreme Being, who is invoked, and in the penal conse
quences of offending him, either in this or a future world, or
both, he will be under the same restraint from perjury as if he
had previously subscribed a test requiring this belief. If the
person in question be an unbeliever in these points, and would,
notwithstanding, take the oath, a previous test could have no
effect. He would subscribe it as he would take the oath, with
out any principle that could be affected by either.
I find, by a letter from Mr. Dawson, that the proposed Con
stitution is received by the Assembly with a more prompt and
general approbation than could well have been expected. The
example of Virginia will have great weight, and the more so,
as the disagreement of the deputation will give it more the ap
pearance of being the unbiassed expression of the public mind.
It would be truly mortifying if anything should occur to pre
vent or retard the concurrence of a State which has generally
taken the lead on great occasions. And it would be the more
1787. LETTERS. 359
so in this case, as it is generally believed that nine of the States
at least will embrace the plan, and, consequently, that the tardy
remainder must be reduced to the dilemma of either shifting for
themselves, or coming in without any credit for it.
There is reason to believe that the Eastern States, Rhode
Island excepted, will be among the foremost in adopting the
system. No particular information is yet received from New
Hampshire. The presumptive evidence of its good disposition,
however, is satisfactory. The Legislature of Massachusetts is
now sitting, and letters from good authority say that every
thing goes well. Connecticut has unanimously called a Con
vention, and left no room to doubt her favorable disposition.
This State has long had the character of being anti-federal.
Whether she will purge herself of it on this occasion, or not, is
yet fo be ascertained. Most of the respectable characters are
zealous on the right side. The party in power is suspected, on
good grounds, to be on the wrong one. New Jersey adopts
eagerly the Constitution. Pennsylvania is considerably divided:
but the majority are, as yet, clearly with the Convention. I
have no very late information from Maryland. The reports are,
that the opposition will make no great figure. Not a word has
been heard from the States South of Virginia, except from the
lower parts of North Carolina, where the Constitution was well
received. There can be little doubt, I think, that the three
Southern States will go right, unless the conduct of Virginia
were to mislead them. I enclose two of the last newspapers of
this place, to which I add one of Philada, containing the report
of a late important decision of the Supreme Court there. If
the report be faithful, I suspect it will not give you a high idea
of the chancery knowledge of the Chief Justice.
I am, dear sir, with sincere affection, your obt friend and
360 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, November 18. 1787.
DEAR SIR, — Your favour of the 5th instant found me in Phil
adelphia, whither I had proceeded, under arrangements for pro
ceeding to Virginia or returning to this place, as I might there
decide. I did not acknowledge it in Philadelphia, because I
had nothing to communicate which you would riot receive more
fully and correctly from the Mr. Morrises, who were setting out
for Virginia.
All my informations from Richmond concur in representing
the enthusiasm in favor of the new Constitution as subsiding,
and giving place to a spirit of criticism. I was fearful of such
an event from the influence and co-operation of some of the ad
versaries. I do not learn, however, that the cause has lost its
majority in the Legislature, and still less among the people at
large.
I have nothing to add to the information heretofore given
concerning the progress of the Constitution in other States.
Mr. Gerry has presented his objections to the Legislature in a
letter addressed to them, and signified his readiness, if desired,
to give the particular reasons on which they were founded.
The Legislature, it seems, decline the explanation, either from
a supposition that they have nothing further to do in the busi
ness, having handed it over to the Convention, or from an un
willingness to countenance Mr. Gerry's conduct, or from both
of these considerations. It is supposed that the promulgation
of this letter will shake the confidence of some, and embolden
the opposition of others in that State; but I cannot discover
any ground for distrusting the prompt and decided concurrence
of a large majority.
I enclose herewith the seven first numbers of the Federalist,
a paper addressed to the people of this State. They relate en
tirely to the importance of the Union. If the whole plan should
be executed, it will present to the public a full discussion of the
merits of the proposed Constitution in all its relations. From
the opinion I have formed of the views of a party in Virginia,
1787. LETTERS. 3G1
•
I am inclined to think that the observations on the first branch
of the subject may not be superfluous antidotes in that State,
any more than in this. If you concur with me, perhaps the
papers may be put into the hands of some of your confidential
correspondents at Richmond, who would have them reprinted
there. I will not conceal from you that I am likely to have
such a degree of connection with the publication here as to af
ford a restraint of delicacy from interesting myself directly in
the republication elsewhere. You will recognize one of the
pens concerned in the task. There are three in the whole. A
fourth may possibly bear a part.
The intelligence by the packet, as far as I have collected it,
is contained in the Gazette of yesterday.
Virginia is the only State represented, as yet. When a Con
gress will be formed is altogether uncertain. It is not very
improbable, I think, that the interregnum may continue through
out the winter.
With every sentiment, <fcc. .
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, November 20, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — My last enclosed the seven first numbers of the
paper of which I gave you some account. I now add the seven
following numbers, which close the first branch of the subject —
the importance of the Union. The succeeding papers shall be
forwarded from time to time as they come out.
The latest authentic information from Europe places the
Dutch in a wretched situation. The patriots will probably de
pend, in the event, on external politics for the degree of secu
rity and power that may be left them. The Turks and Russians
have begun a war in that quarter, and a general one is not im
probable.
I have heard nothing of consequence lately concerning the
progress of the new Constitution. The Pennsylvania Conven-
WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
tion has probably by this time come to a decision, but it is not
known here.
Not more than two or three States are yet convened. The
prospect of a quorum during the winter continues precarious.
With every sentiment of respect and attachment, I remain,
Dear Sir, your affect6, humble serv*.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, December 7, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — My last enclosed a continuation of the Federalist
to number 14, inclusive. I now add the numbers which have
succeeded.
No authentic information has yet arrived concerning the pos
ture of Europe. Reports, with some less doubtful symptoms,
countenance the suspicions of war.
I understand that the Constitution will certainly be adopted
in Connecticut, the returns of the Deputies being now known,
and a very great majority found to be its declared and firm
friends. There will be more opposition in Massachusetts, but
its friends there continue to be very sanguine of victory. New
Hampshire, as far as I can learn, may be set down on the right
list,
I remain, dear Sir, with the highest respect and the most
unfeigned attachment, your obedient, humble servant.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, December 9th, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 17th of September, with sun
dry other letters and packets, came duly by the last packet.
Such of them as were addressed to others were duly forwarded.
The three boxes, marked I. M., G. W., and A. D., it appears,
1787. LETTERS. 363
were never shipped from Havre. Whenever they arrive your
commands with regard to the two last shall be attended to, as
well as those relating to some of the contents of the first. I
have not been able to get any satisfactory account of William
S. Browne. Alderman Broom tells me that he professed to re
ceive the money from him for the use of Mr. Burke. I shall
not lose sight of the subject, and will give you the earliest in
formation of the result of my enquiries.
The annexed list of trees will shew you that I have ventured
to substitute half a dozen sorts of apples in place of the pippins
alone, and to add 8 other sorts of American Trees, including
twenty of the Sugar maple. They were obtained from a Mr.
Prince, in the neighborhood of this city, who deals largely in
this way, and is considered as a man of worth. I learn from
him that he has executed various commissions for Europe and
the West Indies, as well as places less distant, and that he has
been generally very successful in preserving the trees from per
ishing by such distant transplantations. He does not use moss,
as you prescribe, but encloses the roots in a bag of earth. As
moss is not to be got, he says, it is uncertain whether necessity
or choice gives the preference to the latter. I enclose a cata
logue of his nursery, and annex the price of the sample I send
you. that you may, if you incline, give orders for any other sup
ply. I doubt whether the Virginia Red Birds are found in this
part of America. Opossums are not rare in the milder parts
of New Jersey, but are very rare this far Northward. I shall,
nevertheless, avail myself of any opportunities which may hap
pen for procuring and forwarding both.
Along with the box of trees, I send by the packet, to the care
of Mr. Limosin, two barrels of New-town pippins, and two of
Cranberries. In one of the latter the Cranberries are put up
dry, in the other in water; the opinions and accounts differing
as to the best mode, you will note the event of the experiment.
The Constitution proposed by the late Convention engrosses
almost the whole political attention of America. All the Legis
latures, except that of Rhode Island, which has assembled, have
agreed in submitting it to State Conventions. Virginia has
364 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
pet the example of opening a door for amendments, if the Con
vention there should chuse to propose them. Maryland has
copied it. The States which preceded referred the Constitu
tion, as recommended by the General Convention, to be ratified
or rejected as it stands. The Convention of Pennsylvania is
now sitting. There are about 44 or 45 on the affirmative, and
about half that number on the opposite side; a considerable
number of the Constitutional party, as it was called, having
joined the other party in espousing the Federal Constitution.
The returns of deputies for the Convention of Connecticut are
known, and prove, as is said by those who know the men, that
a very great majority will adopt it in that State.
The event in Massachusetts lies in greater uncertainty. The
friends of the New Government continue to be sanguine. New
Hampshire, from every account, as well as from some general
inducements felt there, will pretty certainly be on the affirma
tive side. So will New Jersey and Delaware. New York is
much divided. She will hardly dissent from New England, par
ticularly if the conduct of the latter should coincide with that
of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A more formidable opposi
tion is likely to be made in Maryland than was at first conjec
tured. Mr. Mercer, it seems, who was a member of the Con
vention, though his attendance was but for a short time, is be
come an auxiliary to Chase. Johnson, the Carrolls, Governor
Lee, and most of the other characters of weight, are on the
other side. Mr. T. Stone died a little before the Government
was promulged.
The body of the people in Virginia, particularly in the upper
and lower Country, and in the Northern neck, are, as far as I
can gather, much disposed to adopt the New Constitution. The
middle Country, and the South side of James River, are prin
cipally in the opposition to it. As yet a large majority of the
people are under the first description; as yet, also, are a major
ity of the Assembly. What change may be produced by the
united influence and exertions of Mr. Henry, Mr. Mason, and
the Governor, with some pretty able auxiliaries, is uncertain.
My information leads me to suppose there must be three parties
1787. LETTERS. 365
in Virginia. The first, for adopting without attempting amend
ments. This includes General Washington and the other depu
ties who signed the Constitution, Mr. Pendleton, (Mr. Marshall,
I believe,) Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Corbin, Mr. Zachy Johnson, Col.
Innes, (Mr. B. Randolph, as I understand,) Mr. Harvey, Mr.
Gabriel Jones, Doctor Jones, &c., &c. At the head of the sec
ond party, which urges amendments, are the Governor and Mr.
Mason. These do not object to the substance of the Govern
ment, but contend for a few additional guards in favor of the
rights of the States and of the people. I am not able to enu
merate the characters which fall in with their ideas, as distin
guished from those of a third class, at the head of which is Mr.
Henry. This class concurs at present with the patrons of
amendments, but will probably contend for such as strike at
the essence of the system, and must lead to an adherence to the
principle of the existing confederation, which most thinking
men are convinced is a visionary one, or to a partition of the
Union into several Confederacies.
Mr. Harrison, the late Governor, is with Mr. Henry. So
are a number of others. The General and Admiralty Courts,
with most of the Bar, oppose the Constitution, but on what par
ticular grounds I am unable to say. General Nelson, Mr. John
Page, Col. Bland, &c., are also opponents, but on what princi
ple and to what extent I am equally at a loss to say. In gen
eral, I must note that I speak with respect to many of these
names from information that may not be accurate, and merely
as I should do in a free and confidential conversation with you.
I have not yet heard Mr. Wythe's sentiments on the subject.
Doctor McClurg, the other absent deputy, is a very strenuous
defender of the new Government. Mr. Henry is the great ad
versary who will render the event precarious. He is, I find,
with his usual address, working up every possible interest into
a spirit of opposition.
It is worthy of remark, that whilst in Virginia, and some of
the other States in the middle and Southern Districts of the
Union, the men of intelligence, patriotism, property, and inde
pendent circumstances, are thus divided, all of this description,
366 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
with a few exceptions, in the Eastern States, and most of the
Middle States, are zealously attached to the proposed Constitu
tion. In New England, the men of letters, the principal officers
of Government, the Judges and lawyers, the Clergy, and men
of property, furnish only here and there an adversary. It is
not less worthy of remark, that in Virginia, where the mass of
the people have been so much accustomed to be guided by their
rulers on all new and intricate questions, they should on the
present, which certainly surpasses the judgment of the greater
part of them, not only go before, but contrary to their most
popular leaders. And the phenomenon is the more wonderful,
as a popular ground is taken by all the adversaries to the new
Constitution. Perhaps the solution in both these cases would
not be very difficult; but it would lead to observations too dif
fusive, and to you unnecessary. I will barely observe that the
case in Virginia seems to prove that the body of sober and
steady people, even of the lower order, are tired of the vicissi
tudes, injustice, and follies, which have so much characterized
public measures, and are impatient for some change which prom
ises stability and repose.
The proceedings of the present Assembly are more likely to
cherish than remove this disposition. I find Mr. Henry has
carried a Resolution for prohibiting the importation of Rum,
brandy, and other ardent spirits; and if I am not misinformed,
all manufactured leather, hats, and sundry other articles, are
included in the prohibition. Enormous duties, at least, are
likely to take place on the last and many other articles. A
project of this sort, without the concurrence of the other States,
is little short of madness. With such concurrence, it is not
practicable without resorting to expedients equally noxious to
liberty and economy. The consequences of the experiment in a
single State as unprepared for manufactures as Virginia may
easily be preconceived.
The Revised Code will not be resumed. Mr. Henry is an
inveterate adversary to it. Col. Mason made a regular and
powerful attack on the port Bill, but was left in a very small
minority. I found at the last session that that regulation was
1787. LETTERS. 367
not to be shaken, though it certainly owes its success less to it3
principal merits t,han to collateral and casual considerations.
The popular ideas are, that by favoring the collection of duties
on imports, it saves the solid property from direct taxes; and
that it injures Great Britain by lessening the advantage she has
over other nations in the trade of Virginia.
We have no certain information from the three Southern
States concerning the temper relative to the new Government.
It is in general favorable, according to the vague accounts we
have. Opposition, however, will be made in each. Mr. Wiley
Jones and Governor Gas well have been named as opponents in
North Carolina.
So few particulars have come to hand concerning the state of
things in Georgia, that I have nothing to add, on that subject,
to the contents of my last by Commodore Jones.
We have two or three States only yet met for Congress. As
many more can be called in, when their attendance will make a
quorum. It continues to be problematical whether the inter
regnum will not be spun out through the winter.
We remain in great uncertainty here with regard to a war in
Europe. Reports and suspicions are strongly on the side of one.
Such an event may be considered in various relations to this
country. It is pretty certain, I think, that if the present lax
state of our General Government should continue, we shall not
only lose certain capital advantages which might be drawn
from it, but be in danger of being plunged into difficulties,
which may have a very serious effect on our future fortunes.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, December 14, 1787.
DEAR SIR, — Along with this are enclosed a few copies of the
latest gazettes, containing the additional papers in favor of the
federal Constitution.
I find by letters from Richmond that the proceedings of the
Assembly are, as usual, rapidly degenerating with the progress
308 WORKS OF MADISON. 1787.
of the Session; and particularly that the force opposed to the
act of the Convention has gained the ascendance. There is
still, nevertheless, a hope left that different characters and a
different spirit may prevail in their successors, who are to make
the final decision. In one point of view, the present Assembly
may, perhaps, be regarded as pleading most powerfully the cause
of the new government, for it is impossible for stronger proofs
to be found than in their conduct of the necessity of some such
anchor against the fluctuations which threaten to shipwreck our
liberty.
I am, dear Sir, with the most sincere and perfect esteem, your
affect0 and obt humble servant.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, December 2G. 1787.
DEAR SIR, — I am just informed by a Delegate from New
Hampshire that he has a letter from President Sullivan, which
tells him that the Legislature had" unanimously agreed to call a
Convention, as recommended, to meet in February. The second
Wednesday is the day, if I have not mistaken it. We have no
further information of much importance from Massachusetts.
It appears that Cambridge, the residence of Mr. Gerry, has
left him out of the choice for the Convention, and put in Mr.
Dana, formerly Minister of the United States in Europe, and
another gentleman, both of them firmly opposed to Mr. Gerry's
politics. I observe, too, in a Massachusetts paper, that the
omission of Col. Mason's objection with regard to commerce, in
the lirst publication of his objections, has been supplied. This
will more than undo the effect of the mutilated view of them.
New Jersey, the newspapers tell us, has adopted the Constitu
tion unanimously. Our European intelligence remains perfectly
as it stood at the date of my last.
With the most affectionate esteem and attachment, I am, Dr
Sir, your obt and very humble serv*.
1788. LETTERS. 369
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, January 14, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The daily Advertiser of this date contains seve
ral important articles of information, which need only to be
referred to. I enclose it, with a few other late papers. Neither
French nor English packet is yet arrived, and the present
weather would prevent their getting in if they should be on the
coast. I have heard nothing of consequence from Massachusetts
since my last. The accounts from New Hampshire continue to
be as favorable as could be wished. From South Carolina we
get no material information. A letter from Georgia of the 25th
of December says that the Convention was getting together at
Augusta, and that everything wore a federal complexion.
North Carolina, it seems, has been so complaisant to Virginia
as to postpone her Convention 'till July. We are without a
Congress.
With perfect esteem and attachment, I remain, Dear Sir, your
most obedfc humble servant.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, January 20, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The Count de Moustier arrived here a few days
ago. as successor to the Chevalier de la Luzerne. His passage
has been so tedious that I am not sure that the despatches from
Mr. Jefferson make any considerable addition to former intelli
gence. I have not yet seen them, but am told that this is the
case. In general, it appears that the affairs of Holland are put
into a pacific train. The Prussian troops are to be withdrawn,
and the event settled by negotiations. But it is still possible
that the war between the Russians and Turks may spread a
general flame throughout Europe.
The intelligence from Massachusetts begins to be very omi
nous to the Constitution. The anti-federal party is reinforced
VOL. i. 24
370 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
by the insurgents, and by the province of Maine, which appre
hends greater obstacles to the scheme of a separate government
from the new system than may be otherwise experienced; and,
according to the prospect at the date of the last letters, there
was very great reason to fear that the voice of that State would
be in the negative. The operation of such an event on this
State may easily be foreseen. Its Legislature is now sitting,
and is much divided. A majority of the Assembly are said to
be friendly to the merits of the Constitution. A majority of
the Senators actually convened are opposed to a submission of
it to a Convention. The arrival of the absent members will
render the voice of that branch uncertain on the point of a
Convention. The decision of Massachusetts either way will
involve the result in this State. The minority in Pennsylvania
is very restless under their defeat. If they can get an assem
bly to their wish, they will endeavour to undermine what has
been done there. If backed by Massachusetts, they will prob
ably be emboldened to make some more rash experiment. The
information from Georgia continues to be favorable. The little
we get from South Carolina is of the same complexion.
If I am not misinformed as to the arrival of some members
for Congress, a quorum is at length made up.
With the most perfect esteem and attachment, I remain, dear
sir, your obt and humble servant.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, January 25, 17 88.
DEAR SIR, — I have been favored since my last with yours of
the 10th instant, with a copy of the Governor's letter to the
Assembly. I do not know what impression the letter may make
in Virginia. It is generally understood here that the argu
ments contained in it in favor of the Constitution are much
stronger than the objections which prevented his assent. His
arguments are forcible in all places, and with all persons. His
1788. LETTERS. 371
objections are connected with his particular way of thinking on
the subject, in which many of the adversaries to the Constitu
tion do not concur.
The information from Boston by the mail on the evening be
fore last has not removed our suspense. The following is an
extract of a letter from Mr. King, dated on the 16th instant:
" We may have 360 members in our Convention. Not more
than 330 have yet taken their seats. Immediately after the
settlement of elections, the Convention resolved that they would
consider and freely debate on each paragraph, without taking
a question on any of them individually; and that on the ques
tion whether they would ratify, each member should be at lib
erty to discuss the plan at large. This Resolution seems to
preclude the idea of amendments; and hitherto the measure has
not been suggested. I, however, do not, from this circumstance,
conclude that it may not hereafter occur. The opponents of
the Constitution moved that Mr. Gerry should be requested to
take a seat in the Convention, to answer such enquiries as the
Convention should make concerning facts which happened in
the passing of the Constitution. Although this seems to be a
very irregular proposal, yet, considering the jealousies which
prevail with those who made it, who are certainly not the most
enlightened part of the Convention, and the doubt of the issue
had it been made a trial of strength, several friends of the Con
stitution ttnited with the opponents, and the resolution was
agreed to, and Mr. Gerry has taken his seat. To-morrow, we
are told, certain enquiries are to be moved for by the opposi
tion, and that Mr. Gerry, under the idea of stating facts, is to
state his reasons, &c. This will be opposed, and we shall, on
the division, be able to form some idea of our relative strength.
From the men who are in favor of the Constitution every rea
sonable explanation will be given, and arguments really new,
and in my judgment most excellent, have been and will be pro
duced in its support. But what will be its fate, I confess I am
unable to discern. No question ever classed the people of this
State in a more extraordinary manner, or with more apparent
firmness."
37:2 WORKS OF MADISON. nss.
A Congress of seven States was made up on Monday. Mr.
C. Griffin has been placed in the chair. This is the only step
yet taken.
I remain, with the highest respect and attachment, yours af
fectionately. <4
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, January 28, 17S8.
DEAR SIR, — The information which I have by the Eastern
mail rather increases than removes the anxiety produced by the
last. I give it to you as I have received it, in the words of Mr.
King:
"BOSTON, 20 January, 1788.
"Our Convention proceeds slowly. An apprehension that
the liberties of the people are in danger, and a distrust of men
of property or education, have a more powerful effect upon the
minds of our opponents than any specific objections against the
Constitution. If the opposition was grounded on any precise
points, I am persuaded that it might be weakened, if not en
tirely overcome. But any attempt to remove their fixed and
violent jealousy seems hitherto to operate as a confirmation of
that baneful passion. The opponents affirm to each other that
they have an unalterable majority on their side. The friends
doubt the strength of their adversaries, but are not entirely
confident of their own. An event has taken place relative to
Mr. Gerry, which, without great caution, may throw us into
confusion. I informed you by the last post on what terms Mr.
Gerry took a seat in the Convention. Yesterday, in the course
of Debate on the Construction of the Senate, Mr. G., unasked,
informed the Convention that he had some information to give
the Convention on the subject then under discussion. Mr. Dana
and a number of the most respectable members remarked upon
the impropriety of Mr. G.'s conduct. Mr. G. rose with a view
to justify himself. He was immediately prevented by a number
LETTERS. 373
of objectors. This brought on an irregular conversation whether
Mr. G. should be heard. The hour of adjournment arrived, and
the President adjourned the House. Mr. Gerry immediately
charged Mr. Dana with a design of injuring his reputation by
partial information, and preventing his having an opportunity
to communicate important truths to the Convention. This
charge drew a warm reply from Mr. Dana. The members col
lected about them, took sides as they were for or against the
Constitution, and we were in danger of the utmost confusion.
However, the gentlemen separated, and I suppose to-morrow
morning will renew the discussion before the Convention. I
shall be better able to conjecture the final issue by next post."
There are other letters of the same date from other gentle
men on the spot, which exhibit rather a more favorable prospect.
Some of them, I am told, are even flattering. Accounts will
always vary in such cases, because they must be founded on
different opportunities of remarking the general complexion,
where they take no tincture from the opinions or temper of the
writer.
I remain, dear Sir, with the most perfect esteem and attach
ment, your obt servfc.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, February 1, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The eastern mail which arrived yesterday brought
me a letter from Mr. King, of which a copy follows:
•' Our prospects are gloomy, but hope is not entirely extin
guished. Gerry has not returned to the Convention, and I
think will not again be invited. We are now thinking of
amendments to be submitted, not as a condition of our assent
and ratification, but as the opinion of the Convention subjoined
to their ratification. This scheme may gain a few members, but
ihe issue is doubtful."
In this case, as in the last, Mr. King's information is accom-
374 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
panied with letters from other persons on the spot, which dwell
more on the favorable side of the prospect. His anxiety on the
subject may give a greater activity to his fears than to his
hopes, and he would naturally lean to the cautious side. These
circumstances encourage me to put as favorable a construction
on his letter as it will bear.
A vessel is arrived here from Charleston, which brings let
ters that speak with confidence of an adoption of the federal
Constitution in that State, and make it very probable that
Georgia had actually adopted it. Some letters from North
Carolina speak a very equivocal language as to the prospect
there.
The French Packet arrived yesterday. As she has been out
since early in November, little news can be expected by her. I
have not yet got my letters, if there be any for me, and I have
heard the contents of no others.
I remain, Dear Sir, with the utmost respect and attachment,
your affectionate serv'.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, February 8, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The prospect in Massachusetts seems to brighten,
if I view in the true light the following representation of it:
" This day, (January 30,) for the first time, our President, Mr.
Hancock, took his seat in Convention, and we shall probably
terminate our business on Saturday or tuesday next. I cannot
predict the issue, but our hopes are increasing. If Mr. Han
cock does not disappoint our present expectations, our wishes
will be gratified.7' Several reflections are suggested by this
paragraph which countenance a favorable inference from it. I
hope, from the rapid advance towards a conclusion of the busi
ness, that even the project of recommendatory alterations has
been dispensed with.
The form of the ratification of Georgia is contained in one
1788. LETTERS. 375
of the papers herewith enclosed. Every information from
South Carolina continues to be favorable. I have seen a letter
from North Carolina, of pretty late date, which admits that a
very formidable opposition exists, but leans towards a federal
result in 'that State. As far as I can discover, the state of the
question in North Carolina is pretty analogous to that in Vir
ginia. The body of the people are better disposed than some
of a superior order. The Resolutions of New York for calling
a convention appear, by the paper, to have passed by a majority
of two only in the House of Assembly. I am told this pro
ceeded in some degree from an injudicious form in which the
business was conducted, and which threw some of the federal
ists into the opposition.
I am just informed by a gentleman who has seen another let
ter from Boston, of the same date with mine, that the plan of
recommendatory alterations has not been abandoned, but that
they will be put into a harmless form, and will be the means of
saving the Constitution from all risk in Massachusetts.
With the highest respect and attachment, I remain, Dear
Sir, yr affect6 and hum16 serv*.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, February 11, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The newspaper enclosed, with the letter which
follows, comprises the information brought me by the mail of
yesterday:
"BOSTON, Feby 3.
"I enclose a newspaper containing the propositions commu
nicated by Mr. Hancock to the Convention on Thursday last.
Mr. Samuel Adams, who, contrary to his own sentiments, has
been hitherto silent in Convention, has given his public and ex
plicit approbation of Mr. Hancock's propositions. We natter
ourselves that the weight of these two characters will ensure
our success, but the event is not absolutely certain. Yesterday
376 WORKS OF MADISON.
a committee was appointed, on the motion of a doubtful charac
ter, to consider the propositions of Mr. Hancock, and to report
to-morrow afternoon. We have a majority of federalists on
this committee, and flatter ourselves the result will be favor
able.
"P. S. We shall probably decide on thursday or friday next,
when our numbers will amount to about 363."
With greatest esteem and attachment, I am, Dr Sir, your obt
and affect6 serv1.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, February 15. 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I have at length the pleasure to enclose you the
favorable result of the Convention at Boston. The amend
ments are a blemish, but are in the least offensive form. The
minority, also, is very disagreeably large, but the temper of
it is some atonement. I am assured by Mr. King that the lead
ers of it, as well as the members of it in general, are in good
humor, and will countenance no irregular opposition, there or
elsewhere. The Convention of New Hampshire is now sitting.
There seems to be no question that the issue there will add a
seventh pillar, as the phrase now is, to the federal Temple.
With the greatest respect and attachment, I am, Dear Sir,
yrs.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, February 19th, 1788.
DEAR SIR,— * * * * * *
The public here continues to be much agitated by the pro
posed federal Constitution, and to be attentive to little else.
At the date of my last, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jer
sey, had adopted it. It has been since adopted by Connecticut,
1788. LETTERS. 377
Georgia, and Massachusetts. In the first, the minority con
sisted of 40 against 127. In Georgia, the adoption was unani
mous. In Massachusetts, the conflict was tedious and the event
extremely doubtful. On the final question the vote stood 187
against 168, a majority of 19 only being in favor of the Consti
tution.
The prevailing party comprized, however, all the men of abil
ities, of property, and of influence. In the opposite multitude
there was not a single character capable of uniting their wills
or directing their measures. It was made up, partly of depu
ties from the province of Maine, who apprehended difficulties
from the new Government to their scheme of separation, partly
of men who had espoused the disaffection of Shay's, and partly
of ignorant and jealous men, who had been taught, or had fan
cied, that the Convention at Philadelphia had entered into a
conspiracy against the liberties of the people at large, in order
to erect an aristocracy for the rich, the well born, and the men
of Education. They had no plan whatever. They looked no
farther than to put a negative on the Constitution and return
home. The amendments, as recommended by the Convention,
were, as I am well informed, not so much calculated for the mi
nority in the Convention, on whom they had little effect, as for
the people of the State. You will find the amendments in the
newspapers which are sent from the office of foreign affairs. It
appears, from a variety of circumstances, that disappointment
had produced no asperity in the minority, and that they will
probably not only acquiesce in the event, but endeavour to rec
oncile their constituents to it. This was the public declaration
of several who were called the leaders of the party.
The minority of Connecticut behaved with equal moderation.
That of Pennsylvania has been extremely intemperate, and con
tinues to use a very bold and menacing language. Had the
decision in Massachusetts been adverse to the Constitution, it
is not improbable that some very violent measures would have
followed in that State. The cause of the inflammation, how
ever, is much more in their State factions than in the system
proposed by the Convention. New Hampshire is now deliber-
378 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
ating on the Constitution. It is generally understood that an
adoption is a matter of certainty. South Carolina and Mary
land have fixed on April or May for their Conventions. The
former, it is currently said, will be one of the ratifying States.
Mr. Chase, and a few others, will raise a considerable opposi
tion in the latter. But the weight of personal influence is on
the side of the Constitution, and the present expectation is,
that the opposition will be outnumbered by a great majority.
This State is much divided in its sentiments. Its Convention
is to be held in June. The decision of Massachusetts will give
the turn in favor of the Constitution, unless an idea should pre
vail, or the fact should appear, that the voice of the State is
opposed to the result of its Convention. North Carolina has
put off her Convention till July. The State is much divided, it
is said.
The temper of Virginia, as far as I can learn, has undergone
but little change of late. At first, there was an enthusiasm for
the Constitution. The tide next took a sudden and strong turn
in the opposite direction. The influence and exertions of Mr.
Henry and Col. Mason, and some others, will account for this.
Subsequent information again represented the Constitution as
regaining, in some degree, its lost ground. The people at large
have been uniformly said to be more friendly to the Constitu
tion than the Assembly. But it is probable that the dispersion
of the latter will have a considerable influence on the opinions
of the former. The previous adoption of nine States must have
a very persuasive effect on the minds of the opposition, though
I am told that a very bold language is held by Mr. Henry and
some of his partizans. Great stress is laid on the self-sufficiency
of that State, and the prospect of external props is alluded to.
Congress have done no business of consequence yet, nor is it
probable that much more of any sort will precede the event of
the great question before the public.
The Assembly of Virginia have passed the district Bill, of
which I formerly gave you an account. There are 18 districts,
with 4 new Judges, Mr. Gabriel Jones, Richard Parker, S*
George Tucker, and Jo8. Prentis. They have reduced much the
1788. LETTERS. 379
taxes, and provided some indulgences for debtors. The ques
tion of British debts underwent great vicissitudes. It was, after
long discussion, resolved by a majority of 30, against the utmost
exertions of Mr. Henry, that they should be paid as soon as the
other States should have complied with the Treaty. A few days
afterwards he carried his point by a majority of 50, that Great
Britain should first comply.
Adieu. Yrs affect7.
P. S. Mr. St. John has given me a very interesting descrip
tion of a " System of Nature," lately published at Paris. Will
you add it for me ?
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, February 20, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I am just favored with yours of the 7th instant,
and will attend to your wishes as to the political essays in the
press.
I have given notice to my friends in Orange that the County
may command my services in the Convention if it pleases. I
can say with great truth, however, that in this overture I sac
rifice every private inclination to considerations not of a selfish
nature. I foresee that the undertaking will involve me in very
laborious and irksome discussions; that public opposition to
several very respectable characters, whose esteem and friend
ship I greatly prize, may unintentionally endanger the subsist
ing connection; and that disagreeable misconstructions, of
which samples have been already given, may be the fruit of
those exertions which fidelity will impose. But I have made
up my determination on the subject; and if I am informed that
my presence at the election in the County be indispensable,
shall submit to that condition also; although it is my particular
wish to decline it, as well to avoid apparent solicitude on the
occasion as a journey of such length at a very unpleasant
season.
380 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788
I had seen the extract of your letter to Col. Carter, and had
supposed, from the place where it first made its appearance,
that its publication was the effect of the zeal of a correspond
ent. I cannot but think, on the whole, that it may have been
of service, notwithstanding the scandalous misinterpretations
of it which have been attempted. As it has evidently the air
of a paragraph to a familiar friend, the omission of an argument
ative support of the opinion given will appear to no candid
reader unnatural or improper.
We have no late information from Europe except through
the English papers, which represent the affairs of France as in
the most ticklish state. The facts have every appearance of
authenticity, and we wait with great impatience for the packet
which is daily expected. It can be little doubted that the pa
triots have been abandoned, whether from impotency in France,
misconduct in them, or from what other cause, is not altogether
clear. The French apologists are visibly embarrassed by the
dilemma of submitting to the appearance of either weakness or
the want of faith. They seem generally to allege that their en
gagements being with the Republic, the nation could not oppose
the regular authority of the country by supporting a single
province, or, perhaps, a party in it only. The validity of this
excuse will depend much on the real connection between France
and the patriots, and the assurances given as an encouragement
to the latter. From the British King's speech, it would seem
that France had avowed her purpose of supporting her Dutch
friends, though it is possible her menaces to England might be
carried further than her real promises to the patriots. All
these circumstances, however, must have galled the pride of
France, and I have little doubt that a war will prove it as soon
as her condition will admit of it; perhaps she may be the sooner
forced into it on account of her being in a contrary situation.
I hear nothing yet from the Convention of New Hampshire.
I remain, yours most respectfully and affectionately,
1788. LETTERS. 381
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, Feb* 21st. 1788.
DEAR SIR— * * * * *
Your representation of the politics of the State coincides
with the information from every other quarter. Great fluctu
ations and divisions of opinion naturally result in Virginia from
the causes which you describe, but they are not the less ominous
on that account. I have, for some time, been persuaded that
the question on which the proposed Constitution must turn is
the simple one, whether the Union shall or shall not be contin
ued. There is, in my opinion, no middle ground to be taken.
The opposition with some has disunion assuredly for its object,
and with all for its real tendency.
Events have demonstrated that no coalition can ever take
place in favor of a new plan among the adversaries to the pro
posed one. The grounds of objection among the non-signing
members of the Convention are by no means the same. The
disapproving members who were absent, but who have since
published their objections, differ irreconcileably from each of
them. The writers against the Constitution are as little agreed
with one another; and the principles which have been disclosed
by the several minorities, where the Constitution has not been
unanimously adopted, are as heterogeneous as can be imagined.
That of Massachusetts, as far as I can learn, was averse to any
Government that deserved the name, and, it is certain, looked
no farther than to reject the Constitution in toto and return
home in triumph. The men of abilities, of property, of char
acter, with every judge, lawyer of eminence, and the clergy of
all sects, were, with scarce an exception deserving notice, as
unanimous in that State as the same description of characters
are divided and opposed to one another in Virginia. This con
trast does not arise from circumstances of local interest, but
from causes which will, in my opinion, produce much regret
hereafter in the opponents in Virginia, if they should succeed
in their opposition.
New Hampshire is now in Convention. It is expected that
382 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788,
the result will be in favor of the Constitution. Rhode Island
takes no notice of the matter. New York is much divided.
The weight of abilities and of property is on the side of the
Constitution. She must go with the Eastern States, let the di
rection be what it may. By a vessel just from Charleston, we
understand that opposition will be made there. Mr. Lowndes
is the leader of it.
A British packet brings a picture of affairs in France which
indicates some approaching events in that Kingdom, which may
almost amount to a Revolution in the form of its Government.
The authority is in itself suspicious; but it coincides with a
variety of proofs that the spirit of liberty has made a progress
which must lead to some remarkable conclusion of the scene.
The Dutch patriots seem to have been the victims, partly of
their own folly, and partly of something amiss in their friends.
The present state of that Confederacy is, or ought to be, a very
emphatic lesson to the United States. The want of union and
a capable Government is the source of all their calamities, and
particularly of that dependence on foreign powers which is as
dishonorable to their character as it is destructive of their
tranquillity.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, March 3d, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The Convention of New Hampshire have disap
pointed much the general expectation. Instead of adopting the
Constitution, they have adjourned, without any final decision,
until June, this expedient being found necessary to prevent a
rejection. It seems that a majority of three or four members
would have voted in the negative, but in this majority were a
number who had been proselyted by the discussions, but were
bound by positive instructions. These concurred with the fed
eralists in the adjournment, and carried it by a majority of fifty-
seven against forty-seven. It is not much doubted that, in the
event, New Hampshire will be among the adopting States. But
1788. LETTERS. 383
the influence of this check will be very considerable in this State,
(New York,) and in several others. I have enquired whether
June was preferred for the second meeting from any reference
to Virginia or New York, and am informed that it was merely
an accommodation to the intermediate annual elections and
Courts.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, March 3, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The Convention of New Hampshire has afforded
a very disagreeable subject of communication. It has not re
jected the Constitution, but it has failed to adopt it. Contrary
to all calculations that had been made, it appeared, on a meeting
of the members, that a majority of three or four was adverse to
the object before them, and that, on a final question on the merits,
the decision would be in the negative. In this critical state of
things, the federalists thought it best to attempt an adjournment;
and having proselyted some of the members who were positively
instructed against the Constitution, the attempt succeeded by
a majority of 57 against 47, if my information as to the num
bers be correct. It seems to be fully expected that some of the
instructed members will prevail on their towns to unfetter
them, and that, in the event, New Hampshire will be among the
adopting States. The mischief elsewhere will, in the mean time,
be of a serious nature. The second meeting is to be in June.
This circumstance will probably be construed in Virginia as
making contemporary arrangements with her. It is explained
to me, however, as having reference merely to the conveniency
of the members, whose attendance at their annual elections and
courts would not consist with an earlier period. The opposi
tion, I understand, is composed precisely of the same descrip
tion of characters with that of Massachusetts, and stands con
trasted to all the wealth, abilities, and respectability of the
State.
384 WOHKS OF MADISON. 1788.
I am preparing to set out for Orange, and promise myself the
pleasure of taking Mount Yernon in the way.
I remain, yours most respectfully and affectionately.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
ORANGE. April 10, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Having seen a part only of the names returned
for the Convention, and being unacquainted with the political
characters of many of them, I am a very incompetent prophet
of the fate of the Constitution. My hopes, however, are much
encouraged by my present conjectures. Those who have more
data for their calculations than I have augur a flattering issue
to the deliberations of June. I find that Col. Nicholas, who is
among the best judges, thinks, on the whole, that a majority in
the Convention will be on the list of federalists ; but very
properly takes into view the turn that may be given to the
event by the weight of Kentucky, if thrown into the wrong
scale, and by the proceedings of Maryland and South Carolina,
if they should terminate in either a rejection or postponement
of the question. The impression on Kentucky, like that on the
rest of the State, was at first answerable to our wishes; but, as
elsewhere, the torch of discord has been thrown in, and Iras
found the materials but too inflammable. I have written seve
ral letters since my arrival to correspondents in that district,
with a view to counteract anti-federal machinations. I have
little expectation, however, that they will have much effect,
unless the communications that may go from Mr. Brown in
Congress should happen to breathe the same spirit; and I am
not without apprehensions that his mind may have taken an
unlucky tincture from the difficulties thrown in the way of the
separation of the District, as well as from some antecedent pro
ceedings of Congress. I have taken the liberty of writing, also,
to a friend in South Carolina, on the critical importance of a
1788. LETTERS. 385
right decision there to a favorable one here. The enclosed
letter, which I leave unsealed, will shew you that I am doing
the same with respect to Maryland. Will you be so good as to
put a wafer in it, and send it to the post office for Georgetown,
or to change the address to Annapolis, if you should have
reason to conclude that Mr. Carroll will be there? I have
written a similar letter to Doctor McHenry. The difference
between even a postponement and adoption in Maryland may,
in the nice balance of parties here, possibly give a fatal advan
tage to that which opposes the Constitution.
I have done nothing yet in preparing answers to the queries.
As facts arc to be ascertained, as well as opinions formed, delny
will be of course counted upon-
With every sentiment of respect and attachment, I remain,
Dear Sir, your obfc and humble ser*.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
ORANGE, Ap1 10th, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — I view the amendments of Massachusetts
pretty nearly in the same light that you do. They were meant
for the people at large, not for the minority in the Convention.
The latter were not affected by them, their objections being-
levelled against the very essence of the proposed Government.
I do not see that the 2d amendment, if I understand its scope,
can be more exceptionable to the Southern States than the
others. I take it to mean that the number of Representatives
shall be limited to two hundred, who will be apportioned from
time to time according to a census; not that the apportionment
first made, when the Representatives amount to that number,
shall be perpetual. The 9th amendment, I have understood, was
made a very serious point of by S. Adams.
I do not know of anything in the new Constitution that can
change the obligations of the public with regard to the old
money. The principle on which it is to be settled seems to be
VOL. i. 25
386 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788
equally in the power of that as of the existing one. The claim
of the Indiana Company cannot, I should suppose, be any more
validated by the new system than that of all the creditors and
others who have been aggrieved by unjust laws. You do not
mention what part of the Constitution could give colour to such
a doctrine. The condemnation of retrospective laws, if that be
the part, does not appear to me to admit, on any principle, of
such a retrospective construction. As to the religious test, I
should conceive that it can imply at most nothing more than
that, without that exception, a power would have been given to
impose an oath, involving a religious test as a qualification for
office. The constitution of necessary offices being given to the
Congress, the proper qualifications seem to be evidently in
volved. I think, too, there are several other satisfactory points
of view in which the exception might be placed.
I shall be extremely happy to see a coalition among all the
real federalists. Recommendatory alterations are the only
ground that occurs to me. A conditional ratification or a
second Convention appears to me utterly irreconcileable, in the
present state of things, with the dictates of prudence and
safety. I am confirmed by a comparative view of the publica
tions on the subject, and still more of the debates in the several
Conventions, that a second experiment would be either wholly
abortive, or would end in something much more remote from
your ideas, and those of others who wish a salutary Govern
ment, than the plan now before the public. It is to be consid
ered, also, that besides the local and personal pride that would
stand in the way, it could not be a very easy matter to bring
about a reconsideration and rescision of what will certainly
have been done in six, and probably eight States, and in several
of them by unanimous votes. Add to all this the extreme
facility with which those who secretly aim at disunion (and
there are probably some such in most, if not all the States) will
be able to carry on their schemes, under the mask of contend
ing for alterations, popular in some places, and known to be
inadmissible in others. Every danger of this sort might be
justly dreaded from such men as this State and New York only
1788. LETTERS. 387
could furnish, playing for such a purpose into each other s1
hands. The declaration of Henry, mentioned in your letter, is
a proof to me that desperate measures will be his game. If
report does not more than usually exaggerate, Mason, also, is
ripening fast for going every length. His licentiousness of
animadversion, it is said, no longer spares even the moderate
opponents of the Constitution.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, April 22d, 1788.
DEAR SIR— * * * * *
The proposed Constitution still engrosses the public atten
tion. The elections for the Convention here are but just over
and promulged. From the returns, (excepting those from Ken
tucky, which are not yet known,) it seems probable, though not
absolutely certain., that a majority of the members elect are
friends to the Constitution. The superiority of abilities, at
least, seems to lie on that side. The characters of most note
which occur to me are marshaled thus : For the Constitution,
Pendletori, Wythe, Blair, Innes, Marshall, Doctor W. Jones, G.
Nicholas, Wilson Nicholas, Gab1 Jones, Thomas Lewis, F. Cor-
bin, Ralph Wormley, Jr., White of Frederick, General Gates,
General A. Stephens, Archibald Stuart, Zach7 Johnson, Doctor
Stuart, Parson Andrews, H. Lee, Jr., Bushrod Washington, con
sidered as a young gentleman of talents; against the Consti
tution, Mr. Henry, Mason, Harrison, Grayson, Tyler, M. Smith,
W. Ronald, Lawson, Bland, Win. Cabell, Dawson.
The Governor is so temperate in his opposition, and goes so
far with the friends of the Constitution, that he cannot properly
be classed with its enemies. Monroe is considered by some as
an enemy, but I believe him to be a friend. There are other
individuals of weight whose opinions are unknown to me. R.
H. Lee is not elected. His brother, F. L. Lee, is a warm friend
to the Constitution, as I am told; but, also, is not elected. So
are John and Mann Page.
388 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
The adversaries take very different grounds of opposition.
Some are opposed to the substance of the plan; others, to par
ticular modifications only. Mr. Henry is supposed to aim at
disunion. Col. Mason is growing every day more bitter and
outrageous in his efforts to carry his point, and will probably,
in the end, be thrown by the violence of his passions into the
politics of Mr. Henry. The preliminary question will be,
whether previous alterations shall be insisted on or not.
Should this be carried in the affirmative, either a conditional
ratification or a proposal for a new Convention will ensue. In
either event, I think the Constitution and the Union will be
both endangered. It is not to be expected that the States which
have ratified will reconsider their determinations, and submit to
the alterations prescribed by Virginia. And if a second Con
vention should be formed, it is as little to be expected that the
same spirit of compromise will prevail in it as produced an
amicable result to the first. It will be easy, also, for those who
have latent views of disunion, to carry them on under the mask
of contending for alterations, popular in some, but inadmissible
in other parts of the United States.
The real sense of the people of this State cannot be easily as
certained. They are certainly attached, and with warmth, to a
continuance of the Union, and I believe a large majority of the
most intelligent and independent are equally so to the plan
under consideration. On a geographical view of them, almost
all the Counties in the Northern Neck have elected federal
deputies. The Counties on the South side of James River have
pretty generally elected adversaries to the Constitution. The
intermediate district is much chequered in this respect. The
Counties between the blue ridge and the Alleghany have chosen
friends to the Constitution, without a single exception. Those
westward of the latter have, as I am informed, generally though
not universally, pursued the same rule. Kentucky it is supposed
will be divided.
Having been in Virginia but a few weeks, I can give you lit
tle account of other matters, and none of your private affairs or
connections, particularly of your two nephews.
1788. ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM, ETC. 339
The winter here, as everywhere else in the United States, was
very severe, which, added to short crops of corn, threatened a
great scarcity and a high price. It is found, however, that
neither of these evils has taken place. Corn may be purchased
for 2 dollars, and even 10s. per barrel. Tobacco is as low at
Fredericksburg as 18s. pr c., and not higher at Richmond than
22 or 23s. There is at present a very promising spring, espe
cially in the article of fruit. The night before last was so cold
as to produce an alarm for the vegetation of all sorts, but it
does not appear that anything less vulnerable than young cu
cumbers had been injured.
I shall ask the favor of Mr. Griffin to send you by Mr. Para
dise, or if he should be gone by some other hand, the Debates
of the Conventions in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and any
other publications worth your reading.
I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend and serv1.
ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM FOR THE CONVENTION OF VIRGINIA
IN 1788, ON THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
Examples shewing defect of mere Confederacies.
Amphictyonic League. See
Lycian do.
Achaean do.
German do.
Swiss do.
Belgic do.
United Colonies. See
Albany project. See Albany papers.
Articles of Confederation. See
Hanseatic do.
Union of Calmar do.
England and Scotland formed in 1706, by 32 Commissioners
390 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788
appointed for each Kingdom; they sat from April 18th to mid
dle of July; they were appointed by crown, by acts of two par
liaments; restrained from treating of Religion.
The Scotch had got the notion of a federal Union, like Hol
land and Switzerland. England opposed decidedly; among
other reasons, because of different Parliaments; either could
break it when pleased.
Many had despaired of Union, as Bur net himself.
In Scotland, opposed violently, particularly by those who
were for a new revolution, as Union fatal bar to it; carried in
parliament by inconsiderable majority. The prcsbyterians
brought into opposition by persuasion that religious rights
would be in danger; this argument used most by those known
to be most adverse to that Religion, especially Dutchess of
Hamilton and Son, who, as next in succession, hoped for Crown,
if separate Kingdom.
General arguments against Union in Scotland:
1. Antiquity and dignity of Kingdom to be given up and
sold.
2. Departing from independent State, and to be swallowed
by Engd.
3. Would be outvoted in all questions by Engd's superiority
in ParF.*
4. Scotland no more be regarded by foreign nations.
5. Danger to the Kirk.
Finally, Scotch parliament prevailed on to annex conditions
which advisers thought would never be agreed to, and thus the
plan be defeated.
Opposers of Union, finding majority against them, endeav
oured to raise a storm out of doors; petitions, addresses, and
remonstrances came up from all quarters, instigated by minority;
even riots excited about parliament House.
In England, alarm also for Religion, and act passed to secure
it. House of Commons unanimous; Lords, 50 and 20.
* Above 30,000 voters in some Counties of Engd ; 33,000 only in all Scotland. —
Dalrymple F. P.
1788. ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM, ETC. 39!
Writ of error lies from B. R., in Ireland, to B. R., in Engd.—
Blackst,
Do. do., from Wales to B. R. — Jenkins Cent., and 1
W. and M., c. 27.
As to Scotland into Parliament, see 6 Ann., c. 26, sect. 12.
Difficulty of drawing line between laws apparent in Act of
Union between Engd and Scotland.
"Art. 18. The laws concerning regulation of trade, Customs,
&c. See abridgm* by Cay., vol. 2, 384, under Scotland." For
line between Courts, see Art. 19.
Sweden.
Two remarkable circumstances: 1. Citizens elect by votes the
multiples of their property; some rich merchants have several
hundred votes. 2. Country gentlemen, between nobles and
peasants, have no votes in electing the latter order; are not
represented nor eligible at all. Constitution, prior to 1772, al
ternately Monarchical and aristocratic. Foreign powers had
chief agency in producing the Revolution of 1772. The King
had, about that time, only two companies of guards; [power
of King reduced to its lowest ebb about the time of the Revo
lution. — Sheridan.] [The power of peasants predominant origi
nally; hence alternate anarchy and tyranny. — Id.] On death of
Charles XII, all prerogatives of Executive abolished; hence
legislative soon exercised Executive and Judicial power both;
any 3 out of 4 houses competent to legislation. The Revolution
of '72, owing to unpopularity of diet, owing to abuse of power
from union of Executive and Judicial with Legislative, factions,
venality, and foreign influence. The people favoured the enter-
prize of the King.
Denmark.
The change in 1660, produced by the aversion to the nobility,
who, as feudal lords, had almost all power, the peasants being
slaves to them; the two other orders being the clergy and com
mons or representatives of towns. The Clergy were the great
392 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
agents in the Revolution, and the King rather passive. Lord
Molesworth saith Denmark differed little from an aristocracy
when it become an absolute Monarchy.
France.
The 3d estate was composed, according to Robertson, of Rep
resentatives of Cities, <fec., within the King's demesne only; and
the tillers of the earth, the greatest body in all countries, noth
ing, or represented by the Nobles.
Spain.
Peasants never represented in Cortes. — Quere.
Poland.
153 Senators; about 200 Nuncios.
Examples of hostile consequences of rival communities not
united by one Government.
All the antient and modern Confederacies.
Saxon Heptarchy. (a) England and Scotland.(b) G. B. and
Ireland. England and Wales. Antient Republics of Italy be
fore Roman Empire. Ditto after dissolution of ditto.
Union at Calmar in 1393 — 7, of Sweden, Denmark, and Nor
way, formed by Margaret, Queen of the two last, and elected,
also, Queen of the former. She convoked the deputies of the 3
(a) [Anno 827.] "Thus were united all the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy in
one great State, near four hundred years after 1st arrival of Saxons in Britain,
[and 250 after establishment ;] and the fortunate arms, &c., of Egbert. [King of
Wessex,] at last effected what had been so often attempted in vain by so many
Princes." — Hume, Vol. 1, p. 59. "Kent, Northumberland, and Mercia, had suc
cessively aspired to general dominion." — Id., p. 60.
(b) Question in 1713 in House of Lords for dissolving Union as not answering,
and ruinous to Scotland. Carried in negative by 4 voices only. — Deb. Peers, 11,
313 ; Burg.. 3, SCO. Harrington (pol. Aphorisms. 49, 50, 51, page 517) pronounced
the Union destructive to both England and Scotland. Heptarchy reduced to
two after some ages, Mercia and W. Saxons ; and then one, (Egbert.) England
and Wales prior to Union under Edward I, and more fully under H. VIII. See
Kennet, vol. 1, page 37, for an apt and short quotation as to Heptarchy.
1788. ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM, ETC. 393
States General at Calmar; 40 from each attended and formed
the Union of Treaty; main argument used by the Queen — the
contentions and wars when disunited.
Union consisted of three principal articles:
1 . That the three Kingdoms, which was each elective, should
have the same King, to be elected by turns out of each, with an
exception, however, in favour of offspring whom the three States
might elect.
2. The King to divide his residence by turns among each,
and to spend in each the revenues of each Crown.
3. The most important, that each should keep its particular
Senate, customs, privileges, Governments, magistrates, Gene
rals, Bishops, and even troops and garrisons, to be taken from
respective Kingdoms, so that the King should never be allowed
to employ subjects of one in another, being mutually regarded
as strangers.
This Union, thus imperfect, increased their mutual animosity,
and laid the foundation for fresh and more bitter animosities
and miseries.
Examples of invasions of defenceless coasts. Danger if dis
united: 1. Of foreign invasion by sea. 2. Of Eastern invasion
on S. States. Such more formidable than by land, because more
sudden and easily supported by supplies.
Romans invade England. Egyptians and Phoenicians in-
(a) Saxons invade England. vade Greece.
Danes do Greece do Italy.
Normans do Carthaginians do Italy and
(b) Danes do France. Spain.
English. Ireland. Visigoths from Spain. Bar-
Europeans. America. bary.
Do East Indies.
Do Africa.
Countries without Navy conquerable in proportion to extent
of coast. England more frequently and thoroughly conquered
than France or Spain.
(•) See Hume Hist., vol. 1. (b) Do., vol. 1, p. G9— 70.
394 WORKS OF MADISON. 1733.
Sparta.
2 Kings, ) The two jointly forming a council, with
28 Senators. f power of life and death.
Senate. 1. For life.
2. Vacancies filled by popular election, out of candidates 60
years old.
3. Had right of convoking and proposing to Assemblies; as
had Kings.*
4. Decrees of no force till ratified by people.
Kings were for life; in other respects like 2 Consuls; Gene
rals during war; presided in Assemblies and public sacrifices in
peace; could propose to Assemblies; dissolve them when con
voked by Kings; but could do nothing without consent of the
nation; the 2 Kings always jealous, and on ill terms with each
other; were watched by field deputies in war.
People.
Assemblies general and particular; former of all Citizens,
latter of Citizens of Sparta alone; had power of peace and war,
treaties, great affairs, and election of magistrates.
Ephori, chosen annually by the people, and concurred in their
behalf with Kings and Senate; over both when they had au
thority.
They had more authority than Tribunes; presided at elections
of Magistrates; demanded account of the administration; could
imprison Kings; had the administration of money; superintended
Religion; in fine, directed everything.
Lands divided in 39,000 shares.
Carthage.
500 years, says Aristotle, without any considerable sedition
or tyrant. 3 different authorities — Seffetes, Senate, people.
Seffetes, like consuls, and annual; does not appear by whom
chosen; assembled Senate, presiding; proposing and collecting
* Usurped this right.
1788. ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM, ETC. 395
the votes; presided, also, in judgments of most important affairs,
sometimes commanded armies; at going out were made Pretors.
Senate, composed of persons qualified by age, experience,
birth, riches; were the Council of State, and the soul of all
public deliberation; number not known; must have been great,
since the 100 drawn out of it. Senate treated of great affairs,
read letters of Generals, recd plaints of provinces, gave au
diences to ambassadors, and decided peace and war. When
Senate unanimous, decided finally; in case of division, people
decided. Whilst Senate retained its authority, says Polybius,
wisdom and success marked everything.
People, at first, gave way to Senate; at length, intoxicated
by wealth and conquests, they assumed all power; then cabals
and factions prevailed, and were one of the principal causes of
the ruin of the State.
Tribunal of 100, composed of 104 persons, were in place of
Ephori, at Sparta, according to Aristotle, and instituted to
balance the Generals and the Senate; with this difference, that
here the Council was perpetual: Generals accounted to them.
Tribunal of 5, taken out of 100 above; duration of office
unknown; like the Council of 10 at Venice; filled vacancies,
even in Senate; had great power, but no salaries; became
tyrannical.
Rome.
* Gracchi transferred Power °f Senate> (exclusive of People):
the criminal jurisdiction 1. Care of Religion. 2. To regulate the
to equestrian order. • n •?- r\ IT i
provinces. 3.* Over public treasury and
expences of Government, with appointment of stipends to Gen
erals; number of troops, and provisions and cloathing for
t Ambassadors taken armieS« 4-+ Appointed with such instruc-
from their own body.— tions, and received ambassadors, and gave
such answers as they thought fit, 5. De
creed thanksgivings and conferred honor of triumphs. 6. En
quire into crimes and treasons at Rome and in Italy, and decide
disputes among dependent cities. 7. Interpreting, dispensing
with, and even abrogating laws. 8. Arm consuls with absolute
396 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
power, darent operam, &c. 9. Prorogue and postpone assem
blies of people; pardon and reward; declared any one enemy.—
Middleton on R. Sen.
Power of Senate — to propose to people who could not origin
ate laws — this taken away by the Tribunes — and Senate not
only obliged to allow assemblies at all times to be called, but
to agree beforehand to whatever acts of the people. — Idem.
Power of Senate unlimited almost at first — except legislative
power — choice of Magistrates and peace and war — all power in
Senate — and a second Senatus consultum is necessary to ratify
act of people in consequence of proposition from Senate. — Code
d'Hum.
Senate consisted originally of 100 — usually about 300 — final
ly, by Jul. Ca3sar, 1,000 — not agreed how appointed — whether
by consuls and censors — or people, &c. ; on extraordinary occa
sions by Dictator — censors on ordinary, (Middleton,) by people
out of annual Magistrates, till there become a regular supply of
course. — Middleton. Censors could expel; but other Censors
reinstate; and Senators had an appeal from them to people.—
Id.
Vertot thinks people had nothing to do in appointing Sena
tors; power being first in Kings, then Consuls, then Censors,
and on extraordinary occasions in Dictator; age required but
not ascertained by antiquaries ; so estate between £6 and
7,000 sterling; Senate assembled by Kings, Consuls, Dictators,
Tribunes.
1. Heads of Republic. 2. Command of
Power of Consuls.
Armies, levy troops in consequence of au
thority from comitia. 3. Authority over Italy and provinces,
who could appeal to the tribunal, and could cite subjects to
Rome, and punish with death. 4. Convene Senate, propose
business, count votes, and draw up decrees; nor could any reso
lution pass if one of the Consuls opposed. 5. Addressed letters
to Kings, &c.; gave audience to Ambassadors; introduced them
to Senate; and carried into execution decrees touching all these
matters. 6. Convoked Comitia; presided therein. 7. Applied
money. Had all the power of the Kings; must be 42 years.
1788. ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM, ETC. 397
Uncertain whether at first 2, 3, or 5;
established in 260; increased to 10 in 297.
confined to city and one mile; at first had no power but to
defend people, their persons being sacred for that purpose — but
soon arrogated right to call senate and Assembly of people —
and propose to them.
They were — 1. Protectors of people; under which title they
interfered in all affairs — released malefactors, and imprisoned
principal Magistrates of Republic, as Consuls, and after a time
exerted their authority over dictators and censors — (2.) Had
the veto to stop the functions of all other Magistrates, and to
negative all laws and decrees of the Senate — to dissolve comitia,
so that Republic often in anarchy, and once 5 years without
other Magistrates than Tribunes — by this veto, particularly as
opposed to levies of men by order of Senate, they extorted
everything they wanted. (3.) Sacredness of persons, of which
they availed themselves much — pretending that it was violated
in the persons of their officers. (4.) To convoke Senate and
people; at first set at door of Senate waiting to be informed of
result of its deliberations, and had no right to assemble people —
but Junius Brutus caught at incautious acknowledgment of
Consul, got comit. tribut. established in place of centuriesj
where votes unequal — and of curiata, where, as in centuries
auspices necessary, and in both concurrence of Senate to the
calling them and coming to Resolutions. To these they soon
brought trial of principal citizens by appeal, and all sorts of
affairs; got plebians voters; made laws by com. trib., which
hey managed and ordered as they pleased.* (5.) Disposed of
Governmts and commands of Armies, finances, and lands of
the public; Sylla, as Dictator, humbled the Tribunes, but they
were restored, and Jul. Cassar caused himself to be perpetual
Tribune ; the shadow continued down to Constantine the
Great.
Roman Empire more than 2,000 m. from N. to S., more than
* It appears that it was the design of Clodius to extend the suffrage to all the
freedmen in the several tribes of the city, that the Tribunes might, by corrup
tion, the more easily ferment seditions.— Cicero's Milo.
398 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
3,000 from W. to E.— Gibbon. Population of do. about 120
millions, including slaves — about J; this more than in Europe. —
Id.
Spain, 700 by 500 miles. England, 360 by 300.
France, 600 by 500 " Scotland, 300 by 150.
Italy, 600 by 400 " Denmark, 240 by 180.
Germany, 600 by 500 " Norway, 1,000 by 900.
Poland, 700 by 680 "
Sweden, 800 by 500 "
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, June 4, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 2 ult° was not received 'til my
arrival here on Monday evening. I found, contrary to my ex
pectation, that not only a very full house had been made on the
first day, but that it had proceeded to the appointment of the
President and other officers. Mr. Pendleton was put into the
chair without opposition. Yesterday, little more was done than
settling some forms, and Resolving that no question, general or
particular, should be propounded 'til the whole plan should be
considered and debated, clause by clause. This was moved by
Col. Mason, and, contrary to his expectations, concurred in by
the other side. To-day, the discussions commenced in Commit
tee of the whole. The Governor has declared the day of pre
vious amendments passed, and thrown himself fully into the fed
eral scale. Henry and Mason made a lame figure, and appeared
to take different and awkward ground. The federalists are a
good deal elated by the existing prospect. I dare not, however,
speak with certainty as to the decision. Kentucky has been
extremely tainted, is supposed to be generally adverse, and
every piece of address is going on privately to work on the
local interests and prejudices of that and other quarters.
In haste, I am, Dr Sir, yrs affect7.
1788. LETTERS. 399
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, June 13, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of came to hand by the mail
of Wednesday. I did not write by several late returns for two
reasons: one, the improbability of your having got back to Mount
Yernon; the other, a bilious indisposition, which confined me
for several days. I am again tolerably well recovered.
Appearances at present are less favorable than at the date
of my last. Our progress is slow, and every advantage is taken
of the delay to work on the local prejudices of particular sets
of members. British debts, the Indiana claim, and the Missis
sippi, are the principal topics of private discussion and intrigue,
as well as of public declamation. The members who have
served in Congress have been dragged into communications on
the last, which could not be justifiable on any other occasion,
if on the present. There is reason to believe that the event
may depend on the Kentucky members, who seem to lean more
against than in favor of the Constitution. The business is in
the most ticklish state that can be imagined. The majority will
certainly be very small, on whatever side it may finally lie; and
I dare not encourage much expectation that it will be on the
favorable side.
Oswald, of Philadelphia, has been here with letters for the
anti-federal leaders from New York, and probably Philadelphia.
He staid a very short time here, during which he was occasion
ally closeted with H y, M-s-n, <fcc. I learn from New York
that the elections have proved adverse to the Constitution.
Y" affecty.
400 WORKS OF MADISON.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, June IS, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — No question, direct or indirect, has yet been
taken by which the state of parties could be determined. Of
course, each is left to enjoy the hopes resulting from its own
partial calculations. It is probable the majority on either side
will not exceed 3, 4, 5, or 6. I indulge a belief that at this
time the friends of the Constitution have the advantage in point
of number. Great moderation, as yet, marks our proceedings.
Whether it be the effect of temper, or of the equality of forces
and the uncertainty of victory, will be seen by the event. We
are at present on the Executive Department. Mr. H y has
not made any opposition to it, though it was looked for. He
may, however, still mean to make one, or he may lay by for an
exertion against the Judiciary.
I find myself not yet restored, and extremely feeble.
With my affect0 regards, I remain, yrs.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
RICHMOND, June 20th, 1788.
HOND SIR, — No question has yet been taken by which the
strength of parties can be determined. The calculations on
different sides do not accord, each making them under the bias
of their particular wishes. I think, however, the friends of the
Constitution are most confident of superiority, and am inclined
myself to think they have, at this time, the advantage of 3 or 4,
or possibly more, in point of number. The final question will
probably decide the contest in a few days more. We are now
on the Judiciary Department, against which the last efforts of
the adversaries seem to be made. How far they will be able to
make an impression, I cannot say. It is not probable that many
proselytes will be made on either side. As this will be handed
to you at Court, you can make its contents known to Major
1788. LETTERS. 401
Moore and other friends, to whom I have not time separately
to write.
With my regards to my mother and the family, I remain, your
affectionate son.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, June 23rd, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — We got through the Constitution hy paragraphs
to-day. To-morrow, some proposition for closing the "business
will be made. On our side, a ratification, involving a few de
claratory truths not affecting its validity, will be tendered.
The opposition will urge previous amendments. Their conver
sation to-day seemed to betray despair. Col. Mason, in par
ticular, talked in a style which no other sentiment could have
produced. He held out the idea of civil convulsions as the
effects of obtruding the Government on the people. He was
answered by several, and concluded with declaring his deter
mination for himself, to acquiesce in the event whatever it might
be. Mr. Henry endeavored to gloss what had fallen from his
friend; declared his aversion to the Constitution to be such that
lie could not take the oath; but that he would remain in peace
able submission to the result. We calculate on a majority, but
a bare one. It is possible, nevertheless, that some adverse cir
cumstance may happen.
I am, dear Sir, in haste, yrs entirely.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, June 25, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — On the question to-day for previous amend
ments, the votes stood — 80 ayes, 88 noes. On the final question,
the ratification passed — 89 ayes. 79 noes. Subsequent amend
VOL. i. 26
402 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
inents will attend the act, but are yet to be settled. The tem
per of the minority will be better known to-morrow. The pro
ceedings have been without flaw, or pretext of it, and there is
no doubt that acquiescence, if not cordiality, will be manifested
by the unsuccessful party. Two of the leaders, however, betray
the effect of the disappointment, so far as it is marked in their
countenances.
In haste, yrs.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
RICHMOND, June 27, 17S8.
DEAR SIR, — The Convention came to a final adjournment to
day. The inclosed is a copy of their act of ratification, with
the yeas and nays. A variety of amendments have been since
recommended, several of them highly objectionable, but which
could not be parried. The minority are to sign an address this
evening, which is announced to be of a peace-making complex
ion. Having not seen it, I can give no opinion of my own. 1
wish it may not have a further object. Mr. H y declared,
pi^evious to the final question, that altho' he should submit as a
quiet citizen, he should seize the first moment that offered for
shaking off the yoke in a constitutional ivay. I suspect the plan
will be to engage f of the Legislatures in the task of undoing
the work; or to get a Congress appointed in the first instance
that will commit suicide on their own authority.
Yrs, most affect7 and respectfully.
1788. LETTERS. 403
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON-.
NEW YORK, July 21, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I have deferred writing since my arrival here in
the hourly hope of being enabled to communicate the final news
from Poughkeepsie. By a letter from Hamilton, dated the day
before yesterday, I find that it is equally uncertain when the
business will be closed, and what will be its definitive form.
The inclosed gazette states the form which the depending prop
osition bears. It is not a little strange that the anti-federal
party should be reduced to such an expedient, and yet be able
to keep their numbers together in the opposition. Nor is it
less strange that the other party, as appears to be the case,
should hesitate in deciding that the expedient as effectually
keeps the State, for the present, out of the new union as the most
unqualified rejection could do. The intelligent citizens see
clearly that this would be its operation, and are agitated by the
double motives of federalism and a zeal to give this City a fair
chance for the first meeting of the new Government.
•Congress have deliberated in part on the arrangements for
putting the new machine into operation, but have concluded on
nothing but the times for choosing electors, &c. Those who
wish to make New York the place of meeting studiously pro
mote delay. Others who are not swayed by this consideration
do not urge dispatch. They think it would be well to let as
many States as possible have an opportunity of deciding on the
Constitution; and what is of more consequence, they wish to
give opportunities, where they can take place, for as many elec
tions of State Legislatures as can precede a reasonable time for
making the appointments and arrangements referred to them.
If there be too great an interval between the acts of Congress
on this subject and the next election or next meeting of a State
Legislature, it may afford a pretext for an intermediate sum
moning of the existing members, who are everywhere less fede
ral than their successors hereafter to be elected will probably
be. This is particularly the case in Maryland, where the anti-
federal temper of the Executive would render an intermediate
404 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
and extraordinary meeting of the Assembly of that State the
more likely to be called. On my way thro' Maryland I ibund
such an event to be much feared by the friends, and wished by
the adversaries, of the Constitution. We have no late news
from Europe, nor anything from North Carolina.
With every sentiment of esteem and attachment, I remain. Dr
Sir, your obed1 and affect, serv1.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK. 24th July, , 188.
DEAR SIR, — Your two last unacknowledged favors w jre of
December 20 and February 6. They were received in Virginia,
and no opportunity, till the present precarious one by tt e way
of Holland, has enabled me to thank you for them.
I returned here about ten days ago from Richmond, which I
left a day or two after the dissolution of the Convention. The
final question on the new Government was put on the 25th of
June. It was two-fold: 1. Whether previous amendments
should be made a condition of ratification. 2. Directly on the
Constitution, in the form it bore. On the first, the decision was
in the negative, 88 being no, 80 only ay. On the second and
definitive question, the ratification was affirmed by 89 ayes
against 79 noes. A number of alterations were then recom
mended to be considered in the mode pointed out in the Consti
tution itself. The meeting was remarkably full: two members
only being absent, and those known to be on the opposite sides
of the question. The debates, also, were conducted on the
whole with a very laudable moderation and decorum, and con
tinued until both sides declared themselves ready for the ques
tion. And it may be safely concluded that no irregular oppo
sition to the System will follow in that State, at least with the
countenance of the leaders on that side. What local erup
tions may be occasioned by ill-timed or rigorous executions of
LETTERS. 405
the Treaty of peace against British debtors, I will not pretend
to say. But although the leaders, particularly Henry and
Mason, will give no countenance to popular violences, it is not
to be inferred that they are reconciled to the event, or will give
it a positive support. On the contrary, both of them declared
they could not go that length, and an attempt was made under
their auspices to induce the minority to sign van address to the
people, which, if it had not been defeated by the general mod
eration of the party, would probably have done mischief.
Among a variety of expedients employed by the opponents to
to gain proselytes, Mr. Henry first, and after him Col°. Mason,
introduced the opinions expressed in a letter from you to a cor
respondent, [Mr. Donald or Skipwith, I believe,] and endeav
ored to turn the influence of your name even against parts oi
which I knew you approved. In this situation, I thought it
due to truth, as well as that it would be most agreeable to your
self, and accordingly took the liberty to state some of your
opinions on the favorable side. I am informed that copies or
extracts of a letter from you were handed about at the Mary
land Convention, with a like view of impeding the ratification.
New Hampshire ratified the Constitution on the 20 ult,, and
made the ninth State. The votes stood 57 for, and 46 against
the measure. South Carolina had previously ratified by a very
great majority. The Convention of North Carolina is now sit
ting. At one moment, the sense of that State was considered
as strongly opposed to the system. It is now said that the tide
has been for some time turning, which, with the example of
other States, and particularly of Virginia, prognosticates a rati
fication there also. The Convention of New York has been in
session ever since the 17th ultimo, without having yet arrived
at any final vote. Two-thirds of the members assembled with
a determination to i eject the Constitution, and are still opposed
to it in their hearts. The local situation of New York, the
number of ratifying States, and the hope of retaining the fed
eral Government in this City, afford, however, powerful argu
ments to such men as Jay, Hamilton, the Chancellor, Duane,
arid several others; and it is not improbable that some form of
406 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
ratification will yet be devised, by which the dislike of the op
position may be gratified, and the State, notwithstanding, made
a member of the new Union.
-If # #•*##•
July Sftth. — We just hear that the Convention of this State
have determined, by a small majority, to exclude from the rati
fication anything involving a condition, and to content them
selves with recommending the alterations wished for.
**•**#
Crops in Virginia, of all sorts, were very promising when I
left the State. This was the case also generally throughout the
States I passed through, with local exceptions, produced in the
wheat fields by a destructive insect, which goes under the name
of the Hessian fly. It made its first appearance several years ago
on Long Island, from which it has spread over half this State
and a great part of New Jersey, and seems to be making an
annual progress in every direction.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
NEW YOKE, July 27th, 1788.
HOND SIB,— *
After a very tedious discussion, the Constitution has been
ratified by the Convention of this State. It was carried by a
majority of 5, the ayes being 30, the noes 25. Amendments, in
general, similar to those of Virginia, are recommended, and a
confidence expressed in the act of adoption that they will be
incorporated in the Constitution. The Convention of North
Carolina has not been heard from since it met. Conoress are
O
at present making the arrangements for putting the Govern
ment into operation.
1788. LETTERS. 407
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, August 10th, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Mr. Warville Brissot has just arrived here, and
I seize an opportunity suddenly brought to my knowledge tr
thank you for your several favors, and particularly for the pe
dometer. Answers to the letters must be put off for the next
opportunity.
My last went off just as a vote was taken in the Convention
of this State, which foretold the ratification of the new Govern
ment. The latter act soon followed, and is inclosed. The form
of it is remarkable. I inclose, also, a circular address to the
other States on the subject of amendments, from which mischiefs
are apprehended. The great danger in the present crisis is, that
if another Convention should be soon assembled it would ter
minate in discord, or in alterations of the federal system, which
would throw back essential powers into the State Legislatures.
The delay of a few years will assuage the jealousies which have
been artificially created by designing men, and will at the same
time point out the faults which really call for amendment. At
present, the public mind is neither sufficiently cool nor suffi
ciently informed for so delicate an operation.
The Convention of North Carolina met on the 21st ultimo.
Not a word has yet been heard from its deliberations. Rhode
Island lias not resumed the subject since it was referred to and
rejected by the people in their several Towns.
Congress have been employed for several weeks in the ar
rangement of time and place for bringing the new Government
into agency. The first has been agreed on, though not defin
itively, and makes it pretty certain that the first meeting will be
held in the third week in March. The place has been a subject
of much discussion, and continues to be uncertain. Philadel
phia, as least eccentric of any place capable of affording due
accommodations and a respectable outset to the Government,
was the first proposed. The affirmative votes were New Hamp
shire. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North
Carolina. Delaware was present and in favor of that place, but
408 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
one of its Delegates wishing to have a question on Wilmington
previous to a final determination, divided that State and nega
tived the motion. New York came next in view, to which was
opposed first Lancaster, which failed, and then Baltimore, which,
to the surprise of every body, was carried by seven States.
South Carolina, which had preferred New York to the two
other more Southern positions, unexpectedly concurring in this.
The vote, however, was soon rescinded; the State of South Car
olina receding, the Eastern States remonstrating against, and
few seriously urging, the eligibility of Baltimore. At present
the question lies as it was originally supposed to do, between
New York and Philadelphia, and nothing can be more uncer
tain than the event of it. Rhode Island, which alone was dis
posed to give the casting vote to New York, has refused to give
any final vote for arranging and carrying into effect a system
to which that State is opposed, and both the delegates have re
turned home.
Col. Carrington tells me has sent you the first volume of the
federalist, and adds the second by this conveyance. I believe
I never have yet mentioned to you that publication. It was
undertaken last fall by Jay, Hamilton, and myself. The pro
posal came from the two former. The execution was thrown,
by the sickness of Jay, mostly on the two others. Though car
ried on in concert, the writers are riot mutually answerable for
all the ideas of each other, there being seldom time for even a
perusal of the pieces by any but the writer before they were
wanted at the press, and sometimes hardly by the writer him
self.
I have not a moment for a line to Mazzei. Tell him I have
received his books, and shall attempt to get them disposed of.
I fear his calculations will not be fulfilled by the demand for
them here in the French language. His affair with Dorrnan
stands as it did. Of his affair with Foster Webb I can say
nothing. I suspect it will turn out badly.
Yours affectionately.
1788. LETTERS. 409
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, August 15, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I have been duly favoured with yours of the 3rd
instant. The length of the interval since my last has proceeded
from a daily expectation of being able to communicate the final
arrangements for introducing the new government. The place
of meeting has undergone much discussion, as you conjectured,
and still remains to be fixed. Philadelphia was first named,
and negatived by a voice from Delaware. New York came
forward next, Lancaster was opposed to it, and failed. Balti
more was next tried, and, to the surprise of every one, had seven
votes. It was easy to see that that ground, had it been free
from objections, was not maintainable. Accordingly, the next
day New York was inserted in the place of it, with the aid of
the vote of Rhode Island. Rhode Island, however, has refused
to give a final vote in the business, and has actually retired
from Congress. The question will be resumed between New
York and Philadelphia. It was much to be wished that a fit
place for a respectable outset to the government could be found
more central than either. The former is inadmissible, if any
egard be to be had to the Southern or Western country. It is
so with me for another reason; that it tends to stop the final
and permanent seat short of the Potowmac certainly, and prob
ably in the State of New Jersey. I know this to be one of the
views of the advocates for New York. The only chance the
Potowmac has, is to get things in such a train that a coalition
may take place between the southern and Eastern States on the
subject, and still more, that the final seat may be undecided for
two or three years, within which period the Western and south
Western population will enter more into the estimate. Where-
ever Congress may be, the choice, if speedily made, will not be
sufficiently influenced by that consideration. In this point of
view, I am of opinion Baltimore would have been unfriendly to
the true object. It would have retained Congress but a mo
ment, so many States being north of it, and dissatisfied with it;
and would have produced a coalition among those States, and a
410 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
precipitate election of the permanent seat, and an intermediate
removal to a more northern position.
You will have seen the circular letter from the Convention
of this State. It has a most pestilent tendency. If an early
general Convention cannot be parried, it is seriously to be
feared that the system which has resisted so many direct at
tacks may be at last successfully undermined by its enemies. It
is now, perhaps, to be wished that Rhode Island may not ac
cede till this new crisis of danger be over. Some think it
would have been better if even New York had held out till the
operation of the government could have dissipated the fears
which artifice had created, and the attempts resulting from
those fears and artifices.
We hear nothing yet from North Carolina more than comes
by the way of Petersburg.
With the highest respect and attachment, I remain, Dr Sir,
your affect6 serv1.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, August 23d, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — My last went via England, in the hands of a Swiss
gentleman, who had married an American lady, and was return
ing with her to his own Country. He proposed to take Paris
in his way. By that opportunity I inclosed copies of the pro
ceedings of this State on the subject of the Constitution.
North Carolina was then in Convention, and it was generally
expected would, in some form or other, have fallen into the gen
eral stream. The event has disappointed us. It appears that
a large majority has decided against the Constitution as it
stands, and, according to the information here received, has
made the alterations proposed by Virginia the conditions on
which alone that State will unite with the others. Whether
this be the precise state of the case, I cannot say. It seems at
least certain that she has either rejected the Constitution, or
1788. LETTERS. 411
annexed conditions precedent to her ratification. It cannot be
doubted that this bold step is to be ascribed in part to the in
fluence of the minority in Virginia, which lies mostly in the
Southern part of the State, and to the management of its leader.
It is in part ascribed, also, by some, to assurances transmitted
from leading individuals here, that New York would set the
example of rejection.
The event, whatever may have been its cause, with the ten
dency of the circular letter from the Convention of New York,
has somewhat changed the aspect of things, and has given fresh
hopes and exertions to those who opposed the Constitution.
The object with them now will be to eifect an early Conven
tion, composed of men who will essentially mutilate the system,
particularly in the article of taxation, without which, in my
opinion, the system cannot answer the purposes for which it
was intended. An early Convention is in every view to be
dreaded in the present temper of America. A very short period
of delay would produce the double advantage of diminishing
the heat and increasing the light of all parties. A trial for
one year will probably suggest more real amendments than all
the antecedent speculations of our most sagacious politicians.
Congress have not yet decided on the arrangements for inau
gurating the new Government. The place of its first meeting
continues to divide the Northern and Southern members, though
with a few exceptions to these general descriptions of the par
ties. The departure of Rhode Island, and the refusal of North
Carolina, in consequence of the late event there, to vote in the
question, threatens a disagreeable issue to the business, there
being now an apparent impossibility of obtaining seven States
for any one place. The three Eastern States and New York,
reinforced by South Carolina, and as yet by New Jersey, give
a plurality of votes in favor of this city. The advocates for a
more central position, however, though less numerous, seemed
very determined not to yield to what they call a shameful
partiality to one extremity of the continent. It will be cer
tainly of far more importance under the proposed than the pres
ent system that regard should be had to centrality, whether we
412 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
consider the number of members belonging to the Government,
the diffusive manner in which they will be appointed, or the
increased resort of individuals having business with the Legis
lative, Executive, and Judiciary departments.
If the Western Country be taken into view, as it certainly
ought, the reasoning is still further corroborated. There is
good ground to believe that a very jealous eye will be kept in
that quarter on inattention to it, and particularly when involv
ing a seeming advantage to the Eastern States, which have been
rendered extremely suspicious and obnoxious by the Mississippi
project. There is even good ground to believe that Spain is
taking advantage of this disgust in Kentucky, and is actually
endeavoring to seduce them from the Union, holding out a dar
ling object which will never be obtained by them as part of the
Union. This is a fact as certain as it is important, but which
I hint in strict confidence, and with a request that no suspicion
may be excited of its being known, particularly through the
channel of me. I have this moment notice that I must send off
my letter instantly, or lose the conveyance. I must consequently
defer further communications till another opportunity.
Along with this you will receive a copy of the report you
desired from Mr. Thomson, and a copy of the Federalist, a pub
lication mentioned in my last.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, August 24, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I was yesterday favored with yours of the 17th,
18th, under the same cover with the papers from Mr. Pleasants,
The circular letter from this State is certainly a matter of as
much regret as the unanimity with which it passed is matter of
surprize. I find it is every where, and particularly in Virginia
laid hold of as the signal for united exertions in pursuit of early
amendments. In Pennsylvania, the anti-federal leaders are, I
understand, soon to have a meeting at Harrisburg, in order to
concert proper arrangements on the part of that State. I begin
1788. LETTERS. 413
now to accede to the opinion, which has been avowed for some
time by many, that the circumstances involved in the ratifica
tion of New York will prove more injurious than a rejection
would have done. The latter would have rather alarmed the
well-meaning anti-federalists elsewhere; would have had no ill
effect on the other party; would have excited the indignation
of the neighbouring States; and would have been necessarily
followed by a speedy reconsideration of the subject. I am not
able to account for the concurrence of the federal part of the
convention in the circular address on any other principle than
the determination to purchase an immediate ratification in any
form or at any price, rather than disappoint this city of a chance
for the new Congress. This solution is sufficiently justified by
the eagerness displayed on this point, and the evident disposi
tion to risk and sacrifice everything to it. Unfortunately, the
disagreeable question continues to be undecided, and is now in
a state more perplexing than ever. By the last vote taken, the
whole arrangement was thrown out, and the departure of Rhode
Island, and the refusal of North Carolina to participate further
in the business, has left eleven States only to take it up anew.
In this number there are not seven States for any place, and the
disposition to relax, as usually happens, decreases with the pro
gress of the contest. What and when the issue is to be, is realty
more than I can foresee. It is truly mortifying that the outset
of the new government should be immediately preceded by such
a display of locality as portends the continuance of the evil
which has dishonored the old, and gives countenance to some
of the most popular arguments which have been inculcated by
the southern Federalists.
New York has appeared to me extremely objectionable, on
the following grounds: It violates too palpably the simple and
obvious principle, that the seat of public business should be
made as equally convenient to every part of the public as the
requisite accommodations for executing the business will per
mit. This consideration has the more weight, as well on ac
count of the catholic spirit professed by the Constitution, as of
the increased resort which it will require from every quarter
414 WORKS OF MADISON. 1738.
of the continent. It seems to be particularly essential that an
eye should be had in all our public arrangements to the accom
modation of the western country, which, perhaps, cannot be
sufficiently gratified at any rate, but which might be furnished
with new fuel to its jealousy by being summoned to the sea
shore, and almost at one end of the continent. There are rea
sons, but of too confidential a nature for any other than verbal
communication, which make it of critical importance that neither
cause nor pretext should be given for distrusts in that quarter
of the policy towards it in this. I have apprehended, also, that
a preference so favorable to the Eastern States would be repre
sented in the Southern as a decisive proof of the preponderance
of that scale, and a justification of all the anti-federal arguments
drawn from that danger. Adding to all this, the recollection
that the first year or two will produce all the great arrange
ments under the new system, and which may fix its tone for a
long time to come, it seems of real importance that the tempo
rary residence of the new Congress, apart from its relation to
the final residence, should not be thrown too much towards one
extremity of the Union. It may, perhaps, be the more neces
sary to guard against suspicions of partiality in this case, as the
early measures of the new Government, including a navigation
act, will of course be most favorable to this extremity.
But I own that I am much influenced by a view to the final
residence, which I conceive to be more likely to be properly
chosen in Philadelphia than in New York. The extreme excen-
tricity of the latter will certainly, in my opinion, bring on a
premature, and consequently an improper choice. This policy
is avowed by some of the sticklers for this place, and is known
to prevail with the bulk of them. People from the interior
parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Vir
ginia, and Kentucky, will never patiently repeat their trips to
this remote situation, especially as the Legislative sessions will
be held in the winter season. Should no other consequence
take place than a frequent or early agitation of this contentious
subject, it would form a strong objection against New York.
Were there occasion to fear a repugnance to the establish-
1783. LETTERS. 415
ment of a final seat, or a choice of a commercial city for the
purpose, I should be strongly tempted to shun Philadelphia at
all events. But my only fear on the first head is, of a precipi
tancy in carrying that part of the Federal Constitution into
effect, and on the second, the public sentiment, as well as other
considerations, is so fixedly opposed as to banish the danger
from my apprehensions. Judging from my own experience on
this subject, I conclude, that from motives of one sort or another,
ten States at least, (that is, five from each end of the Union,)
to say nothing of the Western States, will, at any proper time,
be ready to remove from Philadelphia. The only difficulty that
can arise will be that of agreeing on the place to be finally re
moved to, and it is from that difficulty alone, and the delay in
cident to it, that I derive my hope in favor of the banks of the
Potowmac. There are some other combinations on the subject
into which the discussion of it has led me, but I have already
troubled you with more, I fear, than may deserve your attention.
The newspapers herewith enclosed contain the European in
telligence brought by the last packets from England.
With every sentiment of esteem and attachment, I remain,
dear sir, your obt and affect6 serv*.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
NEW YORK, Septr 6th, 1788.
HOND SIR, — The anti-federalists are everywhere exerting
themselves for an early Convention. The circular letter from
this State, and the rejection of North Carolina, give them great
spirits. Virginia, I suppose, from the temper of the present
Legislature, will co-operate in the plan.
Congress have not yet settled the place for the meeting of
the new Government. It is most probable that the advocates
for New York, who form at present the greater number, will
prevail. In that case, although I think it a very unreasonable
416 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
thing for the Southern and Western parts of the Union, the
best face must be put on it.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, September 14. 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The delay in providing for the commencement
of the Government was terminated yesterday, by an acquies
cence of the minor number in the persevering demands of the
major. The time for choosing the Electors is the first Wednes
day in January, and for choosing the President, the first Wednes
day in February. The meeting of the Government is to be the
first Wednesday in March, arid in the city of New York. The
times were adjusted to the meetings of the State Legislatures.
The plan was the result of the dilemma to which the opponents
of New York were reduced, of yielding to its advocates or
strangling the Government in its birth. The necessity of yield
ing and the impropriety of further delay have been for some
time obvious to me, but others did not view the matter in the
same light. Maryland and Delaware were absolutely inflexible.
It has, indeed, been too apparent that local considerations have
very improperly predominated in this question, and that some
thing more is aimed at than merely the first session of the Gov
ernment at this place. Every circumstance has shewn that the
policy is to keep Congress here till a permanent seat be chosen,
and to obtain a permanent seat, at farthest, not beyond the Sus-
nuehannah. New Jersey, by its Legislature, as well as its dele
gation in Congress, has clearly discovered her view to be a tem
porary appointment of New York, as affording the best chance
of a permanent establishment at Trenton. I have been made
so fully sensible of these views in the course of the business, as
well as of the impropriety of so excentric a position as New
York, that I could have finally concurred in any plan more
Southward to which the Eastern States would have acceded;
and, previous to the definitive vote, a motion was made tendering
1788. LETTERS. 417
a blank for that purpose. At any place South of the Delaware,
the Susquehannah. at least, would have been secured, and a
hope given to the Potowmac. As the case is, I conceive the
Susquehannah to be the utmost to be hoped for, with no small
danger of being stopped at the Delaware. Besides this conse
quence, the decision will, I fear, be regarded as at once a proof
of the preponderancy of the Eastern strength, and of a disposi
tion to make an unfair use of it; and it cannot but happen that
the question will he entailed on the new Government, which
will have enough of other causes of agitation in its Councils.
The meeting at Harrisburg is represented by its friends as
having been conducted with much harmony and moderation. Its
proceedings are said to be in the press, and will, of course, soon
be before the public. I find all the mischief apprehended from
Clinton's circular letter in Virginia will be verified. The Anti-
federalists lay hold of it with eagerness as the harbinger of a
second Convention, and as the Governor espouses the project,
it will certainly have the co-operation of our Assembly.
I enclose a sensible little pamphlet, which falls within the
pkn of investigating and comparing the the languages of the Abo
riginal Americans.
With sincerest attachment, I am, Dr Sir, your obt and very
hl)le servr.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, Septr 21, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Being informed of a circuitous opportunity to
France, I make use of it to forward the inclosures. By one of
them you will find that Congress have been at length brought
into the true policy which is demanded by the situation of the
Western country. An additional resolution on the secret
journal puts an end to all negociation with Spain, referring the
subject of a treaty, after this assertion of right to the Missis
sippi, to the new Government. The communication in my last
VOL. i. 27
418 WORKS OF MADISON. 1783.
will have shown you the crisis of things in that quarter, a
crisis, however, not particularly known to Congress, and will
be a key to some of the Kentucky toasts in the Virginia
Gazette.
The circular letter from the New York Convention has re
kindled an ardor among the opponents of the federal Constitu
tion for an immediate revision of it by another General Con
vention. You will find in one of the papers inclosed the result
of the consultations in Pennsylvania on that subject. Mr
Henry and his friends in Virginia enter with great zeal into the
scheme. Governor Randolph also espouses it, but with a wish
to prevent, if possible, danger to the article which extends the
power of the Government to internal as well as external taxa
tion. It is observable that the views of the Pennsylvania
meeting do not rhyme very well with those of the Southern
advocates for a Convention; the objects most eagerly pursued
by the latter being unnoticed in the Harrisburg proceedings
The effect of the circular letter on other States is less known
I conclude that it will be the same everywhere among those
who. opposed the Constitution, or contended for a conditional
ratification of it.
Whether an early Convention will be the result of this
united effort is more than can at this moment be foretold. Tba
measure will certainly be industriously opposed in some parts
of the Union, not only by those who wish for no alterations,
but by others who would prefer the other mode provided in the
Constitution as most expedient, at present, for introducing
those supplemental safeguards to liberty against which no ob
jections can be raised; and who would, moreover, approve of a
Convention for amending the frame of the Government itself,
as soon as time shall have somewhat corrected the feverish
state of the public mind, and trial have pointed its attention to
the true defects of the system.
You will find, also, by one of the papers inclosed, that the
arrangements have been compleated for bringing the new Gov
ernment into action. The dispute concerning the place of its
meeting was the principal cause of delay; the Eastern States,
1788. LETTERS. 419
with New Jersey and South Carolina, being attached to New
York, and the others strenuous for a more central position.
Philadelphia, Wilmington, Lancaster, and Baltimore, were suc
cessively tendered without effect by the latter, before they
finally yielded to the superiority of members in favor of this
city. I am afraid the decision will give a great handle to the
Southern anti-federalists, who have inculcated a jealousy of this
end of the continent. It is to be regretted, also, as entailing
this pernicious question on the new Congress, who will have
enough to do in adjusting the other delicate matters submitted
to them. Another consideration of great weight with me is,
that the temporary residence here will probably end in a per
manent one at Trenton, or, at the farthest, on the Susquehannah.
A removal in the first instance beyond the Delaware would have
removed the alternative to the Susquehannah and the Potow-
mac. The best chance of the latter depends on a delay of the
permanent establishment for a few years, until the Western and
South Western population comes more into view. This delay
cannot take place if so excentric a place as New York is to be
the intermediate seat of business.
To the other papers is added a little pamphlet on the Mohe-
gan language. The observations deserve the more attention as
they are made by a man of known learning and character, and
may aid researches into the primitive structure of language, as
well as those on foot for comparing the American tribes with
those on the Eastern frontier of the other continent.
In consequence of your letter to Mr. Jay on the subject of
" outfit/' &c., I had a conference with him, and he agreed to
suggest the matter to Congress. This was done, and his letter
referred back to be reported on. The idea between us was,
that the reference should be to a Committee. His letter coming
in at a moment when I happened to be out, it was, as in course,
referred to his department. His answer suggested, that as he
might be thought eventually concerned in the question, it was
most proper for the consideration of a Committee. I had dis
covered that he was not struck with the peculiarities of your
case, even when insinuated to him. How far the Committee
420 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
will be so is more than I can yet say. In general, I have no
doubt that both it and Congress are well disposed. But it is
probable that the idea of a precedent will beget much caution,
and, what is worse, there is little probability of again having a
quorum of States for the business.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, October 8th, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Herewith inclosed are a letter for yourself, for
warded to my hands from General Washington, and two others
for the Marquis, one from the same quarter, the other from
myself. I put both the last under cover to you, not knowing
what regard may be due to newspaper authority that the Mar
quis is under the open displeasure of the court, and may there
fore be the less likely to receive letters through any other
channel. Sometimes the report runs that he is in the Bastile;
at another, that he is at the head of a revolt in some one of the
Provinces.
My last letters have followed each other so quickly, and the
last of all is of such recent date, that this opportunity by a
gentleman going to France enables me to add but little to what
has been already communicated. The result of the meeting at
Harrisburg was the latest event worthy of notice at the date of
my last. Nothing has since taken place in relation to the new
Government but the appointment of Mr. Robert Morris and
Mr. Maclay to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate. A law
has also passed in that State providing for the election of mem
bers for the House of Representatives, and of electors of the
President. The act proposes that every citizen throughout the
State shall vote for the whole number of members allotted to
the State. This mode of election will confine the choice to
characters of general notoriety, and so far be favorable to
merit. It is, however, liable to some popular objections urged
against the tendency of the new system. In Virginia, I am
inclined to think, the State will be divided into as many district*
1788. LETTERS. 421
as there are to be members. In other States, as in Connecticut,
the Pennsylvania example will probably be followed. And in
others, again, a middle course be taken. It is, perhaps, to be
desired that various modes should be tried, as by that means
only the best mode can be ascertained.
There is no doubt that General Washington will be called to
the Presidency. For the vice Presidency are talked of princi
pally Mr. Hancock and Mr. Adams. Mr. Jay or General Knox
would, I believe, be preferred to either, but both of them will
probably chuse to remain where they are. It is impossible to
say which of the former would be preferred, or what other can
didates may be brought forward.
I have a letter from Mr. George Lee Turberville, of Virginia,
requesting me to mention to you a report proceeding from
Greenwich, that a Doctor Spence and his lady (the former a
Virginian, of respectable family, in the lower end of the North
ern neck, and whose mother is still living in a second marriage
with a Doctor Thomson, of Westmoreland County) were cap
tured on their way to Virginia, and carried into Algiers. This
event is said to have happened seven or eight years ago, though
discovered but lately, it having been taken for granted that the
vessel and all on board had perished at sea. I am much in
clined to believe that this supposition is the true one, and that
the Greenwich story has no foundation. I communicate it,
nevertheless, as requested by Mr. Turberville, that you may have
an opportunity of collecting for the friends of Doctor Spence
any information which may be interesting to them, and of taking
any steps that such information may suggest in behalf of the
distressed.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, October 17th, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I have written a number of letters to you since
my return here, and shall add this by another casual opportu
nity just notified to me by Mr. St. John. Your favor of July
422 WOKRS OF MADISON. 1788.
31 came to hand the day before yesterday. The pamphlets of
the Marquis Condorcet and Mr. Dupont, referred to in it, have
also been received. Your other letters enclosed to the Delega
tion have been and will be disposed of as you wish, particularly
those to Col. Eppes and Mr. Lewis.
Nothing has been done on the subject of the 4.45 outfit, 1357,
there not having been a Congress of nine States for some time,
nor even of seven for the last week. It is pretty certain that
there will not again be a quorum of either number within the
present year, and by no means certain that there will be one at
all under the old Confederation. The Committee, finding that
nothing could be done, have neglected to make a report as yet.
I have spoken with a member of it in order to get one made,
that the case may fall, of course, and in a favorable shape,
within the attention of the new Government. The fear of a
precedent will probably lead to an allowance for a limited time
of the salary, as enjoyed originally by foreign ministers, in pref
erence to a separate allowance for outfit. One of the members
of the Treasury board, who ought, if certain facts have not es
caped his memory, to witness the reasonableness of your calcu
lations, takes occasion, I find, to impress a contrary idea. For
tunately, his influence will not be a very formidable obstacle to
right.
The States which have adopted the New Constitution are all
proceeding to the arrangements for putting it into action in
March next. Penna alone has as yet actually appointed Depu
ties, and that only for the Senate. My last mentioned that
these were Mr. R. Morris and a Mr. Me Clay. How the other
elections there and elsewhere will run is matter of uncertainty.
The Presidency alone unites the conjectures of the public. The
Vice President is not at all marked out by the general voice.
As the President will be from a Southern State, it falls almost
of course for the other part of the Continent to supply the next
in rank. South Carolina may, however, think of Mr. Rutledgc,
unless it should be previously discovered that votes will be
wasted on him.
The only candidates in the Northern States brought forward
1788. LETTERS. 423
with their known consent are Hancock and Adams. Between
these it seems probable the question will lie. Both of them are
objectionable, and would, I think, be postponed by the general
suffrage to several others, if they would accept the place. Han
cock is weak, ambitious, a courtier of popularity, given to low
intrigue, and lately reunited by a factious friendship with S.
Adams. J. Adams has made himself obnoxious to many, par
ticularly in the Southern States, by the political principles
avowed in his book. Others, recollecting his cabal during the
war against General Washington, knowing his extravagant
self-importance, and considering his preference of an unprofit
able dignity to some place of emolument better adapted to his
private fortune as a proof of his having an eye to the Presi
dency, conclude that he would not be a very cordial second to
the General, and that an impatient ambition might even intrigue
for a premature advancement. The danger would be the greater
if factious characters, as may be the case, should get into the
public councils. Adams, it appears, is not unaware of some of
the obstacles to his wish, and through a letter to Smith has
thrown out popular sentiments as to the proposed President.
The little pamphlet herewith inclosed will give you a collect
ive view of the alterations which have been proposed by the
State Conventions for the new Constitution. Various and nu
merous as they appear, they certainly omit many of the true
grounds of opposition. The articles relating to Treaties, to
paper money, and to contracts, created more enemies than all
the errors in the system, positive and negative, put together.
It is true, nevertheless, that not a few, particularly in Vir
ginia, have contended for the proposed alterations from the
most honorable and patriotic motives; and that among the ad
vocates for the Constitution there are some who wish for fur
ther guards to public liberty and individual rights. As far as
these may consist of a constitutional declaration of the most
essential rights, it is probable they will be added; though there
are many who think such addition unnecessary, and not a few
who think it misplaced in such a Constitution. There is scarce
424 WORKS OF MADISON.
any point on which the party in opposition is so much divided
as to its importance and its propriety. My own opinion has
always been in favor of a bill of rights, provided it be so framed
as not to imply powers not meant to be included in the enume
ration. At the same time, I have never thought the omission a
material defect, nor been anxious to supply it even by subse
quent amendment, for any other reason than that it is anxiously
desired by others. I have favored it because I supposed it might
be of use, and, if properly executed, could not be of disservice.
I have not viewed it in an important light — 1. Because I con
ceive that in a certain degree, though not in the extent argued
by Mr. Wilson, the rights in question are reserved by the man
ner in which the federal powers are granted. 2. Because there
is great reason to fear that a positive declaration of some of
the most essential rights could not be obtained in the requisite
latitude. I am sure that the rights of conscience in particular,
if submitted to public definition, would be narrowed much more
than they are likely ever to be by an assumed power. One of
the objections in New England was, that the Constitution, by
prohibiting religious tests, opened a door for Jews, Turks, and
infidels. 3. Because the limited powers of the federal Govern
ment, and the jealousy of the subordinate Governments, afford
a security which has not existed in the case of the State Gov
ernments, and exists in no other. 4. Because experience proves
the inefficacy of a bill of rights on those occasions when its
controul is most needed. Repeated violations of these parch
ment barriers have been committed by overbearing majorities
in every State.
In Virginia, I have seen the bill of rights violated in every
instance where it has been opposed to a popular current. Not
withstanding the explicit provision contained in that instru
ment for the rights of conscience, it is well known that a re
ligious establishment would have taken place in that State, if the
Legislative majority had found, as they expected, a majority of
the people in favor of the measure; and I am persuaded that if
a majority of the people were now of one sect, the measure wo'ild
1788. LETTERS. 425
still take place, and on narrower ground than was then proposed,
notwithstanding the additional obstacle which the law'- has
since created.
(Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the
danger of oppression. In our Governments the real power lies
in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private
rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of Government
contrary to the sense of its constituents, but from acts in which
the Government is the mere instrument of the major number of
the Constituents. This is a truth of great importance, but not
yet sufficiently attended to; and is probably more strongly im
pressed on my mind by facts and reflections suggested by them
than on yours, which has contemplated abuses of power issuing
from a very different quarter. Wherever there is an interest
and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done, and not
less readily by a powerful and interested party than by a pow
erful and interested prince. The difference, so far as it relates
to the superiority of republics over monarchies, lies in the less
degree of probability that interest may prompt abuses of power
in -the former than in the latter; and in the security in the
former against an oppression of more than the smaller part of
the Society, whereas, in the latter, it may be extended in a man
ner to the whole.
The difference, so far as it relates to the point in question —
the efficacy of a bill of rights in controuling abuses of power —
lies in this: that in a monarchy the latent force of the nation is
superior to that of the Sovereign, and a solemn charter of pop
ular rights must have a great effect as a standard for trying
the validity of public acts, and a signal for rousing and uniting
the superior force of the community; whereas, in a popular Gov
ernment, the political and physical power may be considered as
vested in the same hands, that is, in a majority of the people,
and, consequently, the tyrannical will of the Sovereign is not
to be controuled by the dread of an appeal to any other force
within the community. )
* The bill of Religious freedom.
426 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
What use, then, it may be asked, can a bill of rights serve in
popular Governments? I answer, the two following1, which,
though less essential than in other Governments, sufficiently
recommend the precaution: 1. The political truths declared in
that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of funda
mental maxims of free Government, and as they become incor
porated with the National sentiment, counteract the impulses
of interest and passion. 2. Although it be generally true, as
above stated, that the danger of oppression lies in the interested
majorities of the people rather than in usurped acts of the Gov
ernment, yet there may be occasions on which the evil may
spring from the latter source; and on such, a bill of rights will
be a good ground for an appeal to the sense of the community.
Perhaps, too, there may be a certain degree of danger that a
succession of artful and ambitious rulers may, by gradual and
well-timed advances, finally erect an independent Government
on the subversion of liberty. Should this danger exist at all,
it is prudent to guard against it, especially when the precaution
can do no injury.
At the same time, I must own that I see no tendency in our
Governments to danger on that side. It has been remarked
that there is a tendency in all Governments to an augmentation
of power at the expence of liberty. But the remark, as usually
understood, does not appear to me well founded. £Power, when
it has attained a certain degree of energy and independence,
goes on generally to further degrees. But when below that de
gree, the direct tendency is to further degrees of relaxation, un
til the abuses of liberty beget a sudden transition to an undue
degree of power. \ With this explanation the remark may be
true; and in the latter sense only is it, in my opinion, applica
ble to the existing Governments in America. It is a melan
choly reflection that liberty should be equally exposed to dan
ger whether the Government have too much or too little power,
and that the line which divides these extremes should be so in
accurately defined by experience.
Supposing a bill of rights to be proper, the articles which
ought to compose it admit of much discussion. I am inclined
1788. LETTERS. 42T
to think that absolute restrictions in cases that are doubtful, or
where emergencies may overrule them, ought to be avoided.
The restrictions, however strongly marked on paper, will never
be regarded when opposed to the decided sense of the public;
and after repeated violations, in extraordinary cases will lose
even their ordinary efficacy. Should a Rebellion or insurrec
tion alarm the people as well as the Government, and a suspen
sion of the Habeas Corpus be dictated by the alarm, no written
prohibitions on earth would prevent the measure. Should an
army in time of peace be gradually established in our neighbor
hood by Britain or Spain, declarations on paper would have as
little effect in preventing a standing force for the public safety.
The best security against these evils is to remove the pretext
for them.
With regard to monopolies, they are justly classed among the
greatest nuisances in Government. But is it clear that, as en
couragements to literary works and ingenious discoveries, they
are not too valuable to be wholly renounced? Would it not
suffice to reserve in all cases a right to the public to abolish the
privilege, at a price to be specified in the grant of it? Is there
not, also, infinitely less danger of this abuse in our Govern
ments than in most others? Monopolies are sacrifices of the
many to the few. (Where the power is in the few, it is natural
for them to sacrifice the many to their own partialities and cor
ruptions. Where the power, as with us, is in the many, not in
the few, the danger cannot be very great that the few will be
thus favored. It is much more to be dreaded that the few will
be unnecessarily sacrificed to the many.*}
I enclose a paper containing the late proceedings in Ken
tucky. I wish the ensuing Convention may take no step inju
rious to the character of the District, and favorable to the views
of those who wish ill to the United States. One of my late let
ters communicated some circumstances which will not fail to
occur on perusing the objects of the proposed Convention in
next month. Perhaps, however, there may be less connection
between the two cases than at first one is ready to conjecture.
I am, dear sir, with the sincerest esteem and affection, yours.
428 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, Oct* 20th, 1788.
DEAR Sra, — I acknowledge with much pleasure your favor
of the 6th instant. The "balmy" nature of the Resolutions
concerning the Mississippi will, I hope, have the effect you
suggest; though the wounds given to some, and the pretexts
given to others, by the proceedings which rendered them neces
sary, will not, I fear, be radically removed. The light in which
the temporary seat of the new Government is viewed and
represented by those who were governed by antecedent jealousies
of this end of the Union is a natural one, and the apprehension
of it was among the most persuasive reasons with me for con
tending, with some earnestness, for a less eccentric position. A
certain degree of imjDaxiiality, or the appearance of it, is neces
sary in Ihe'most despotic Governments. In republics this may
be considered as the vital principle of the administration. ( And
in a federal Republic, founded on local distinctions, involving
local jealousies, it ought to be attended to with a still more
scrupulous exactness.")
I am glad to find you concurring in the requisite expedients
for preventing anti-federal elections and a premature Conven
tion. The circular letter from this State has united and ani
mated the efforts on the adverse side with respect to both these
points. An early Convention threatens discord and mischief.
It will be composed of the most heterogeneous characters; will
be actuated by the party spirit reigning among their constitu
ents; will comprehend men having insidious designs against the
Union; and can scarcely, therefore, terminate in harmony or
the public good. Let the enemies to the system wait until some
experience shall have taken place, and the business will be
conducted with more light, as well as with less heat. In the
mean time, the other mode of amendments may safely be em
ployed to quiet the fears of many, by supplying those further
guards for private rights which can do no harm to the system,
in the judgment even of its most partial friends, and will even
be approved by others who have steadily supported it.
It appears from late foreign intelligence that war is likely
1788. LETTERS. 429
to spread its flames still farther among the unfortunate inhabi
tants of the old world. France is certainly enough occupied
already with her internal fermentations. At present the struggle
is merely between the Aristocracy and the Monarchy. The only
chance in favor of the people lies in the mutual attempts of the
competitors to make their side of the question the popular one.
The late measures of the C our t have that tendency. The nobility
and clergy, who wish to accelerate the States-General, wish at
the same time to have it formed on the antient model, established
on the feudal idea, which excluded the people almost altogether.
The Court has at length agreed to convene this Assembly in
May, but is endeavouring to counteract the aristocratic policy,
by admitting the people to a greater share of representation.
In both the parties there are some real friends to liberty, who
will probably take advantage of circumstances to promote their
object. Of this description, on the anti-court side, is our friend,
the Marquis. It is not true, I believe, that he is in the Bastile,
but true that he is in disgrace, as the phrase there is.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, October 21, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — I send you the enclosed paper chiefly for the
sake of the edict, which fixes on May for the meeting of the
States General in France. Letters from Mr. Jefferson authen
ticate the document. They mention also the disgrace, as it is
called, of the Marquis. The struggle at present, in that king
dom, seems to be entirely between the monarchy and aristocracy,
and the hopes of the people merely in the competition of their
enemies for their favour. It is probable, however, that both
the parties contain real friends to liberty, who will make events
subservient to their object.
The Count Moustier and the Marchioness Brehan are to set
out this day for Mount Yernon. I take it for granted you are
not only apprised of the intended visit, but of the time at which
the guests may be expected.
430 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
The State of Connecticut has made choice of Doctr Johnson
and Mr. Ellsworth for its Senators, and has referred that of its
representatives to the people at large; every individual citizen
to vote for every Representative.
I have not heretofore acknowledged your last favor, nothing
material having turned up for some time, and the purpose of
Col. Carrington to see you on his way to Virginia superseding
all the ordinary communications through the epistolary channel.
It gives me much pleasure to find that both the opposition, at
first, and finally the accession, to the vote fixing New York for
the first meeting of the new Congress, has your approbation.
My fears that the measure would be made a handle of by the
opposition are confirmed in some degree by my late information
from Virginia. Mr. Pendleton, the chancellor, tells me he has
already met taunts from that quarter on this specimen of East
ern equity and impartiality. Whether much noise will be made,
will depend on the policy which Mr. Henry may find it conve
nient to adopt. As New York is at the head of his party, he
may be induced by that circumstance not to make irritating
reflections; though the fact is, that the party in this State which
is with him is supposed to be indifferent, and even secretly
averse, to the residence of Congress here. This, however, may
not be known to him.
I am, Dear Sir, yours most respectfully and affectely.
Questions from and ansivers to the Count de Moustier, Minister
Plenipotentiary of France, October 30, 1788.
1. Quelie est 1'opin- 1. It is not easy to give a precise answer
ion dcs habitans les plus to this question, many of the best informed
instraits de la Virginia, J , . _ • ,1 •
snr le contrat de la fer- not having been led to communicate their
opinions, and others having been directly
temc qivils voudroient or indirectly interested on one side or the
other. It seems to have been rather the
prevailing opinion that the contract was more hurtful to the
1788. DE MOUSTIER'S QUESTIONS, ETC. 431
price of tobacco than a supply of the Farmer General by pur
chases made in the English or other Foreign Markets. This
opinion must be founded on a supposition that the Mercantile
sellers in Europe could more easily combine and counteract the
monopoly than the Planters of America. It does not appear
that those who dislike their contract have particularly turned
their thoughts to a system proper to be substituted. The gene
ral idea seems to have been that some arrangement in France,
disarming the monopoly there of its influence, direct or indirect,
on the market here, could alone effectually answer the purpose.
2. NC pourrions nous The manufacture of this article being
pas fournir a trfes bon extremely simple, and easily accommodated
marchl le gros lainage ,, . * _
pour niabiiiimente des to the use, the event oi a competition must
ne=res- depend on the comparative price of the
material. The cloathing of negroes is made of the coarsest
materials. It is at present supplied in part by family manufac
ture, especially where a few negroes only belong to the same
master, and this resource is daily increasing. Principal part,
however, comes from G. Britain; and if no foreign competition
interferes, this must be the case for a considerable time.
3. Virginia produces Tobacco, Wheat,
3. Quels sont en crenc- T -, . ^ T , . .
ral les objects de com- Indian Corn, Lumber, salt provisions, coal,
merce, do'nt ii pourroit iron Hemp, tar, pitch, turpentine, flax-
6tre mteressf.nt d'en- . * '
couragcr I- importation seed. Ship-building can be carried on also
Tntlires?ailCe' S0lt aUX advantageously. It is the interest of Vir
ginia to find encouragement for all these
articles; and of France to give encouragement, so far, at least,
as she does not herself produce them. Tobacco, naval stores,
ready-built vessels, flax-seed, and occasionally wheat and flour
also, are wanted in France. Flour, Bread, Indian Corn, salt
provisions, lumber, and ready-built vessels of inferior size, are
adapted to the wants of the Islands.
4. As Virginia does not manufacture,
4. Quelles sont d'un
autre cot6 les inarchan- and consumes less or more of a very great
taftta doTleTv™ Variet7 of articles, she may be considered
ginicns paroissent avoir as wanting most of the French manufac-
le plus £?rand besoin ? , -. , . , . , . ,
tares recommended by their quality and
432 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
price. At present, the coarser woolens of France are inferior
to those of Britain, and her coarser linens to those of Germany.
In the articles of hardware and leather, the English have also
greatly the advantage. Wines, brandies, oil, Fruits, silks,
cambricks, Lawns, printed goods, Glass, Kid gloves, ribbons,
superfine broadcloths, &c., are articles which may be best ob
tained from France. The goods imported, as valued at the
ports of delivery, between Sepr 1, '86, and July 20, '87,
amounted to 949.444.00-7, excluding Salt, distilled spirits, wine,
malt liquors, cheese, Tea, sugar, coffee. These paid a duty ad
quantitatem, and therefore the value does not appear. It need
not be remarked that in all cases the entries subject to duty
fall short of the truth. The productions of the Islands most
wanted in Virginia are sugar and coffee. Between Sep1' 1, '86,
and July 20, '87, were entered 2,126,673lbs sugar, and 147,591
of coffee. Molasses also is wanted; and Taffia, perhaps, in a
small degree. Cotton is raised in Virginia, as far as it is
needed for domestic manufacture.
5. Est ii vraisembia- ^. It would be very difficult for brandy
bio quo les eaux de vie entirely to supplant rum. A moderate
do Franco f assont torn- „ ' ,
ber ontieremont le Rum preference, however, would soon make it a
des isles? Aquoipeut formidable rival. The small encourage-
so inontov la consomma-
tion ammoiio dcs vins ment hitherto given to brandy has had a
do Franco in Virgin* ? yery gensible effect in promoting the use
of it, and as antecedent habits become weakened, the use will
spread of itself. The brandies (doubtless from France, with
very trifling exceptions) entered on the Custom-House books
between Sept. 1, '86, and July 20, '87, amounted to 10,630 gal
lons; and it is conjectured that the direct importations not
entered, with the considerable quantity introduced by the way
of Maryland, where the duty has been lower, may amount to
half as much. The Rum entered within that period amounted
to 499,083 gallons; the Gin to 9,102J Gallons; and the cordials
and other spirits to 4,169J Gals.
The Wines entered within the above periods amounted to
109,948 Gallons, on which quantity about 40,000 gal3 were
French.
1788.
LETTERS.
433
6. Se sert on beau-
coup clu sel de Franco Virginia.
faufc it fa ire pour on rcn-
dre Fusage plus cora-
mun ?
6. French salt is little, if at all, used in
The eye is displeased at its
pour les saiaisonset quo colourj and the supposition is favored by
that circumstance that it is dirty and infe
rior to the British and other white salt.
The objection suggests the means of rendering the use more
common.
7. Of the vessels entered between the
above dates, the American amounted to
26,705 tons; the British, and those of other
nations not in alliance, 26,903 tons; the
French, and those of other nations in
alliance, 2,664 tons. The law having re
quired no other discriminations, the Cus-
tom-House books do not furnish a more particular answer.
8. The answer to this important ques-
8. Comme les Ameri-
cains desirent beaucoup tion ought to be the result of much infor-
fa?e\irsUdans ncTIntiT- mation, as well as consideration. At
les. que pourroient-iis present, Mr. M. is not prepared with such
proposer pour facihter 11,111 f
un arrangement decette an one. Whenever he shall have formed
an opinion on the subject which he thinks
worth the attention of Count M., it shall
be communicated.
eiiomemeses dearies et
quello est la proportion
de sa navigation avec
pour
tabacs et autres arti-
trop pre-
avantages
que la France ne cesse
de tirer de ses Colonies?
TO G. L. TURBERVILLE.
NEW YORK, November 2d. 1788.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 20th ultimo not having got
into my hands in time to be acknowledged by the last mail, I
have now the additional pleasure of acknowledging along with
it your favor of the 24, which I received yesterday.
You wish to know my sentiments on the project of another
general Convention, as suggested by New York. I shall give
them to you with great frankness, though I am aware they may
not coincide with those in fashion at Richmond, or even with
your own. I am not of the number, if there be any such, who
VOL. i. 28
434 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
think the Constitution lately adopted a faultless work. On
the contrary, there are amendments which I wished it to have
received before it issued from the place in which it was formed.
These amendments I still think ought to be made, according to
the apparent sense of America; and some of them, at least, I
presume will be made. There are others concerning which
doubts are entertained by many, and which have both advocates
and opponents on each side of the main question. These, I
think, ought to receive the light of actual experiment before it
would be prudent to admit them into the Constitution. With
respect to the first class, the only question is, which of the two
modes provided be most eligible for the discussion and adop
tion of them.
The objections against a Convention which give a preference
to the other mode, in my judgment, are the following: 1. It will
add to the difference among the States on the merits another
and an unnecessary difference concerning the mode. There are
amendments which, in themselves, will probably be agreed to
by all the States, and pretty certainly by the requisite propor
tion of them. If they be contended for in the mode of a Con
vention, there are unquestionably a number of States who will
be so averse and apprehensive as to the mode, that they will
reject the merits rather than agree to the mode. A Conven
tion, therefore, does not appear to be the most convenient or
probable channel for getting to the object. 2. A Convention
cannot be called without the unanimous consent of the parties
who are to be bound by it, if first principles are to be recurred
to; or without the previous application of two-thirds of the
State Legislatures, if the forms of the Constitution are to be
pursued. The difficulties in either of these cases must evidently
be much greater than will attend the origination of amendments
in Congress, which may be done at the instance of a single
State Legislature, or even without a single instruction on the
subject. 3. If a general Convention were to take place for the
avowed and sole purpose of revising the Constitution, it would
naturally consider itself as having a greater latitude than the
Congress appointed to administer and support as well as to
1788. LETTERS. 435
amend the system; it would consequently give greater agitation
to the public mind; an election into it would be courted by the
most violent partizans on both sides; it would probably consist
of the most heterogeneous characters; would be the very focus
of that flame which has already too much heated men of all
parties; would no doubt contain individuals of insidious views,
who, under the mask of seeking alterations popular in some
parts but inadmissible in other parts of the Union, might have
a dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the
fabric. Under all these circumstances, it seems scarcely to be
presumable that the deliberations of the body could be con
ducted in harmony, or terminate in the general good. Having
witnessed the difficulties and dangers experienced by the first
Convention, which assembled under every propitious circum
stance, I should tremble for the result of a second, meeting in
the present temper of America, and under all the disadvantages
I have mentioned. 4. It is not unworthy of consideration that
the prospect of a second Convention would be viewed by all
Europe as a dark and threatening cloud hanging over the Con
stitution just established, and, perhaps, over the Union itself;
and would therefore suspend, at least, the advantages this great
event has promised us on that side. It is a well-known fact
that this event has filled that quarter of the Globe with equal
wonder and veneration; that its influence is already secretly but
powerfully working in favor of liberty in France; and it is fairly
to be inferred that the final event there may be materially af
fected by the prospect of things here. We are riot sufficiently
sensible of the importance of the example which this Country
may give to the World, nor sufficiently attentive to the advan
tages we may reap from the late reform, if we avoid bringing it
into danger. The last loan in Holland, and that alone, saved
the United States from Bankruptcy in Europe; and that loan
was obtained from a belief that the Constitution then depending
would be certainly, speedily, quietly, and finally established,
and by that means put America into a permanent capacity to
discharge with honor and punctuality all her engagements.
436 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, November 5, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The enclosed memorandum was put into my
hands by Mr. St. John, the French Consul. He is a very wor
thy man, and entitled, by his philanthropy and zealous patron
age of whatever he deems useful, to much esteem and regard.
You will therefore oblige me by putting it in my power to af
ford him the little gratification he asks. I have another request
to trouble you with, which concerns myself. Col. H. Lee tells
me that he has purchased the tract of land through which the
canal at the great falls is to run, and on which the basin will
be, for £4,000. The tract contains 500 acres only, and is under
the incumbrance of a rent of <£150 sterling per annum; but, on
the other hand, derives from its situation, as he supposes, a cer
tain prospect of becoming immensely valuable. He paints it,
in short, as the seat of an early town, the lots of which will be
immediately productive, and possessing other peculiar advan
tages which make the bargain inestimable. In addition to many
instances of his friendship, he tenders me a part in it, and urges
my acceptance on grounds of advantage to myself alone. I am
thoroughly persuaded that I am indebted for the proposal to
the most disinterested and affectionate motives; but knowing
that the fervor with which he pursues his objects sometimes
affects the estimate he forms of them, and being in no condition
to make hazardous experiments, it is advisable for me to have
the sanction of other judgments to his opinions. You are well
acquainted with the situation, and can at once decide whether
it presents the material and certain advantages on which Col.
Lee calculates. A general intimation, therefore, of the light in
which the matter strikes you, will lay me under a very particu
lar obligation. I am by no means sure that in any result it
will be in my power to profit by Col. Lee's friendship, but it
may be of some consequence whether the opportunity be worth
attending to or not.
My information from Richmond is very unpropitious to fede
ral policy. Yours is no doubt more full and more recent. A
1788. LETTERS. 437
decided and malignant majority may do many things of a dis
agreeable nature, but I trust the Constitution is too firmly es
tablished to be now materially vulnerable. The elections for
the Legislature of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland,
ensure measures of a contrary complexion in those States. In
deed, Virginia is the only instance among the ratifying States
in which the politics of the Legislature are at variance with the
sense of the people, expressed by their Representatives in Con
vention. We hear nothing from Massachusetts or New Hamp
shire since the meeting of their general Courts. It is under
stood that both the appointments and arrangements for the
Government will be calculated to support and, as far as possi
ble, to dignify it. The public conversation seems to be not yet
settled on the Vice President. Mr. Hancock and Mr. Adams
have been most talked of. The former, it is said, rejects the
idea of any secondary station; and the latter does not unite the
suffrages of his own State, and is unpopular in many other
places. As other candidates, however, are not likely to present
themselves, and New England will be considered as having
strong pretensions, it seems not improbable that the question
will lie between the gentlemen above named. Mr. Jay and
General Knox have been mentioned, but it is supposed that
neither of 1,hem will exchange his present situation for an un
profitable dignity.
1 shall leave this in a day or two, and am not yet finally de
termined how far my journey may be continued Southward. A
few lines on the subject above mentioned will either find me in
Philadelphia, or be there taken care of for me. Should any
thing occur hero or elsewhere worth your attention, it shall be
duly communicated by,
Dear Sir, your very respectful and affect6 serv*.
438 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
PHILADELPHIA, Novr 23d, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your two favors of the 5th and 10th in
stant have been duly received. The appointments for the Sen
ate, communicated in the latter, answer to the calculations I
had formed, notwithstanding the contrary appearances on which
the former was founded. My only surprise is, that in the pres
ent temper and disproportionate number of the anti-federal part
of the Assembly, my name should have been honored with so
great a vote as it received. When this circumstance is com
bined with that of the characters which I have reason to believe
concurred in it, I should be justly chargeable with a very mis
taken ambition if I did not consider the event in the light which
you anticipated. I shall not be surprised if the attempt should
be equally successful to shut the door of the other House against
me, which was the real object of my preference, as well for the
reason formerly suggested to you, as for the additional one that
it will less require a stile of life with which my circumstances
do not square, and for which an inadequate provision only will
probably be made by the public. Being not yet acquainted
with the allotment of Orange in the districts, I can form no es
timate of the reception that will be given to an offer of my ser
vices. The district in which I am told it is likely to be thrown,
for the choice of an Elector, is a very monitory sample of what
may and probably will be done in that way.
My present situation embarrasses me somewhat. When I
left New York, I not only expected that the choice for the
Senate would be as it is, but was apprehensive that the spirit
of party might chuse to add the supposed mortification of drop
ping my name from the deputation to Congress for the fraction
of a year remaining. I accordingly left that place under ar
rangements which did not require my return. At the same
time, I had it in view, if left entirely to my option, to pass the
winter or part of it there, being desirous of employing some
of the time in matters which need access to the papers of Con
gress, and supposing, moreover, that I should be there master
1788. LETTERS. 439
more of my time than in Virginia. The opportunity of execu
ting my plan is given me, I find, by one of the votes of the As
sembly. On the other hand, I am now pressed by some of my
friends to repair to Virginia, as a requisite expedient for coun
teracting the machinations against my election into the House
of Representatives. To this, again, I am extremely disinclined,
for reasons additional to the one above mentioned. It will
have an electioneering appearance,, which I always despised and
wish to shun. And as I should shew myself in Orange only,
where there will probably be little difficulty, my presence could
have no very favorable effect; whilst it is very possible that
such a mark of solicitude, strengthened by my not declining a
reuppomtment to Congress, and now declining to serve in it,
might, by a dexterous misinterpretation, be made to operate on
the other side. These considerations are strong inducements
to join my colleagues at New York, and leave things to their
own course in Virginia. If Orange should fall into a federal
district, it is probable I shall not be opposed: if otherwise, a
successful opposition seems unavoidable. My decision, how
ever, is not finally taken.
TO GENL WASHINGTON.
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 2, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The information conveyed in your favor of the
IT ult° lays me under great obligations. It was by no means
my wish to have imposed the task of so full and particular a
view of the subject. The general result in your own mind wa^
all that I had in contemplation.
One of the papers herewith enclosed will shew you the state
of the election for the Senate in Massachusetts. It war; under
stood here that Mr. Bowdoin was appointed, and I have trans
mitted the error to some of my correspondents. New Hamp
shire has made choice of President Langdon and Judge Bart-
lett. New Jersey, of Mr. Patterson and Doctr Elmer. Dela
ware, of Mr. Reed and Mr. Bassett. South Carolina has post-
440 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
poned her choice till January. Mr. Izard, Mr. J. Rutled<rc,
Mr. Butler, and Mr. C. Pinckney,are the subjects of conversa
tion. Pennsylvania alone has arrived at the election for the
other branch. The entire result is not yet kno\vn; but a suf-
licient number of the Counties have been heard from to warrant
a confidence that 7 out of the 8, and a probability that the whole
eight, will be found in the federal ticket. This prospect is, on
the whole, auspicious; and shews the folly of Virginia, if the
measures of the Legislature are to be taken for the sense of the
State, in urging another Convention at this time. The real
friends to the object professed by the leaders at Richmond
ought to see that the only hope of obtaining alterations lies
in not aiming at too many, and in being conciliatory as to the
mode.
I came to this city with a view either to return to New York
or proceed to Virginia, as circumstances might require. I was
not sure that the spirit of party might not take pleasure in su
perseding the opportunity of remaining longer in New York.
That, I find, has not been the case; and a task which I had as
signed myself for the winter, or rather a part of it, would be
favored by a situation in which I could have access to the
papers of Congress. On this account, a return to New York
for the ensuing fraction of a year would not be inconvenient.
But I am pressed much in several quarters to try the effect of
presence on the district into which I fall for electing a Repre
sentative, and am apprehensive that an omission of that expe
dient may eventually expose me to blame. At the same time,
I have an extreme distaste to steps having an electioneering
appearance, altho' they should lead to an appointment in which
I am disposed to serve the public; and am very dubious, more
over, whether any step which might seem to denote a solicitude
on my part would not be as likely to operate against as in favor
of my pretensions. In this situation I am not clearly and finally
decided as to the part which ought to be taken. When I see
the Counties with which Orange is associated, I shall, perhaps,
be more able to form some estimates which should influence my
determination. This information I hourly expect, and in case
1788. LETTERS. 441
it should induce me to continue my course to Virginia, I shall
leave this immediately, or at least as soon as I can bear the
journey. I have for some time past been much indisposed with
the piles. They have not yet entirely gone off, and may pos
sibly detain me some days longer than the season would other
wise admit.
With every sentiment of esteem and affection, I am, Dr Sir,
your mo. obed. hble servant.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, Dec* 8, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — This will be handed to you by Mr. Gouverneur
Morris, who will embark in a few days for Havre, from whence
he will proceed immediately to Paris. He is already well
known to you by character; and as far as there may be a defect
of 'personal acquaintance I beg leave to supply it by this intro
duction.
My two last were of October 8 and 17th. They furnished a
state of GUI affairs as they then stood. I shall here add the
particulars of most consequence which have since taken place;
remembering, however, that many details will he most conve
niently gathered from the conversation of Mr. Morris, who is
thoroughly possessed of American transactions.
Notwithstanding the formidable opposition made to the new
federal Government, first, in order to prevent its adoption, and
since, in order to place its administration in the hands of dis
affected men, there is now both a certainty of its peaceable
commencement in March next, and a flattering prospect that it
will be administered by men who will give it a fair trial. Gen
eral Washington will certainly be called to the Executive de
partment. Mr. Adams, who is pledged to support him, will
probably be the vice President. The enemies to the Govern
ment, at the head and the most inveterate of whom is Mr.
442 WORKS OP MADISON.
Heiiry, arc laying a train for the election of Governor Clinton,
but it cannot succeed unless the federal votes be more dispersed
than can well happen. Of the seven States which have ap
pointed their Senators, Virginia alone will have anti-federal
members in that branch. Those of New Hampshire are Presi
dent Langdon and Judge Bartlett; of Massachusetts, Mr. Strong
and Mr. Dalton; of Connecticut, Doctor Johnson and Mr. Ells
worth; of New Jersey, Mr. Patterson and Mr. Elmer; of Penn
sylvania, Mr. R. Morris and Mr. McClay; of Delaware, Mr.
Geo. Reed and Mr. Bassett; of Virginia, Mr. R. PI. Lee and
Col. Grayson. Here is already a majority of the ratifying
States on the side of the Constitution. And it is not doubted
that it will be reinforced by the appointments of Maryland,
South Carolina, and Georgia. As one branch of the Legisla
ture of New York is attached to the Constitution, it is not im
probable that one of the Senators from that State also will be
added to the majority.
In the House of Representatives the proportion of anti-fed
eral members will of course be greater, but cannot, if present
appearances are to be trusted, amount to a majority, or even a
very formidable minority. The election for this branch has
taken place, as yet, no where except in Pennsylvania, and here
the returns are not yet come in from all the Counties. It is
certain, however, that seven out of the eight, and probable that
the whole eight, representatives will bear the federal stamp.
Even in Virginia, where the enemies to the Government form
§ of the legislature, it is computed that more than half the num
ber of Representatives, who will be elected by the people, formed
into districts for the purpose, will be of the same stamp. By
some, it is computed that seven out of the ten allotted to that
State will be opposed to the politics of the present Legislature.
The questions which divide the public at present relate — 1.
To the extent of the amendments that ought to be made to the
Constitution. 2. To the mode in which they ought to be made.
The friends of the Constitution, some from an approbation of
particular amendments, others from a spirit of conciliation, aro
generally agreed that the system should be revised. But they
LETTERS. 443
wish the revisal to be carried no farther than to supply additional
guards for liberty, without abridging the sum of power transfer
red from the States to the general Government, or altering pre
vious to trial the particular structure of the latter, and are fixed
in opposition to the risk of another Convention, whilst the pur
pose can be as well answered by the other mode provided for in
troducing amendments. Those who have opposed the Constitu
tion are, on the other hand, zealous for a second Convention and
for a revisal, which may either not be restrained at all, or extend
at least as far as alterations have been proposed by any State.
Some of this class are, no doubt, friends to an effective Govern
ment, and even to the substance of the particular Government
in question. It is equally certain that there are others who
urge a second Convention with the insidious hope of throwing
all things into confusion, and of subverting the fabric just estab
lished, if not the Union itself. If the first Congress embrace
the policy which circumstances mark out, they will not fail to
propose, of themselves, every desirable safeguard for popular
rights; and by thus separating the well-meaning from the de
signing opponents, fix on the latter their true character, and
give to the Government its due popularity and stability.
•* •& * * * # -x-
I am a stranger to the errand on which G. Morris goes to
Europe. It relates, I presume, to the affairs of R. Morris, which
are still much deranged.
I have received and paid the draught in favor of Doct. Ram-
Bay. I had before paid the order in favor of Mr. Thompson,
immediately on the receipt of your letter. About 220 dollars
of the balance due on the last state of our account were left in
Virginia for the use of your nephew. There are a few lesser
sums which stand on my side of the account which I shall take
credit for, when you can find leisure to forward another state
ment of your friendly advances for me.
I shall leave this place in a day or two for Virginia, where
my friends, who wish me to co-operate in putting our political
machine into activity as a member of the house of Representa
tives, press me to attend. They made me a candidate for the
444 WORKS OP MADISON.
Senate, for which I had not allotted my pretensions. The at
tempt was defeated by Mr. Henry, who is omnipotent in the
present Legislature, and who added to the expedients common
on such occasions a public philippic against my federal princi
ples. He has taken equal pains in forming the Counties into
Districts, for the election of Representatives, to associate with
Orange such as are most devoted to his politics, and most likely
to be swayed by the prejudices excited against me. From tho
best information I have of the prevailing temper of the District,
I conclude that my going to Virginia will answer no other pur
pose than to satisfy the opinions and entreaties of my friends.
The trip is in itself very disagreeable, both on account of its
electioneering appearance and the sacrifice of the winter, for
which I had assigned a task which the intermission of Congres
sional business would have made convenient at New York.
With the sincerest afiection and the highest esteem, I am,
dear sir, yours.
TO PHILIP MAZZEI, ESQ.
PHILADELPHIA, 10 December, 1788.
Your book, as I prophesied, sells nowhere but in Virginia.
A very few copies only have been called for either in New York
or in this city. The language in which it is written will ac
count for it. In order to attract notice, I translated the pane
gyric in the French Mercure, and had it made part of the ad
vertisement. I did not translate the comment on the Federal
Constitution, as you wished, because I could not spare the time,
as well as because I did not approve the tendency of it. Some
of your remarks prove that Horace's " Ccelum non animum mu
tant qui trans mare currunt" does not hold without exception.
In Europe, the abuses of power continually before your eyes
have given a bias to your political reflections which you did
not feel in equal degree when you left America, and which you
would feel less of if you had remained in America. Philoso-
1788. LETTERS. 445
pliers on the old continent, in their zeal against tyranny, would
rush into anarchy; as the horrors of superstition drive them
into Atheism. Here, perhaps, the inconveniences of relaxed
government have reconciled too many to the opposite extreme.
If your plan of a single Legislature, as in Pennsylvania, <fcc.,
were adopted, I sincerely believe that it would prove the most
deadly blow ever given to Republicanism. Were I an enemy
to that form, I would preach the very doctrines which are
preached by the enemies to the government proposed for the
United States. Many of our best citizens are disgusted with
the injustice, instability, and folly, which characterize the Amer
ican Administrations. The number has for some time been rap
idly increasing. Were the evils to be much longer protracted,
the disgust would seize citizens of every description.
It is of infinite importance to the cause of liberty to ascertain
the degree of it which will consist with the purposes of society.
An error on one side may be as fatal as on the other. Hitherto,
the error in the United States has lain in the excess.
All the States except North Carolina and Rhode Island have
ratified the proposed Constitution. Seven of them have ap
pointed their Senators, of whom those of Virginia, R. H. Lee
and Col. Grayson, alone are among the opponents of the system.
The appointments of Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia,
will pretty certainly be of the same stamp with the majority.
The House of Representatives is yet to be chosen everywhere
except in Pennsylvania. From the partial returns received,
the election will wear a federal aspect, unless the event in one
or two particular counties should contradict every calculation.
If the eio^ht members from this State be on the side of the Con-
O
stitution, it will in a manner secure the majority in that branch
of the Congress also. The object of the Anti-Federalists is to
bring about another general Convention, which would either
agree on nothing, as would be agreeable to some, and throw
everything into confusion, or expunge from the Constitution
parts which are held by its friends to be essential to it. The
latter party are willing to gratify their opponents with every
446 WORKS OF MADISON. 1788.
supplemental provision for general rights, but insist that this
can be better done in the mode provided for amendments.
I remain, with great sincerity, your friend and servant.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PHILADELPHIA, Decr 12th, 1788.
DEAR SIR, — The inclosed letter has been just sent me by Miss
Rittenhouse, and I avail myself of the delay of Mr. Morris to
give it a conveyance. Since mine already in the hands of Mr.
Morris, further returns have been received from the Western
Counties of this State, which, though not the entire residue,
reduce the final result to certainty. There will be seven rep
resentatives of the federal party, and one a moderate anti-fede
ralist. I consider this choice as ensuring a majority of friends
to the federal Constitution in both branches of the Congress;
as securing the Constitution against the hazardous experiment
of a second Convention; and, if prudence should be the charac
ter of the first Congress, as leading to measures which will con
ciliate the well meaning of all parties, and put our affairs into
an auspicious train.
I am charged by a Monsieur St. Trise, who is here, with his
compliments to you. He is an officer in the French Cavalry,
and appears to be an agreeable, worthy man.
With every sentiment of esteem and attachment, I am, dear
sir, your friend and servt.
TO GEORGE EVE.
January 2d, 1789.
SIR, — Being informed that reports prevail not only that I am
opposed to any amendments whatever to the new federal Con-
1789. LETTERS. 447
stitution, but that I have ceased to be a friend to the rights of
conscience; and inferring from a conversation with my brother
William that you are disposed to contradict such reports, as
far as your knowledge of my sentiments may justify, I am led
to trouble you with this communication of them. As a private
citizen, it could not be my wish that erroneous opinions should
be entertained with respect to either of those points, particu
larly with respect to religious liberty. But having been in
duced to offer my services to this district as its representative
in the federal Legislature, considerations of a public nature
make it proper that, with respect to both, my principles and
views should be rightly understood.
I freely own that I have never seen in the Constitution, as it
now stands, those serious dangers which have alarmed many
respectable Citizens. Accordingly, whilst it remained unrati-
fied, and it was necessary to unite the States in some one plan,
I opposed all previous alterations as calculated to throw the
States into dangerous contentions, and to furnish the secret ene
mies of the Union with an opportunity of promoting its disso
lution. Circumstances are now changed. The Constitution is
established on the ratifications of eleven States and a very great
majority of the people of America; and amendments, if pursued
with a proper moderation and in a proper mode, will be not
only safe, but may serve the double purpose of satisfying the
minds of well meaning opponents, and of providing additional
guards in favour of liberty. Under this change of circumstances,
it is my sincere opinion that the Constitution ought to be re
vised, and that the first Congress meeting under it ought to
prepare and recommend to the States for ratification the most
satisfactory provisions for all essential rights, particularly the
rights of conscience in the fullest latitude, the freedom of the
press, trials by jury, security against general warrants, <fec. I
think it will be proper, also, to provide expressly in the Con
stitution for the periodical increase of the number of Repre
sentatives, until the amount shall be entirely satisfactory, and
to put the judiciary department into such a form as will render
vexatious appeals impossible. There are sundry other altera-
448 WORKS OF MADISON. 178<>.
tions which are either eligible in themselves, or, being at least
safe, are recommended by the respect due to such as wish for
them.
I have intimated that the amendments ought to be proposed
by the first Congress. I prefer this mode to that of a General
Convention — 1st. Because it is the most expeditious mode. A
Convention must be delayed until two-thirds of the State Legis
latures shall have applied for one, and afterwards the amend
ments must be submitted to the States; whereas if the business
be undertaken by Congress, the amendments may be prepared
and submitted in March next. 2dly. Because it is the most cer
tain mode. There are not a few States who will absolutely re
ject the proposal of a Convention, and yet not be averse to
amendments in the other mode. Lastly. It is the safest mode.
The Congress, who will be appointed to execute as well as to
amend the Government, will probably be careful not to destroy
or endanger it. A Convention, on the other hand, meeting in
the present ferment of parties, and containing, perhaps, insid
ious characters from different parts of America, would at least
spread a general alarm, and be but too likely to turn every
thing into confusion and uncertainty. It is to be observed,
however, that the question concerning a General Convention
will not belong to the federal Legislature. If two-thirds of the
States apply for one, Congress cannot refuse to call it; if not,
the other mode of amendments must be pursued.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
OKAXGE, Janr 14. 1789.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 2d instant, with the letters at
tending it, never came to hand 'til last evening. I have good
reason to believe that the delay happened between Alexandria
and Fredericksburg, rather than at or from the latter place.
Mr. F. Maury pays particular attention to all letters which arrive
there for me, and forwards them to Orange by opportunities
which are frequent and safe. I apprehend there will be no im-
1789. LETTERS. 449
propriety in committing a confidential letter to that channel.
As an additional precaution, I will desire him to be particularly
attentive to any letter which may have your name on it.
I have heard from two only of the returns from the Electo
ral districts;"" the one in favor of Mr. Gilchrist, the other of
General Stevens. He succeeded against Col. Cabell by a ma
jority of 82 votes. t He owes his success to the coalition be
tween the two parties in Spottsylvania. My situation is unfa
vorable for intelligence from the State at large, and therefore
I can say little of the prospects as to the February election.
I fear, from the vague accounts which circulate, that the fed
eral Candidates are likely to stand in the way of each other.
This is not the case, however, in my district. The field is left
entirely to Monroe and myself. The event of our competition
will probably depend on the part to be taken by two or three
descriptions of people, whose decision is not known, if not yet
to be ultimately formed. I have pursued my pretensions much
further than I had premeditated, having not only made great
use of epistolary means, but actually visited two Counties, Cul-
peper and Louisa, and publicly contradicted the erroneous re
ports propagated against me. It has been very industriously
inculcated that I am dogmatically attached to the Constitution
* For choosing electors of President and Vice President.
f Stevens.
Cabell.
109
71 Albemarle.
270 Amherst.
15
66 Fluvanna.
268
10 Spottsylvania.
113
4 Orange.
177
26 Culpeper.
4
157 Buckingham.
686 604
82 bal. in favor of Stevens.
The unanimity in Amherst was produced by a previous declaration, as I am
told, of Col. Cabell, on the subject of the president, which satisfied the Federal
party. Little attention seems to have been paid anywhere to the Vice President.
Among the bulk of the people, the choice of the President has been regarded as
the sole subject of the election.
VOL. i. 29
450 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
in every clause, syllabic, and letter, and therefore not a single
amendment will be promoted by my vote, either from convic
tion or a spirit of accommodation. This is the report most
likely to affect the election, and most difficult to be combated
with success within the limited period. There are a number
of others, however, which are auxiliaries to it. With my re
spectful compliments to Mrs. Washington, and the others of
your family,
I remain, Dear Sir, your mo. obed* and affect. Serv*.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
ALEXANDRIA, March 1st. 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — This is the first convenient opportunity
I have had for dropping you a line since I last came into the
State. Your sanction to my remaining in New York during
the crisis of the elections, conveyed through Col. Carrington,
never came to hand till I had arrived in Orange. It coincided
so fully with my inclination, and, indeed, with my judgment, that
had it been received in due time, I do not know but I should
have disregarded all the pressing exhortations which stood op
posed to your opinion. I am persuaded, however, that my ap
pearance in the district was more necessary to my election than
you then calculated. In truth, it has been evinced by the ex
periment that my absence would have left a room for the cal
umnies of anti-federal partizans, which would have defeated
much better pretensions than mine. In Culpeper, which was
the critical County, a continued attention was necessary to re
pel the multiplied falsehoods which circulated. Whether I
ought to be satisfied or displeased with my success, I shall here
after be more able to judge. My present anticipations are not
flattering. I see on the lists of Representatives a very scanty
proportion who will share in the drudgery of business. And I
foresee contentions, first between federal and anti-federal par
ties, and then between Northern and Southern parties, which
LETTERS. 451
give additional disagreeableness to the prospect. Should the
State Elections give an anti-federal colour to the Legislatures,
which, from causes not anti-federal in the people, may well hap
pen, difficulties will again start up in this quarter, which may
have a still more serious aspect on the Congressional proceed
ings.
In my last, or one of my last letters, was enclosed a quere
from Mr. St. John, the French Consul at New York, relating
to the law here which regulates the recording of deeds, &c. As
I shall on my return be applied to for an answer, I will thank
you for the proper one as soon as your leisure will allow.
I shall go on from this to-morrow. On my arrival I shall
attend as far as I can to whatever may deserve your perusal.
Besides the private satisfaction which I shall have in the con
tinuance of our correspondence, I promise myself the benefit of
your suggestions on public subjects.
Present me respectfully to Mrs. R., and rely on the affection
with which I remain, yours truly.
As your neighborhood gives you frequent interviews with the
President of William and Mary, remind him of my best regards
to him.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
BALTIMORE. March 5th, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — On our Journey hither, we have fallen in with
the bearer of the Electoral votes of Georgia. They are unani
mous as to the President, and are all thrown away on Individ
uals of the State as to the Vice president. The Representatives
were not chosen when the gentleman set out, but the election
was to take place in a day or two after. General Matthews,
he tells us, will be one, Mr. Baldwin another, and the third
either Mr. Osborne or Gen1 Jackson. All the candidates, I
understand, are well affected to the Constitution. In South
452 WORKS OF MADISON.
Carolina the votes for President were also unanimous, as the
gentleman informs us. Of the others, 5 were given to Mr. Rut-
ledge, and the remaining two to Mr. Adams.
The badness of the roads and the weather prevented our get
ting to this place sooner than last evening, by which means we
lose two days. R. H. Lee left this on his way to New York
on Monday morning. Mr. White had preceded him a day or
two.
With the highest respect and mo. affect, attachment, I am,
Dr Sir, Yrs.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
PHILADELPHIA, March 8, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — We arrived here yesterday evening, where we
have met with Mr. Dawson, just from New York. When he
left it, eighteen representatives and eight senators had assem
bled. It is not certain when the deficiencies will be made up.
The most favorable conjectures postpone it to Monday se'nnight.
The members attending are chiefly from the Eastward. I do not
learn that a single member, except Mr. White, is from a State
south of Pennsylvania; unless, indeed, Dr Tucker is to be in
cluded in the exception. The New Jersey Representatives are
not yet announced. Mr. Clarke, it is supposed, will be one;
Mr. Cadwallader, Mr. Boudinot, and Mr. Skureman, are talked
of as the others.
I find that the communication made you from Kentucky cor
responds with an official letter to Congress from Governor St.
Clair, which speaks of the same emissary, and the same errand.
Notice has been transmitted of the affair to the executive of
Virginia, in order that regular steps may be taken, if sufficient
ground be afforded, for apprehending the incendiary. The
project of Geo. Morgan for establishing a colony beyond the
Mississippi is also going on. It is the opinion of Mr. Brown,
1789. LETTERS. 453
as explained to Mr. Griffin, that emigrations to the Spanish
Territory will be enticed from Kentucky as rapidly as the
allurements of the latter place have obtained them from the
Atlantic States. All these circumstances point out the conduct
which the new government ought to pursue with regard to the
Western Country and Spain.
I dropped you a few lines from Baltimore, mentioning the
unanimity of the electoral vote of South Carolina and Georgia
for a President, and the manner in which the secondary votes
were disposed of.
I am, dear sir, yours truly and affectionately.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, March 19, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — On our arrival here we found that the number
of Representatives on the spot had been stationary from the
second day of the meeting. Mr. Page, Mr. Lee, and myself,
raised it to 21, and Mr. S. Griffin and Mr. Moore have been
since added. The number of attending Senators continues at
eight. When a quorum will be made up in either House rests
on vague conjecture rather than on any precise information. It
is not improbable, I think, that the present week will supply
the deficiency in one, if not in both of them. The States most
convenient are among the defaulters. It will not be known, I
am told, in this State, who the Representatives are, till some
time next month. The federal party calculate on an equal
division of the six. Mr. Lawrence for the city district, Mr.
Floyd for the Long Island district, and Mr. Benson for a third.
In New Jersey the election has been conducted in a very singu
lar manner. The law having fixed no time expressly for closing
the polls, they have been kept open three or four weeks in some
of the counties, by a rival jealousy between the Eastern and
western divisions of the State; and it seems uncertain when
they would have been closed if the governor had not interposed,
454 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
by fixing on a day for receiving the returns, and proclaiming
the successful candidates. The day is passed, but I have not
heard the result. The Western ticket in favor of Skureman,
Boudinot, Cadwallader, and Sennickson, if this be the name, is
supposed to have prevailed; but an impeachment of the election
by the unsuccessful competitors has been talked of. Two of the
Representatives from Massachusetts are also unknown to us.
In one of the districts it is supposed that a disaffected man has
prevailed.
An English packet has been long expected, and is not yet
arrived. The state of foreign news remains, of consequence,
little altered. The accounts of latest date, through other
channels, shew that the progress in France towards a constitu
tional establishment is unchecked, and that a coalition between
the king and the commons against the nobility and clergy will
direct the innovations.
With respectful compliments to Mrs. Washington and the
rest of the family, I am, dear sir, truly and affect7, your obt
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, Mar. 26. 1789.
DEAR SIR, — The inclosed copy of Morgan's invitation to his
fellow-citizens was obtained from one of his friends, and for
warded to me from Pennsylvania. It is the most authentic and
precise evidence of the Spanish project that has come to my
knowledge. The instrument referred to as retained in Morgan's
hands, in order to be signed by the adventurers, would still fur
ther explain the transaction.
No Quorum is yet formed in either house. The Senate want
two members; the House of Rep8 four. It is probable that
the members from N. Jersey, who are at length proclaimed, two
remaining members from Penna, and Col. Coles, who halted in
Philad*, will come in this evening, and supply the deficiency in
1789. MORGAN'S INVITATION. 455
one Branch. The Senate have no precise prospect of the small
addition required to their numbers.
With unfeigned attachment, <fec., &c.
[Put into the hands of confidential people in Pennsylva and N.
Jersey, for the purpose of procuring followers.']
Several gentlemen who propose to make settlements in the
Western Country mean to reconnoitre and survey the same
the ensuing winter. All farmers, Tradesmen, <fec., of good char
acters, who wish to unite in* the scheme and to visit the Coun
try under my direction, shall be provided with boats and pro
visions for the purpose, free of expense, on signing an agree
ment, which may be seen by applying to me at Prospect, near
Princeton, on or before the 8th day of October next, or at Fort
Pitt by the 10th day of November next. The boats which will
be employed on this expedition are proposed to be from 40 to
60 feet long, to row with 20 oars each, and to carry a number
of swivels. Each man to provide himself with a good fire-lock
or rifle, ammunition, and one blanket, or more if he pleases.
Sucli as choose tents or other conveniences must provide them
themselves. Every person who accompanies me on this under
taking shall be entitled to 320 acres of land, at -J of a dollar
per acre. Those who first engage to have the preference of
surveys, which, however, each person may make on such part
of the whole tract as he pleases, taking none but his choice of
the best lands, providedt such survey is either square or oblong,
whose sides are East, West, North, and South; 640 acres or more
being first reserved for a Town, which I propose to divide into
lots of one acre each, and give 600 of them in fee to such Mer
chants, tradesmen, &c., as may apply on the spot, and 40 of
* 4< This scheme," in the copy of this paper sent by Mr. Madison to Mr. Jeffer
son.
t " Each survey."— Ibid.
456 WORKS OF MADISON.
them to such public uses as the inhabitants shall from time to
time recommend, together with one out-lot of ten acres to each
of the first 600 families who shall* settle in the Town. All per
sons who settle with me at New Madrid, and their posterity,
will have the free navigation of the Mississippi, and a market
at New Orleans, free from duties, for all the produce of their
lands, where they may receive payment in Mexican Dollars for
their flour, Tobacco, etc.
It is proposed, after fixing on the spot, to clear and fence in
one hundred acres in a convenient situation, to plant it with
corn, to hire suitable hands to tend it thro' the summer, and in
the next fall, winter, and spring, to distribute it tot new settlers
at J of a dollar per bushel, that they may have a dependence
so far as this will go. And as buffaloes and other game are
very plenty in the neighborhood there can be no want of pro
vision, contractors being ready to engage to deliver fresh beef
and venison throughout the year at 1 penny per pound. Credit
will be given to those who desire it, as well for the land as:j; for
the provisions, and payment received in future produce. All
persons will be assisted in building a House, clearing a spot of
ground, and in getting in their first crops. Horned cattle,
horses, and swine, will be delivered to the settlers at New
Madrid in such quantities as they shall stand in need of at first,
at very reasonable rates for cashll or future produce. Those who
settle at New Madrid in this or the ensuing year shall have
plough-irons, or other Iron works, and farming utensils, trans
ported down the Ohio gratis; also their clothing, bedding,
kitchen furniture, and certain other articles which may not be
too bulky.
Schoolmasters will be engaged immediately for the instruc
tion of youth. Ministers of the Gospel will meet with encour
agement, and grants of land made in fee to each§ of every de-
* "Build and settle," in the copy sent to Mr. Jefferson,
t "All new settlers."— Ibid,
t " For provisions." — Ibid.
|| " Or produce."— Ibid.
§ " And every." — Ibid.
1789. LETTERS. 457
nomination who may agree with a congregation before the year
1790, besides particular grants of tracts of land to each So
ciety.
This new city is proposed to be built on a high bank of the
Mississippi River, near the mouth of the Ohio, in the richest
and most healthy part of the Western Country, about the lati
tude of 37°.
Those who wish for further information will be pleased to
apply to me in person as above mentioned, or at the new City
of Madrid after the first day of next Decr, where the Surveyors
will attend to lay out the lands.
(Signed.)
OCTR 3d, 1788. GEORGE MORGAN.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, March 29th, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — My last was committed in December to Mr.
Gouverneur Morris. I was then on my way to Virginia. The
elections for the new government commenced shortly after my
arrival. The first was of Electors, to Ballot for a President
and Vice President. The successful candidates were General
Wood, Mr. Zach7 Johnson, Gen1 Edward Stephens, Doctor
David Stuart, Mr. W. Fitzhugh of Chatham, Mr. Warner
Lewis of Gloucester, Mr. Jno. Harvey, Mr. Walk, of or near
Xorfolk, Mr. Kello of Southampton. These nine were federal
ists. The remaining three, Mr. Patrick Henry, Mr. Roane of
King and Queen, and Mr. Pride of Amelia, were of the adverse
party. Two of the former party did not attend. The votes
were unanimous with respect to General Washington, as appears
to have been the case in each of the States. The secondary
votes were given, among the federal members, chiefly to Mr. J.
Adams, one or two being thrown away in order to prevent a
possible competition for the Presidency. Governor Clinton
was the secondary choice of the anti-federal members. In the
succeeding election of Representatives, federalism was also
458 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
proved to be the prevailing sentiment of the people. The suc
cessful candidates on this list are Mr. Moore, late of the Execu
tive Council, (from Rockingham,) Mr. Alexander White, Mr.
Richard Bland Lee, Mr. John Page, (Rosewell,) Mr. Samuel
Griffin, Mr. Brown, member of the old Congress, (from Ken
tucky,) J. Madison, Col. Parker, (late nav. officer at Norfolk,)
Col. Isaac Coles, (of Halifax,) and Col. Bland. Of these, the
seven first have been on the side of the Constitution; the three
last in the opposition. Col. Parker appears to be very tem
perate, and it is not probable that both the others will be very
inveterate. It was my misfortune to be thrown into a contest
with our friend, Col. Monroe. The occasion produced consider
able efforts among our respective friends. Between ourselves,
I have no reason to doubt that the distinction was duly kept in
mind between political and personal views, and that it has
saved our friendship from the smallest diminution. On one
side I am sure it is the case.
Notwithstanding the lapse of time since the birthday of the
new Government, (the 4th of March,) I am under the necessity
of informing you that a quorum is not yet formed, either in the
Senate or House of Representatives. The season of the year,
the peculiar badness of the weather, and the short interval
between the epoch of election and that of meeting, form a
better apology for the delay than will probably occur on your
side of the Atlantic. The deficiency at present in the House
of Representatives requires two members only for a Quorum,
and in the Senate one only. A few days will, therefore, fit the
Body for the first step, to wit, opening the Ballots for the
President and Vice President. I have already said that
General Washington will be the first by a unanimous suffrage.
It is held to be certain that Mr. Adams, though refused a great
many votes from different motives, will have the second appoint
ment. A considerable delay will be unavoidable, after the
ballots are counted, before the President can be on the spot,
and, consequently, before any Legislative act can take place.
Such a protraction of the inactivity of the Government is to be
regretted on many accounts, but most on account of the loss of
1789. LETTERS. 459
revenue. A prospect of the Spring importations led to the
appointment of the first meeting at a time which, in other
respects, was unseasonable.
It is not yet possible to ascertain precisely the complexion
of the new Congress. A little time will be necessary to unveil
it, and a little will probably suffice. With regard to the Con
stitution, it is pretty well decided that the disaffected party
in the Senate amounts to two or three members only; and that
in the other House it does not exceed a very small minority,
some of which will also be restrained by the federalism of the
States from which they come. Notwithstanding this character
of the Body, I hope and expect that some conciliatory sacrifices
will be made, in order to extinguish opposition to the system,
or at least break the force of it, by detaching the deluded
opponents from their designing leaders. With regard to the
system of policy to which the Government is capable of rising,
and by which its genius will be appreciated, I wait for some
experimental instruction. Were I to advance a conjecture, it
would be, that the predictions of an anti-democratic operation
will be confronted with at least a sufficient number of the
features which have marked the State Governments.
Since my arrival here I have received your favor of Novem
ber 18th. It had been sent on to Virginia; but not reaching
Fredericksburg before I passed that place, it followed me back
hither. I am much concerned that your scheme of passing the
ensuing summer in your native country has been defeated. Mr.
Jay, with whom I have conversed on the subject, tells me that
his answer to your public letter has explained the impossibility
of giving effect to your wishes, no Congress having been formed
under the old Confederation since the receipt of your letter, or,
indeed, since the expiration of the last federal year. The most
that can now be clone will be to obtain from the new authority,
as early as possible, some act which may leave the matter to
your own discretion. Perhaps it may be neither more incon
venient to your private nor to the public affairs to make your
visit in the fall instead of the Spring, and to pass the Winter
instead of the Summer in America. The same cause on which
460 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
you are to charge your disappointment in this instance pre
vented a decision on the question of outfit, stated in one of your
former communications.
With some printed papers containing interesting articles, I
inclose a manuscript copy of Col. Morgan's invitation* to per
sons disposed to seek their fortunes on the Spanish side of the
Mississippi. There is no doubt that the project has the sanc
tion of Gardoqui. It is a silly one on the part of Spain, and
will probably end like the settlements on the Roman side of the
Danube, with the concurrence of the declining empire. But it
clearly betrays the plan suggested to you in a former letter, of
making the Mississippi the bait for a defection of the Western
people. Some of the leaders in Kentucky are known to favor
the idea of connection with Spain. The people are as yet in
imical to it. Their future disposition will depend on the meas
ures of the new Government.
I omitted to mention that a dispute between the Senate of
this State, which was federal, and the other branch, which was
otherwise, concerning the manner of appointing Senators for
the Congress, was so inflexibly persisted in that no appointment
was made during the late session, and must be delayed for a
considerable time longer, even if the dispute should on a second
trial be accommodated. It is supposed by some that the super
intending power of Congress will be rendered necessary by the
temper of the parties. The provision for the choice of electors
was also delayed until the opportunity was lost; and that for
the election of Representatives so long delayed that the result
will not be decided till tuesday next. It is supposed that at
least three out of the six will be of the federal party. In New
Jersey, the inaccuracy of the law providing for the choice of
Representatives has produced an almost equal delay, and left
room for contests, which, if brought by the disappointed candi
dates into the House, will add a disagreeable article to the list
of its business.
I am much obliged for the two estimates on the subject of
| * See this paper, ante pp. 455 — 457.
1789. LETTERS. 461
our foreign debt, and shall turn your ideas to the account which
they deserve.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
NEW YORK, April 6th, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — The arrival of R. H. Lee yesterday has made up
a quorum of the Senate. A quorum in the other house was
made on Wednesday last. The ballots will be opened to-day,
unless an indisposition of Mr. Basset should prevent; which
was not probable yesterday afternoon. The notifications of the
President and vice President will be left to the Senate. Mr.
Charles Thomson will be the messenger to the former.
The papers will have made known that Mr. Muhlenburg was
the choice of the Representatives for their speaker, and Mr.
Beckley for their clerk. The competitor of the former was
Mr. Trumbull, who had a respectable vote; of the latter, Mr.
S. Stockton, of New Jersey, who, on the first ballot, had the
same number with Mr. Beckley. A British packet arrived
some days ago, but has not brought, as far as I have learned,
any public letters. The other information brought has passed
into our Gazettes, and will have reached you through that
channel.
I am, dear Sir, with the highest respect and attachment, your
obed* and very hble servt.
Your favor, enclosing a letter received at Mount Vernon for
me, has been duly received.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, April 8th, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — You will not learn without some surprize that
the sixth of this month arrived before a quorum was made up
in both branches of the new Legislature, and the first of the
462 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
month before a Quorum was attained in either. The first and
only joint step taken by the Congress was the examination of
the ballots for President and vice president. The votes were
found, as was expected, to be unanimously given to General
Washington; and a sufficient number, though smaller than was
expected, to give the secondary dignity to Mr. Adams. The
entire number of votes was 69. Mr. Adams had 34 only.
Governour Clinton had not a single vote except those of his
three friends in Virginia. Mr. Charles Thomson set out yester
day as the herald to Mount Vernon, and a private gentleman
with notice to the vice president. The Speaker of the House
of Representatives is Mr. Muhlenburg, of Pennsylvania. The
Clerk, Mr. Beckley. Mr. Langdon was placed in the chair of
the Senate for the special purpose of opening the ballots, and
will remain in it until Mr. Adams arrives. The Clerk of that
House is not yet appointed.
I inclose a copy of the Rules agreed on yesterday. They are
to receive a supplement as soon as prepared by a Committee.
The first regular business to be discussed will relate to com
merce, which is in a state of anarchy at present. Some propo
sitions on that subject will be taken up to-morrow. It is thought
proper that the preparatory work should be done before the ar
rival of the President. The subject of amendments has not yet
been touched. From appearances there will be no great diffi
culty in obtaining reasonable ones. It will depend, however,
entirely on the temper of the federalists, who predominate as
much in both branches as could be wished. Even in this State,
notwithstanding the violence of its anti-federal symptoms, three
of its six representatives at least will be zealous friends to the
Constitution; and it is not improbable that a fourth will be of
the same description.
By a late British packet we understand that the King contin
ues under his disability, though without mortal symptoms; that
the care of his person is committed to the Queen, and that the
Prince of Wales is sole Regent by an act of the two Houses,
but under certain limitations of power, which have produced
a pointed and public discussion between him and Mr. Pitt.
1789. LETTERS. 463
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, April 12, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — I am just favored with yours of the 27th
Ultimo. My last was sent from Alexandria, and as the receipt
of it is not mentioned, I fear that it may have miscarried. I
have not sooner written from this place because I waited for
an opportunity of collecting the features and complexion of the
new Government, which, in its Legislative capacity, never be
came practically organized till the 6th instant, and in its Exec
utive capacity will not be so for 10 or 15 days.
The subject taken up in this House is an impost. Opinions
are divided on the point whether the first plan shall be a hasty
and temporary essay, or be digested into a form as little im
perfect as the want of experience will admit. There are plausi
ble arguments on both sides. The former loses ground daily,
from the apparent impracticability of reaping the Spring har
vest from importations. It is probable that the law will, in the
event, be limited to a longer or a shorter duration, according to
the accuracy and extent which can within a decent time be given
to its provisions. I need not remark to you the difficulty of the
work. Nothing but experience and successive revisions can
render it tolerably adequate and respectaole. There will be
difficulty, also, in adjusting a scale of duties, &c., to the different
ideas and interests of different States and Statesmen. But I
suspect the latter difficulty will be less perplexing than the
former, though I know a contrary apprehension has prevailed.
The Senate have appointed a Committee on the subject of the
Judiciary Department.
On the subject of amendments, nothing has been publickly,
and very little privately, said. Such as I am known to have
espoused will, as far as I can gather, be attainable from the
federalists, who sufficiently predominate in both branches,
though with some the concurrence will proceed from a spirit
of conciliation rather than conviction. Connecticut is least in
clined, though I presume not inflexibly opposed, to a moderate
revision. A paper, which will probably be republished in the
464 WORK? OF MADISON.
Virginia Gazettes, under the signature of a citizen of New
Haven, unfolds Mr. Sherman's opinions. Whatever the amend
ments may be, it is clear that they will be attempted in no other
way than through Congress. Many of the warmest of the op
ponents of the Government disavow the mode contended for by
Virginia.
I wish I could see an equal prospect of appeasing the dis
quietude on the two other points you mention — British debts
and taxes. With respect to the first, you know my sentiments.
It will be the duty of the Senate, in my opinion, to promote
regulations with Great Britain as speedily as circumstances will
admit, and the aspect of the Government seems likely to com
mand a respectful attention to its measures. I see nothing else
that can be done. As to the taxes, I see nothing that can be
done more than the ordinary maxims of policy suggest. They
may certainly be diminished in consequence of the revolution
in the federal Government, since the public wants will be little
if at all increased, and may be supplied in greater proportion
out of commerce.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, April 19, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — My last was committed to Major Kogers, of your
County, who embarked some days ago from this place for Vir
ginia. I have been since favoured with yours of the 7th instant,
and am much and truly gratified with the proof it contains of
your good health.
We have not yet either the President or vice President on the
ground. The former is expected in a few days. The latter, we
are told, will certainly come in to-morrow evening. Prepara
tions are making by the Inhabitants for the reception of both;
for that of the former in a very splendid style.
The House of Representatives is still occupied with the im
post. It is a subject which is not very simple in itself, and is
rendered not a little difficult by the diversity of State regula-
1789. LETTERS. 465
tions; by the total want of regulations in several States; by the
case of Rhode Island and North Carolina, not yet parties to the
Constitution; and by the law of Virginia disqualifying State
officers, Judiciary, as well as others, from executing federal
functions. The latter circumstance seems to threaten addi
tional delay, since it may require some special provision of a
Judiciary nature for cases of seizure, &c., until the Judiciary
department can be systematically arranged; and may even then
oblige the federal Legislature to extend its provisions farther
than might otherwise be necessary. In settling the rate of du
ties, the ideas of different quarters, Northern and Southern,
Eastern and Western, do not entirely accord; but the difficul
ties are .adjusted as easily as could be well expected. If the
duties should be raised too high, the error will proceed as much
from the popular ardor to throw the burden of revenue on
trade as from the premature policy of stimulating manufac
tures.
Several vessels are just arrived from England. They report
that the King was getting much better, and the nation flattered
with a hope of his being soon able to resume the reins of Gov
ernment. Should his recovery amount to a lucid interval only,
and successive relapses mark his future situation, the case will
become more singular and perplexing than ever.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, May 9, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — My last was of the 29th March. A few days ago
I had the pleasure of yours of the 12 January. I thank you
for your attention to the works of the Abbe BartheLemy and
the Marquis Condorcet, and wish much that your attempts to
procure me a genuine copy of the King of Prussia's may succeed.
I send you herewith the first N . of the Congressional Regis
ter, which will give you some idea of the discussions in the
new Legislature. You will see at once the strongest evidences
of mutilation and perversion, and of the illiteracy of the Editor.
VOL. i. 30
466 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780,
The following Numbers shall go after it, as conveyances occur,
unless they should be found wholly unworthy of it. The delib
erations of the House of Representatives have been chiefly em
ployed on the subject of an Impost. Opinions have been con
siderably divided on the quantum of duties that would be prac
ticable, and, in some instances, on the ratio of different duties
likely to operate differently in different States that would be
just. In general, the interests and ideas of the Northern and
Southern States have been less adverse than was predicted by
the opponents or hoped by the friends of the new Government.
Members from the same State, or the same part of the Union,
are as often separated on questions from each other as they arc
united in opposition to other States or other quarters of the
continent. This is a favorable symptom. The points on which
most controversy has been raised are: 1st. The duty on molasses.
2. The discrimination between nations in and those not in
Treaty. The arguments against what appears a proportionate
duty on molasses to that of rum turned on its disproportion to
the value of the article; the effect on the trade in it, which
yields the only market for certain exports from the Eastern
States; the effect on the fisheries, in which both rum and mo
lasses are consumed; and, finally, the effect on the poor in that
part of the Union where the latter enters into their ordinary
diet. The opposite arguments have been, that a proportion to
the duty on rum was essential to the productiveness of the fund,
as well as to the rules of justice as applied to different States,
some of which consume foreign and some country rum; that if
the proportion was not violated, the trade in molasses could not
be affected nor the distilleries injured; that the effect on the
fisheries would be too small to be felt; and that the poor who
consume molasses would escape the burden falling on the poor
who consume sugar. By the inclosed printed resolutions you
will see the rates on these articles as they yet stand. It is not
improbable that further efforts will be made to reduce that on
molasses. Some of the other rates have been altered since they
were printed. I do not note them because they are not yet in
their final state. It will become a serious question whether a
1789. LETTERS. 467
general reduction of the rates shall be made or not, on the idea
of the danger of smuggling. The distinction between nations
in and not in Treaty has given birth to three distinct and
urgent debates. On the last, the minority was very small for
putting Great Britain at once on the same footing with the most
favored nation. This policy, though patronized by some re
spectable names, is chiefly abetted by the spirit of this City,
which is steeped in Anglicism. It is not improbable, from the
urgency of its representative, that a further effort may be yet
made.
Not knowing how far the present conveyance may be a cer
tain one, I decline, on reflection, inclosing the Register until a
more direct opportunity offers, when I will add sundry matters
which I have not time now to put in cypher. Inclosed is the
Speech of the President, with the Address of the House of Rep
resentatives, and his reply. You will see in the caption of the
address that we have pruned the ordinary stile of the degrading
appendages of Excellency, Esquire, &c., and restored it to its
naked dignity. Titles to both the President and Vice Presi
dent were formally and unanimously condemned by a vote of
the House of Representatives. This, I hope, will shew to the
friends of Republicanism that our new Government was not
meant to substitute either Monarchy or Aristocracy, and that
the genius of the people is as yet adverse to both.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, May 10, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — Whilst I thank you for your favor of the
23d ultimo, I must remind you that it does not contain the
promis-ed information on the case of the French Consul here.
I am led to it by being myself just reminded by him of the
omission on my part.
The plan of an immediate temporary impost was what first
occurred on the subject. It is not yet abandoned, but the prac
ticability is questionable. The plan of 1783 was inadmissible
468 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789
without alteration on some points, which have been most pro
ductive of delay. I allude particularly to the ratio between
the duties on rum and molasses. When this plan was recom
mended by Congress, the States could restrain the substitution
of N. England rum by taxing it, which being now prohibited,
an indirect tax on it through the medium of molasses is become
essential on the part of the National authority. The rates of
impost are in their last stage, and will probably be soon deter
mined. The plan of temporary collection, by a general adop
tion of the existing regulations of the States, is also before the
House of Representatives. A uniform plan will in a day or
two follow it from the Committee appointed to report the
proper mode. The House will be able to make their election
between the two. The reasons for despatch will recommend
the first, if it can be made to hold water, which is much doubted.
Whichever plan may be preferred, it will be proper, perhaps,
to limit its duration, that a more correct provision within a
reasonable time may be rendered a matter of necessity.
No question has been made in this quarter or elsewhere, as
far as I have learned, whether the General ought to have ac
cepted the trust. On the contrary, opinions have been unani
mous and decided that it was essential to the commencement
of the Government, and a duty from which no private con
siderations could absolve him. The promptitude of his setting
out from Mount Yernon was the effect of information of the
delay of business here, the impatience of the public mind, and
the necessity of his presence to make the Government compe
tent to its first and most urgent objects. His election was
known to him with certainty a long time before the ballots
were opened, and informally communicated, I believe, before it
was regularly notified. It was taken for granted here, that,
under the circumstances of the occasion, he would lose no time
in repairing to his station, if he meant not to decline it alto
gether. Col. Griffin has, I presume, sent you his inaugural
speech. Inclosed is the answer of the House of Representa
tives. The address is purged, you will observe, of all titles
whatsoever except the Constitutional one.
1789. LETTERS. 469
This point had been previously determined by a Report from
a joint committee originated by the Senate, for the purpose of
settling what, or whether any, titles should be annexed to the
President and Vice President. The Report was unanimously
agreed to by the House of Representatives previous to the
address. I am sorry to find that the Senate do not concur in
this principle of dignified simplicity. They have disagreed to
the Report of the joint Committee, and have proposed another
consultation on the subject. The House of Representatives
will assuredly adhere to the first determination. The friends
of titles in the other Branch are headed by the vice president,
who is seconded with all the force and urgency of natural
temper by R. H. L — . I make no other remark on the case
than that it is communicated to yourself only.
Ever most affec7 yours,
My compliments to the President.* I wish to write to him,
but my friends must excuse me from much of the attention
which my inclination would give them.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, May 13, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — I have been favored with yours of April
The newspapers will have given you some idea of our proceed
ings, though in a state always mutilated, and often perverted.
The impost is still the subject of deliberation. The general
quantum of duties has at some periods been a source of discus
sion; at others, the ratio of particular duties have produced still
more of it. The proper one between Rum and Molasses has
been the last and the longest question of that sort. I fear it will
not be possible to establish a due and politic proportion with
out admitting excises, so far as to reach the distilleries. The
* Of William and Mary.
470 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
dilemma between that expedient and a palpable inequality in
the burden, and injury to the Treasury, is a perplexing one.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, May 17, 1789.
DEAR SIB, — Your favor of the 3d instant was not received
till two days ago. It is not certain, however, that the post
office is chargeable with the delay, the date of its receipt,
stamped at Fredericksburg, being the 6th of the month.
The* progress of our revenue system continues to be slow.
The bill rating the duties is still with the Senate. It is said
that many alterations will be proposed, consisting of reductions
chiefly. It is said, also, that the proposition for putting Great
Britain on the same footing with our Allies in all respects,
prior to a treaty with her, will have a majority in that House,
and will undergo another agitation in the House of Represent
atives. It had before three trials in the latter, but it lost
ground in each, and finally was in a minority of 9 or 10 against
near 40. I think it an impolitic idea as it relates to our
foreign interest, and not less so, perhaps, as it relates to the
popular sentiment of America, particularly of Virginia, and
still more particularly of that part of it which is already most
dissatisfied with the new Government.
I communicated your compliments to the President, who
received them with professions of his great esteem and regard
for you, and desired me to make the proper returns for them.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, May 23, 1789.
DEAR SIR— * * # * * *
My last inclosed copies of the President's inaugural Speech,
and the answer of the House of Representatives. I now add
the answer of the Senate. It will not have escaped you that
1789. LETTERS. 471
the former was addressed with a truly republican simplicity to
George Washington, President of the United States. The latter
follows the example, with the omission of the personal name,
but without any other than the Constitutional title. The pro
ceeding on this point was, in the House of Representatives,
spontaneous. The imitation by the Senate was extorted. The
question became a serious one between the two Houses. J.
Adams espoused the cause of titles with great earnestness. His
friend, R. H. Lee, although elected as a Republican enemy to an
aristocratic Constitution, was a most zealous second. The pro
jected title was, his Highness the President of the United States
and protector of their liberties. Had the project succeeded, it
would have subjected the President to a severe dilemma, and
given a deep wound to our infant Government.
It is with much pleasure I inform you that Moustier begins
to make himself acceptable; and with still more, that Madame
Brehan begins to be viewed in the light which I hope she
merits, and which was so little the case when I wrote by Mas
ter Morris.
The collection bill is not yet passed. The duties have been
settled in the House of Representatives, and are before the Sen
ate; they produced a good deal of discussion, and called forth,
in some degree, our local feelings. But the experiment has
been favorable to our character for moderation, and, in general,
the temper of the Congress seems to be propitious.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, May 27th, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — My former letters will have made known to you
the obstacles to a licence for your visit to America. The new
authority has not yet taken up your application. As soon as
the auxiliary offices to the President shall be established and
filled, which will probably not be long delayed, I hope the sub
ject will be decided on, and in the manner you wish. It is al
ready agreed in the form of resolutions that there shall be three
472 WORKS OF MADISON.
departments: one for finance, another for foreign affairs, and the
third for war. The last will be continued in the hands of Gen
eral Knox. The second will remain with Mr. Jay, if he chooses
to keep it. The first is also to be under one head, though to be
branched out in such a manner as will check the administration.
Chancellor Livingston wishes this department, but will not suc
ceed. It will be given, I think, to Jay or Hamilton. The lat
ter is, perhaps, best qualified for that species of business, and
on that account would be preferred by those who know him
personally. The former is more known by character through
out the United States.
I have been asked whether any appointment at home would
be agreeable to you. Being unacquainted with your mind, I
have not ventured on an answer.
The Bill of rates, which passed the House of Representatives
a few days ago, is not yet come down from the Senate. The
duties will, it is said, be pretty much reduced. In a few in
stances, perhaps, the reductions may not be improper. If they
arc not generally left as high as will admit of collection, the
dilemma will be unavoidable, of either maintaining our public
credit in its birth, or resorting to other kinds of taxation for
which our constituents are not yet prepared. The Senate is
also abolishing the discriminations in favor of nations in Treaty,
whereby Britain will be quieted in the enjoyment of our trade,
as she may please to regulate it, and France discouraged from
her efforts at a competition which it is not less our interest than
hers to promote. The question was agitated repeatedly in the
House of Representatives, and decided at last almost unani
mously, in favor of some monitory proof that our Government
is able and not afraid to encounter the restrictions of Britain.
Both the Senators from Virginia, particularly Lee, go with the
majority of the Senate. In this, I suspect the temper of the
party which sent them is as little consulted as in the conduct
of Lee in the affair of titles, and his opinion in relation to the
western country.
I have already informed you that Madam Brehan is every
day recovering from the disesteem and neglect into which re-
1789. LETTERS. 473
ports had thrown her, and that Moustier is also become more
and more acceptable, or at least less and less otherwise. His
commercial ideas are probably neither illiberal nor unfriendly
to this country. The contrary has been supposed. When the
truth is ascertained and known, unfavorable impressions will be
still more removed.
The subject of amendments was to have been introduced on
monday last, but is postponed in order that more urgent busi
ness may not be delayed. On monday seven-night it will cer
tainly come forward. A Bill of rights, incorporated, perhaps,
into the Constitution, will be proposed, with a few alterations
most called for by the opponents of the Government and least
objectionable to its friends.
As soon as Mr. Brown arrives, who is the Representative of
Kentucky, the admission of that district to the character of a
State, and a member of the Union, will claim attention. I fore
see no difficulty, unless local jealousy should couple the preten
sions of Vermont with those of Kentucky; and even then no
other delay than what may be necessary to open the way for
the former, through the forms and perhaps the objections of this
State, N. York, which must not be altogether disregarded.
The proceedings of the new Congress are, so far, marked
with great moderation and liberality, and will disappoint the
wishes and predictions of many who have opposed the Govern
ment. The spirit which characterizes the House of Represent
atives, in particular, is already extinguishing the honest fears
which considered the system as dangerous to Republicanism.
For myself, I am persuaded that the bias of the federal is on
the same side with that of the State Governments, though in a
much less degree.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, May 31, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — I have been favored with yours of the
19th instant, and thank you for the answer to Mr. Sfc John's
474 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
enquiries. The apprehensions of Mrs. Randolph give me un
feigned concern, but I indulge strong hopes that they proceed
from an imaginary cause. There are so many symptoms which
mimic the cancerous that it would be wrong to suffer appear
ances to prevail against the favorable chances. At the same
time, it is impossible to disapprove of the forecast with which
the occasion inspires you.
Our business here goes on very slowly, though in a spirit of
moderation and accommodation which is so far flattering. The
bill for regulating the quantum of duties is not yet come back
from the Senate. Some alterations will be made, but none that
affect the substance of the plan, unless it be the abolition of a
small favor to the Nations in alliance with us. copied from the
laws of Virginia. One of our Senators, whose ideas on another
point excite animadversions among his constituents, seems not
to consult their sentiments on this. I think myself that it is
impolitic, in every view that can be taken of the subject, to put
Great Britain at once on the footing of a most favored nation.
The bill for collecting the duties is now before the House of
Representatives, and I fear will not be very quickly despatched.
It has passed through several hands, legal as well as Mercan
tile, and, notwithstanding, is in a crude state. It might cer
tainly have been put into a better; though in every step the
difficulties arising from novelty are severely experienced, and
are an ample as well as just source of apology. Scarcely a day
passes without some striking evidence of the delays and per
plexities springing merely from the want of precedents. Time
will be a full remedy for this evil, and will, I am persuaded,
evince a greater facility in legislating uniformly for all the
States than has been supposed by some of the best friends of the
Union.
Among the subjects on the anvil is the arrangement of the
subordinate Executive departments. A unity in each has been
resolved on, and an amenability to the President alone, as well
as to the Senate by way of impeachment. Perhaps it would
not be very consistent with the Constitution to require the con
currence of the Senate in removals. The Executive power seems
1789. LETTERS. 475
to be vested in the President alone, except so far as it is quali •
fied by an express association of the Senate in appointments;
in like manner as the Legislative is vested in Congress, under
the exception in favour of the President's qualified negative.
Independently of this consideration, I think it best to give the
Senate as little agency as possible in Executive matters, and to
make the President as responsible as possible in them. Were
the heads of departments dependent on the Senate, a faction in
this branch might support them against the President, distract
the Executive department, and obstruct the public business.
The danger of undue power in the President from such a regu
lation is not to me formidable. I see and politically feel that
that will be the weak branch of the Government. With a full
power of removal, the President will be more likely to spare
unworthy officers through fear than to displace the meritorious
through caprice or passion. A disgusted man of influence would
immediately form a party against the administration, endanger
his re-election, and at least go into one of the Houses and tor
ment him with opposition.
J cannot close this without a disagreeable recollection of the
date of my last. I am most negligent towards my best friends
perhaps, because I have most confidence in their forgiveness. I
will at least, in future, inclose the newspapers, when I can do
no more. I never had less time that I could truly call my own
than at present, of which I hope you will consider my irregular
correspondence as the fullest proof.
Very truly and most affecly.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
(Extract.)
N. YORK, June 13, 1789.
DEAR SIR,— * * * * * * *
The newspapers inclosed will shew you the form and extent
of the amendments which I thought it advisable to introduce to
the House of Representatives, as most likely to pass through
476 WORKS OF MADISON. 1739.
two-thirds of that House and of the Senate, and three-fourths
of the States. If I am not mistaken, they will, if passed, be
satisfactory to a majority of those who have opposed the Con
stitution. I am persuaded they will be so to a majority of that
description in Virginia.
TO EDMUND EANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, June 17. 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — The inclosed bill relating to the Judici
ary has been just introduced into the Senate. Having not yet
looked it over, I can say nothing of its merits. You will be a
better judge, and such remarks as your leisure will permit will
be acceptable and useful.
A very interesting Question is started — By whom officers
appointed during pleasure by the President and Senate are to
be displaced? Whether the power results to the authority ap
pointing, or, as an Executive function, to the President, who is
vested with the Executive power, except so far as it is expressly
qualified? My present opinion is, that the Senate is associated
ivith the President ~by way of exception, and cannot, therefore,
claim beyond the exception. This construction has its inconveni
ences, particularly in referring too much to a single discretion;
but it is checked by the elective character of the Executive, his
being impeachable at all times, and the subordinate officers
being also impeachable. His power under this construction will
be merely in a capacity to remove worthy officers; but experi
ence shews that this is not the prevailing evil, the continuance
of the unworthy being the most so. Add to this that his ca
price would be restrained by the necessity of the Senate's con
currence in supplying the vacancy; and that injured merit would
be supported by the public opinion, would attack with proba
bility of success the re-election of the President, and would at
least be able to make a party against him in the Legislature,
and go into one or other of its branches to plague his adminis
tration. High as the existing President stands, I question
whether it would be very safe for him even not to reinstate Jay
1789. LETTERS. 477
or Knox, &c. On the contrary construction the Senate must
sit constantly; officers would make parties there to support them
against the President, and, by degrees, the Executive power
would slide into one branch of the Legislature; on the most
favorable supposition it would be a two-headed monster.
Excuse the scrawl, which a moment only has permitted, the
hour of the mail being come.
Most truly.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, June 21, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — The last favor for which I am to thank you is
of June 9th. For some time past I have been obliged to con
tent myself with inclosing you the newspapers. In general, they
give, though frequently erroneous and sometimes perverted, yet,
on the whole, fuller accounts of what is going forward than
could be put into a letter. The papers now covered contain a
sketch of a very interesting discussion which consumed great
part of the past week. The Constitution has omitted to declare
expressly by what authority removals from office are to be made.
Out of this silence, four constructive doctrines have arisen: 1.
That the power of removal may be disposed of by the Legisla
tive discretion. To this it is objected that the Legislature
might then confer it on themselves, or even on the House of
Representatives, which could not possibly have been intended
by the Constitution. 2. That the power of removal can only
be exercised in the mode of impeachment. To this the objec
tion is that it would make officers of every description hold
their places during good behaviour, which could have still less
been intended. 3. That the power of removal is incident to the
power of appointment. To this the objections are that it would
require the constant session of the Senate; that it extends the
mixture of Legislative and Executive power; that it destroys
the responsibility of the President, by enabling a subordinate
478 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
Executive officer to intrench himself behind a party in the Sen
ate, and destroys the utility of the Senate in their Legislative
and Judicial characters, by involving them too much in the
heats and cabals inseparable from questions of a personal na
ture; in fine, that it transfers the trust in fact from the Presi
dent, who, being at all times impeachablc, as well as every fourth
year eligible by the people at large, may be deemed the most
responsible member of the Government, to the Senate: which,
from the nature of that institution, is and was meant, after the
Judiciary, and in some respects without that exception, to be
the most irresponsible branch of the Government. 4. That the
Executive power being in general terms vested in the President,
all power of an Executive nature not particularly taken away
must belong to that department; that the power of appointment
only being expressly taken away, the power of removal, so far
as it is of an Executive nature, must be reserved. In support
of this construction it is urged that exceptions to general posi
tions are to be taken strictly, and that the axiom relating to
the separation of the Legislative and Executive functions ought
to be favored. To this are objected the principle on which the
3d construction is founded, and the danger of creating too much
influence in the Executive Magistrate.
The last opinion has prevailed, but is subject to various mod
ifications, by the power of the Legislature to limit the duration
of laws creating offices, or the duration of the appointments for
filling them, and by the power over the salaries and appropria
tions. In truth, the Legislative power is of such a nature that
it scarcely can be restrained, either by the Constitution or by
itself; and if the federal Government should lose its proper
equilibrium within itself, I am persuaded that the effect will
proceed from the encroachments of the Legislative department.
If the possibility of encroachments on the part of the Executive
or the Senate were to be compared, I should pronounce the dan
ger to lie rather in the latter than the former. The mixture
of Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary authorities, lodged in
that body, justifies such an inference; at the same time, I am
fully in the opinion that the numerous and immediate repre-
1789. LETTERS. 479
sentatives of the people composing the other House will de
cidedly predominate in the Government.
Mr. Page tells me he has forwarded to you a copy of the
amendments lately submitted to the House of Representatives.
They are restrained to points on which least difficulty was ap
prehended. Nothing of a controvertible nature ought to be
hazarded by those who are sincere in wishing for the approba
tion of § of each House, and J of the State Legislatures.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, June 24, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — My last stated a question relating to the
power of removal from offices then on the anvil of the House
of Representatives. I now inclose the discussions, as conveyed
to the public thro' the newspapers. It is not necessary to ap
prize you that the reasonings on both sides are mutilated, often
misapprehended, and not unfrequently reversed. You will per
ceive yourself that much of the reasoning is also founded on a
misconception of the ideas of the adverse side.
Mr. Jefferson has at length obtained formal leave to visit
his own country. Mr. Short is to be charged with the affairs
of the United States in his absence.
The President has been ill, but is now in a safe way. His
fever terminated in an abscess, which was itself alarming, but
has been opened with success, and the alarm is now over. His
death, at the present moment, would have brought on another
crisis in our affairs.
Yrs most truly.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, June 30, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — By this conveyance you will receive permission,
through Mr. Jay, to make your proposed visit to America. I
180 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
fear it will not reach you in time for your arrival here before
the commencement of the windy season; yet I hope the delay
will not oblige you to postpone your voyage till the Spring.
The federal business has proceeded with a mortifying tardi
ness, chargeable in part on the incorrect draughts of committees,
and the prolixity of discussion incident to a public body, every
member of which almost takes a positive agency, but princi
pally resulting from the novelty and complexity of the subjects
of Legislation. We are in a wilderness, without a single foot
step to guide us. Our successors will have an easier task, and
by degrees the way will become smooth, short, and certain.
My last informed you of some of the difficulties attending a
regulation of the duties. The bill on that subject has at length
received the fiat of both Houses, and will be forthwith made a
law by the concurrence of the President. The rates are not
precisely on the scale first settled by the House of Representa
tives. The most material change is in the articles of rum and
molasses. The necessity of preserving a certain ratio between
them is obvious. The ratio sent to the Senate was that of 12
cents on the former, and 5 do. on the latter. The Senate
returned them in the ratio of 8 and 2J, which has, after a con
ference, prevailed.
The Senate has prevailed on another point in the bill, which
had undergone more discussion, and produced more difficulty.
It had been proposed by the House of Representatives that,
besides a discrimination in the tonnage, a small reduction should
be made in the duty on distilled spirits imported from countries
in Treaty with the United States. The Senate were opposed to
any discrimination whatsoever, contending that even Great
Britain should stand on the same footing with the most favored
nations. The arguments on that side of the question were that
the United States were not bound by treaty to give any com
mercial preferences to particular nations; that they were not
bound by gratitude, since our allies had been actuated by their
own interest, and had obtained their compensation in the dis
memberment of a rival empire; that in national, and particularly
in commercial measures, gratitude was, moreover, no proper
1789. LETTERS. 48?
motive, interest alone being the Statesman's guide; that Great
Britain made no discrimination against the United States com
pared with other nations, but, on the contrary, distinguished
them by a number of advantages; that if Great Britain pos
sessed almost the whole of our trade, it proceeded from causes
which proved that she could carry it on for us on better terms
than the other nations of Europe; that we were too dependent
on her trade to risk her displeasure by irritating measures,
which might induce her to put us on a worse footing than at
present; that a small discrimination could only irritate, without
operating on her interests or fears; that if anything were done
it would be best to make a bolder stroke at once, and that, in
fact, the Senate had appointed a committee to consider the sub
ject in that point of view. On the other side, it was contended
that it would be absurd to give away everything that could
purchase the stipulations wanted by us; that the motives in
which the new Government originated, the known sentiments
of the people at large, and the laws of most of the States sub
sequent to the peace, shewed clearly that a distinction between
nations in Treaty and nations not in Treaty would coincide
with the public opinion, and that it would be offensive to a
great number of citizens to see Great Britain, in particular,
put on the footing of the most favored nations, by the first act
of a Government instituted for the purpose of uniting the States
in the vindication of their commercial interests against her
monopolizing regulations; that this respect to the sentiments
of the people was the more necessary in the present critical
state of the Government; that our trade at present entirely
contradicted the advantages expected from the Revolution, no
new channels being opened with other European nations, and
the British channels being removed by a refusal of the most
natural and valuable one to the United States;* that this evil
proceeded from the deep hold the British monopoly had taken
of our country, and the difficulty experienced by France, Hol
land, &c., in entering into competition with her; that in order
* With the West Indies.
VOL. I. 31
482 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
to break this monopoly, those nations ought to be aided till
they could contend on equal terms; that the market of France
was particularly desirable to us; that her disposition to open it
would depend on the disposition manifested on our part, <fec.,
&c.; that our trade would not be in its proper channels until it
should flow directly to the countries making the exchange, in
which case, too, American vessels would have a due share in
the transaction, whereas at present the whole carriage of our
bulky produce is confined to British Bottoms; that with respect
to Great Britain, we had good reason to suppose that her con
duct would be regulated by the apparent temper of the new
Government; that a passiveness under her restrictions would
confirm her in them, whilst an evidence of intention as well as
ability to face them would ensure a reconsideration of her
policy; that it would be sufficient to begin with a moderate dis
crimination, exhibiting a readiness to invigorate our measures
as circumstances might require ; that we had no reason to
apprehend a disposition in Great Britain to resort to a com
mercial contest, or the consequences of such an experiment, her
dependence on us being greater than ours on her. The supplies
of the United States are necessary to the existence, and their
market to the value, of her islands. The returns are either
superfluities or poisons. In time of famine, the cry of which is
heard every three or four years, the bread of the United States
is essential. In time of war, which is generally decided in the
West Indies, friendly offices, not violating the duties of neutral
ity, might effectually turn the scale in favor of an adversary.
In the direct trade with Great Britain, the consequences ought
to be equally dreaded by her. The raw and bulky exports of
the United States employ her shipping, contribute to her reve
nue, enter into her manufactures, and enrich her merchants, who
stand between the United States and the consuming nations of
Europe. A suspension of the intercourse would suspend all
these advantages, force the trade into rival channels from which
it might not return, and besides a temporary loss of a market
for J of her exports, hasten the establishment of manufactures
here, which would so far cut off the market forever. On the
1789. LETTERS. 483
other side, the United States would suffer but little. The man
ufactures of Great Britain, as far as desirable, would find their
way through other channels, and if the price were a little aug
mented it would only diminish an excessive consumption. They
could do almost wholly without such supplies, and better with
out than with many of them. In one important view the con
test would be particularly in their favor. The articles of
luxury, a privation of which would be salutary to them, being
the work of the indigent, may be regarded as necessaries to the
manufacturing party: that it was probable nothing would be
done at this session, if at all, in the way projected in the Senate;
and in case a discord of opinion as to the mode, the degree, and
the time of our regulations should become apparent, an argu
ment would be drawn from it in favor of the very policy
hitherto pursued by Great Britain. The event of the tonnage
bill, in which the discrimination was meant to be most insisted
on by the House of Representatives, is not yet finally decided.
But here, also, the Senate will prevail. It was determined yes
terday in that House to adhere to their amendment for striking
out the clause, and there is no reason to suppose that the other
House will let the Bill be lost. I mentioned in my last that
both the Senators of Virginia were for admitting Britain to an
equality with the most favored nation. This was a mistake as
to Grayson.
The other bills depending relate to the collection of the Im
post, and the establishment of a war, foreign, and Treasury
Department. The bills on the two first of these departments
have passed the House of Representatives, and are before the
Senate. They gave birth to a very interesting constitutional
question — by what authority removals from office were to be
made. The Constitution being silent on the point, it was left
to construction. Four opinions were advanced: 1. That no
removal could be made but by way of impeachment. To this
•t was objected that it gave to every officer, down to tide waiters
and tax gatherers, the tenure of good behaviour. 2. That it de
volved on the Legislature, to be disposed of as might be proper.
To this it was objected that the Legislature might then dispose
484 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
of it to be exercised by themselves, or even by the House of
Representatives. 3. That it was incident to the power of ap
pointment, and therefore belonged to the President and Senate.
To this it was said that the Senate, being a Legislative body,
could not be considered in an Executive light farther than was
expressly declared; that such a construction would transfer the
trust of seeing the laws duly executed from the President, the
most responsible, to the Senate, the least responsible branch of
the Government; that officers would intrench themselves behind
a party in the Senate, bid defiance to the President, and intro
duce anarchy and discord into the Executive Department; that
the Senate were to be Judges in case of impeachment, and ought
not, therefore, to be previously called on for a summary opinion
on questions of removal; that in their Legislative character they
ought to be kept as cool and unbiased as possible, as the con
stitutional check on the passions and parties of the other House,
and should, for that reason also, be as little concerned as pos
sible in those personal matters, which are the great source of
factious animosities. 4. That the Executive power being gen
erally vested in the President, and the Executive function of
removal not expressly taken away, it remained with the Presi
dent. To this was objected the rule of construction on which
the third opinion rested, and the danger of creating too much
weight in the Executive scale. After very long debates, the
4th opinion prevailed, as most consonant to the text of the Con
stitution, to the policy of mixing the Legislative and Executive
Departments as little as possible, and to the requisite responsi
bility and harmony in the Executive Department. What the
decision of the Senate will be cannot yet be even conjectured.
As soon as the bills are passed, Mr. Jay and General Knox will
of course have their commissions renewed.
The bill relating to the Treasury Department is still before
the House of Representatives. The Board will be discontin
ued, but the business will be so arranged as to make the comp
troller and other officers checks on the Head of the Depart
ment. It is not clear who this will be. The members of Con
gress are disqualified. Hamilton is most talked of.
1789. LETTERS. 485
The Senate have in hand a bill for the Judiciary Department.
It is found a pretty arduous task, and will probably be long on
its way through the two Houses.
Inclosed is a copy of sundry amendments to the Constitution
lately proposed in the House of Representatives. Every thing
of a controvertible nature that might endanger the concurrence
of two-thirds of each House and three-fourths of the States was
studiously avoided. This will account for the omission of sev
eral amendments which occur as proper. The subject will not
be taken up till the revenue and Department bills are passed.
The President has been ill. His fever terminated in a large
anthrax on the upper end of his thigh, which is likely to con
fine him for some time. Wishing you an expeditious and safe
passage across the Atlantic, I am, my dear Sir, yours, &c.
TO COL. JAMES MADISON.
NEW YORK, July 5th, 1789.
HON. SIR, — The last letter from my brother A. left me in
much anxiety for the state of my mother's health. I have ven
tured to hope, from the silence which has followed, that she has
been on the recovery. I wish much to hear oftener from the
family than I do, and would set the example if other occupa
tions, and particularly a very extensive correspondence, would
permit.
The business goes on still very slowly. We are in a wilder
ness, without a single footstep to guide us. It is consequently
necessary to explore the way with great labour and caution.
Those who may follow will have an easier task. The Bills im
posing duties on imports and tonnage have at length got through
both Houses. The question whether a distinction should be
made between Nations in Treaty and those not in Treaty was
finally settled in the negative; so that Great Britain is, in fact,
put on the same footing with the most favored nation, although
dhe has shewn no disposition to treat with the United States,
and will probably 1)6 confirmed by such a measure in the belief
486 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
that America, even if under a United Government, would be
unable to unite her counsels on this subject. The discrimina
tion was struck out of the Bills in consequence of the refusal
of the Senate to agree to the bills on other terms. They urged,
in a conference between Committees from the two Houses on
the subject, that something more efficacious was necessary in
order to counter-work the restrictions of Great Britain: and
that they had accordingly appointed a committee for the pur
pose of devising such a plan. It is very doubtful, however,
whether it will come to anything, and whether a more moderate
mode of shewing a determination in the new government to vin
dicate our commercial interests would not have answered every
purpose that can be answered at all. If anything should be
done on the plan of the Senate, it will probably consist of regu
lations founded on the principle of the British navigation act,
which will disable her vessels from bringing to this country any
articles not the growth or manufacture of Great Britain, and
embarrass her West Indies until the trade to them shall be
opened to American as it is to British vessels. Bills for estab
lishing the several Departments of war, finance, and foreign
affairs, have passed the House of Representatives, and are be
fore the Senate. The bills for collecting the Impost and regu
lating the coasting trade are still before the House of Repre
sentatives, but will be pushed through as fast as their length
and importance will permit.
The subject of amendments to the Constitution will not be
resumed till the revenue matters are over. I hope it will then
be duly attended to, and will end in such a rcommendation as
will satisfy moderate opponents. This, however, is but opinion,
nothing having passed from which any conclusion can be drawn
with regard to the sentiments of the two Houses, particularly
the Senate.
With the most dutiful regards, I am, your affectionate Son.
1789. LETTERS. 487
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, July 15, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — I am particularly obliged by your favor of the
3d, which incloses your remarks on the Judiciary bill. It came
to hand yesterday only, and I have not had time to compare
your suggestions with the plan of the Senate; nor do I know
the alterations which may have taken place in it since it has
been under discussion. In many points, even supposing the
outline a good one, which I have always viewed as controverti-
ble, defects and inaccuracies were striking.
It gives me much pleasure to find your approbation given to
the decision of the House of Representatives on the power of
removal. This appears to be the case with several of our
friends in Virginia, of whose sentiments I had formed other
conjectures. I was apprehensive that the alarms with regard
to the danger of Monarchy would have diverted their attention
from the impropriety of transferring an Executive trust from
the most to the least responsible member of the Government.
Independently of every other consideration, the primary objects
on which the Senate are to be employed seem to require that
their executive agency should not be extended beyond the min
imum that will suffice. As the Judiciary tribunal which is to
decide on impeachments, they ought not to be called on pre
viously for a summary opinion on cases which may come before
them in another capacity; and both on that account, and the
necessity of keeping them in a fit temper to controul the capri
cious and factious counsels of the other Legislative branch, they
ought to be as little as possible involved in those questions of
a personal nature, which, in all Governments, are the most fre
quent and violent causes of animosity and party.
You will find in one of the inclosed papers the act imposing
duties, as it finally passed. The collection bill has passed the
House of Representatives, and awaits the last hand of the Sen
ate. It is very long, and has cost much trouble in adjusting
the regulations to the various geographical and other circum
stances of the States. It is in many respects inaccurate and
488 WORKS OF MADISON. 1780.
deficient, but may do to begin with. We have endeavored to
make the part relating to Virginia a little more palatable than
the late State laws. On Rappahannock, vessels are to report
at Urbanna, enter at Hobbshole, and deliver at any of the ports,
including Fredericksburg and Port Royal, and foreign as well
as American vessels. The like on the other rivers.
To secure the opportunity by this mail, I must hasten my as
surances that I am, dear sir, yours affectionately.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, July 15, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — I have been favored with yours of the
30th ultimo, and thank you for your remarks on the Judiciary
bill.
I am glad to find you concurring in the decision as to the
power of removal. It seems to meet with general approbation
North of Virginia, and there, too, as far as I yet learn. Mr.
Pendleton is fully in opinion with you. So is Monroe, I am
told. The more the question is weighed the more proper I think
it will be found to reduce the ex-agency of the Senate to the
very minimum that will satisfy the Constitution. To say noth
ing of their being the least responsible member of the Govern
ment, the nature of their other functions forbids an extension
of their executive. As a judiciary body for impeachments, they
ought not to be called on for a summary opinion in cases that
may come judicially before them; and as a controul on the pas
sions of the House of Representatives, they ought to have as
little as possible to do with those personal questions, which are
sources in all Governments of the most frequent and violent
animosities and factions. The Senate have not yet declared
themselves on the question. The event there is doubtful.
You will find among the enclosed papers the impost act, as it
finally passed. The Collection Bill is gone to the Senate. It
is very long, has cost a great deal of trouble, and is by no means
1789. LETTERS. 489
in a very correct state. It will do only to begin with. We en
deavored to make the regulations for Virginia more palatable
than the State laws, by relaxing the plan of the port Bills.
Adieu.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, August 9, 1789.
DEAR SIR— * * * * * * *
Your ideas on the proposed discrimination between foreign
Nations coincide, I perceive, exactly with those which have
governed me. The Senate did not allow that no effort should
be made for vindicating our commercial interests, but argued
that a more effectual mode should be substituted. A committee
was appointed in that branch to report such a mode. The re
port made is founded on something like a retort of her restric
tions in the West India channels. It is now said that as the
measure would involve an imposition of extraordinary duties,
the Senate cannot proceed in it. Mr. Gerry, alluding to these
circumstances, moved two days ago for a bill giving further
encouragement to trade and navigation, and obtained a com
mittee for the purpose. What will be the result is uncertain.
If the attempt, added to what has passed, should, as it probably
will, be made known abroad, it may lead to apprehensions that
may be salutary.
The attention of the House of Representatives for some days
has been confined to the subject of compensations. The bill is
at length brought into its final shape. Much discussion took
place on the quantum for the members of Congress, and the
question whether it should be the same for both Houses. My
own opinion was in favor of a difference, founded on a reduction
of the sum proposed with regard to the House of Representa
tives, and an augmentation as to the Senate. As no difference
took place, the case of the Senate, and of the members from S.
Carolina and Georgia, had real weight against a lesser sum
491) WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
than & dollars, which I own is higher than I had contemplated
for the House of Representatives, and which I fear may excite
criticisms not to be desired at the present moment.
Yesterday was spent on a Message from the President rela
tive to Indian affairs, and the Militia Bills are ordered, provi
ding for a Treaty with the hostile Tribes, and for regulating
the Militia.' The latter is an arduous task, and will probably
not be compleated at this Session.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, August 21, 1789.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — For a week past the subject of amend
ments has exclusively occupied the House of Representatives.
Its progress has been exceedingly wearisome, not only on ac
count of the diversity of opinions that was to be apprehended,
but of the apparent views of some to defeat, by delaying, a plan
short of their wishes, but likely to satisfy a great part of their
companions in opposition throughout the Union. It has been
absolutely necessary, in order to effect anything, to abbreviate
debate, and exclude every proposition of a doubtful and unim
portant nature. Had it been my wish to have comprehended
every amendment recommended by Virginia, I should have acted
from prudence the very part to which I have been led by choice.
Two or three contentious additions would even now prostrate
the whole project.
The Judiciary bill was put off in favor of the preceding sub
ject. It was evident that a longer delay of that would prevent
any decision on it at this Session. A push was therefore made,
which did not succeed without strenuous opposition. On Mon
day the bill will probably be taken up, and be pursued to a final
question as fast as the nature of the case will allow.
I find, on looking over the notes of your introductory dis
course in the Convention at Philadelphia, that it is not possible
for me to do justice to the substance of it. I am anxious, for
particular reasons, to be furnished with the means of preserving
1789. LETTERS. 491
this as well as the other arguments in that body, and must beg
that you will make out and forward me the scope of your rea
soning. You have your notes, I know, and from these you can
easily deduce the argument on a condensed plan. I make this
request with an earnestness which will not permit you either,
to refuse or delay a compliance.
TO EDinmD PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, Sept*1 14. 1789.
DEAR SIR, — I was favored on Saturday with yours of the 2d
instant. The Judiciary is now under consideration. I view it
as you do, as defective both in its general structure, and many
of its particular regulations. The attachment of the Eastern
members, the difficulty of substituting another plan with the
consent of those who agree in disliking the bill, the defect of
time, <fec., will, however, prevent any radical alterations. The
most I hope is that some offensive violations of Southern juris
prudence may be corrected, and that the system may speedily
undergo a reconsideration under the auspices of the Judges, who
alone will be able, perhaps, to set it to rights.
The Senate have sent back the plan of amendments with some
alterations, which strike, in my opinion, at the most salutary
articles. In many of the States, juries, even in criminal cases,
are taken from the State at large; in others, from districts of
considerable extent; in very few from the County alone. Hence
a dislike to the restraint with respect to vicinage, which has pro
duced a negative on that clause. A fear of inconvenience from
a Constitutional bar to appeals below a certain value, and a
confidence that such a limitation is not necessary, have had the
same effect on the article. Several others have had a similar
fate. The difficulty of uniting the minds of men accustomed to
think and act differently can only be conceived by those who
have witnessed it.
A very important question is depending on the subject of a
permanent seat for the federal Government. Early in the Ses-
492 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
sion secret negociations were set on foot among the Northern
States, from Pennsylvania, inclusively. The parties finally dis
agreeing in their arrangements, both made advances to the
Southern members. On the side of New York and New Eng
land, we were led to expect the Susquehannah within a reason
able time if we would sit still in New York, otherwise we were
threatened with Trenton. These terms were inadmissible to
the friends of Potowmac. On the side of Pennsylvania, who
was full of distrust and animosity against New England and
New York, the Potowmac was presented as the reward for the
temporary advantages if given by the Southern States. Some
progress was made on this ground, and the prospect became
flattering, when a reunion was produced among the original
parties by circumstances which it would be tedious to explain.
The Susquehannah has in consequence been voted. The bill is
not yet brought in, and many things may yet happen. We shall
parry any decision if we can, though I see little hope of attain
ing our own object, the Eastern States being inflexibly opposed
to the Potowmac, and for some reasons which are more likely
to grow stronger than weaker; and if we are to be placed on
the Susquehannah, the sooner the better.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, Sept' 23d, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — The pressure of unfinished business has suspend
ed the adjournment of Congress till Saturday next. Among the
articles which required it was the plan of amendments, on which
the two Houses so far disagreed as to require conferences. It
will be impossible, I find, to prevail on the Senate to concur
in the limitation on the value of appeals to the Supreme Court,
which they say is unnecessary, and might be embarrassing in
questions of national or Constitutional importance in their prin
ciple, though of small pecuniary amount. They are equally in
flexible in opposing a definition of the locality of Juries. The
vicinage they contend is either too vague or too strict a term;
1789. LETTERS. 493
too vague if depending on limits to be fixed by the pleasure of
the law, too strict if limited to the county. It was proposed to
insert after the word Juries, " with the accustomed requisites/'
leaving the definition to be construed according to the judgment
of professional men. Even this could not be obtained. The
truth is, that in most of the States the practice is different, and
hence the irreconcileable difference of ideas on the subject. In
some States, jurors are drawn from the whole body of the com
munity, indiscriminately; in others, from large districts com
prehending a number of Counties; and in a few only from a
single County. The Senate suppose, also, that the provision
for vicinage in the Judiciary bill will sufficiently quiet the
fears which called for an amendment on this point. On a few
other points in the plan the Senate refuse to join the House of
Representatives.
The bill establishing the permanent seat of Government has
passed the House of Representatives in favour of the Susque-
hannah. Some of the Southern members despaired so much of
ever getting anything better, that they fell into the majority.
Even some of the Virginians leaned that way. My own judg
ment was opposed to any compromise, on the supposition that
we had nothing worse to fear than the Susquehannah, and could
obtain that at any time, either by uniting with the Eastern States
or Pennsylvania. The bill, however, is by no means sure of
passing the Senate in its present form. It is even possible that
it may fall altogether. Those who wish to do nothing at this
time, added to those who disapprove of the Susquehannah, either
as too far South or too far North, or not susceptible of early
conveniences for the fiscal administration, may form a majority
who will directly or indirectly frustrate the measure. In case
of an indirect mode, some other place will be substituted for
Susquehannah, as Trenton or Germantown, neither of which
can, I conceive, be effectually established, and either of which
might get a majority composed of sincere and insidious votes.
The inclosed papers contain very interesting accounts from
France. I have a letter from Mr. Jefferson of July 22 and 23,
confirming the substance of them. The King has thrown him-
494 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
self finally on his people, recalled Neckar, dismissed the troops,
and, in short, given a Carte Blanche to the National Assembly,
who are at work in forming a regular Constitution. The tu
mults in Paris have been dreadful, but at the same time mixed
with a steady attention to the main object. The City has
formed a Militia and put Fayette at the head, and committees
of safety according to the American model.
TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ORANGE, Novr 20, 1789.
DEAR SIR. — It was my purpose to have dropped you a few
lines from Philada, but I was too much indisposed during my
detention there to avail myself of that pleasure. Since my ar
rival here, I have till now been without a fit conveyance to the
Post office.
You will recollect the contents of a letter shewn you from
Mr. Innes to Mr. Brown. Whilst I was in Philadelphia I was
informed by the latter, who was detained there by indisposition,
as well as myself, that he had received later accounts, tho' not
from the same correspondent, that the Spaniards have finally
put an entire stop to the trade of our citizens down the river.
The encouragements to such as settle under their own Govern
ment are continued.
A day or two after I got to Philadelphia I fell in with Mr.
Morris. He broke the subject of the residence of Congress, and
made observations which betrayed his dislike of the upshot of
the business at N. York, and his desire to keep alive the South
ern project of an arrangement with Pennsylvania. I reminded
him of the conduct of his State, and intimated that the question
would probably sleep for some time in consequence of it. His
answer implied that Congress must not continue at N. York,
and that if he should be freed from his engagements with the
Eastern States, by their refusal to take up the bill and pass it
as it went to the Senate, he should renounce all confidence in
that quarter, and speak seriously to the Southern States I
1789. LETTERS. 495
told him they must be spoken to very seriously after what had
passed, if Pennsyla expected them to listen to her; that, indeed,
there was probably an end to further intercourse on the subject.
He signified that, if he should speak, it would be in earnest, and
he believed that no one would pretend that his conduct would
justify the least distrust of his going through with his under
takings; adding, however, that he was determined, and accord
ingly gave me, as he had given others, notice that he should
call up the postponed Bill as soon as Congress should be reas
sembled. I observed to him that if it were desirable to have
the matter revived, we could not wish to have it in a form more
likely to defeat itself. It was unparliamentary, and highly in
convenient; and would therefore be opposed by all candid
friends to his object as an improper precedent, as well as by
those who were opposed to the object itself. And if he should
succeed in the Senate, the irregularity of the proceeding would
justify the other House in withholding the signature of its
Speaker, so that the Bill could never go up to the President.
He acknowledged that the Bill could not be got through unless
it had a majority of both Houses on its merits. Why, then, I
asked, not take it up anew? He said he meant to bring the gen
tlemen who had postponed the Bill to the point, acknowledged
that he distrusted them, but held his engagements binding on
him until this final experiment should be made on the respect
they meant to pay to theirs. I do not think it difficult to augur
from this conversation the views which will govern Pennsyla at
the next Session. Conversations held by Grayson, both with
Morris and others, in Philadela, and left by him in a letter to
rne, coincide with what I have stated. An attempt will first
be made to alarm N. York and the Eastern States into the plan
postponed, by holding out the Potowmac and Philad1 as the al
ternative; and if the attempt should not succeed, the alterna
tive will then be held out to the Southern members. On the
other hand, N. York and the Eastern States will enforce the
policy of delay by threatening the Southern States, as heretofore,
with Gcrmantown or Trenton, or at least Susquehannah, and
will no doubt carry the threat into execution if they can, rather
496 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
than suffer an arrangement to take place between Pennsyl* and
the Southern States.
1 hear nothing certain from the Assembly. It is said that
an attempt of Mr. H y to revive the project of commutables
has been defeated; that the amendments (to the federal Consti
tution) have been taken up and are likely to be put off to the
next Session, the present House having been elected prior to
the promulgation of them. This reason would have more force
if the amendments did not so much correspond, as far as they
go, with the propositions of the State Convention, which were
before the public long before the last election. At any rate,
the Assembly might pass a vote of approbation, along with the
postponement, and assign the reason for referring the ratifica
tion to their successors. It is probable that the scruple has
arisen with the disaffected party. If it be construed by the
public into a latent hope of some contingent opportunity for pro
moting the war against the Gen1 Government, I am of opinion
the experiment will recoil on the authors. As far as I can
gather, the great bulk of the late opponents are entirely at rest,
and more likely to censure a further opposition to the Govern
ment, as now administered, than the Government itself. One
of the principal leaders of the Baptists lately sent me word that
the amendments had entirely satisfied the disaffected of his sect,
and that it would appear in their subsequent conduct.
I ought not to conclude without some apology for so slovenly
a letter. I put off writing it till an opportunity should present
itself, not knowing but something from time to time might turn
up that would make it less unworthy of your perusal. And it
has so happened that the opportunity barely gives me time for
this hasty scrawl.
TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ORANGE, Dec' 5, 1789.
DEAR SIR, — Since my last I have been furnished with the
inclosed copy of the letter from the Senators of this State to
1789. LETTERS. 497
its Legislature. It is well calculated to keep alive the disaffec
tion to the Government, and is accordingly applied to that use
by violent partizans. I understand the letter was written by
the first* subscriber of it, as, indeed, is pretty evident from the
style and strain of it. The other,t it is said, subscribed it with
reluctance. I am less surprised that this should have been the
case than that he should have subscribed it at all.
My last information from Richmond is contained in the fol
lowing extract from a letter of the 28th of November, from an
intelligent member of the House of Delegates: " The revenue
Bill, which proposes a reduction of the public taxes one-fourth
below the last year's amount, is with the Senate. Whilst this
business was before the House of Delegates a proposition was
made to receive Tobacco and Hemp as commutables, which was
negatived, the House determining still to confine the collection
to specie and to specie warrants. Two or three petitions have
been presented which asked a general suspension of executions
for twelve months ; they were read, but denied a reference.
The Assembly have passed an Act for altering the time for
choosing Representatives to Congress, which is now fixed to be
on the third Monday in September, suspending the powers of
the Representative until the February after his election. This
change was made to suit the time of the annual meeting of
Congress. The fate of the amendments proposed by Congress
to the Gen1 Government is still in suspense. In a committee
of the whole House, the first ten were acceded to with little
opposition; for on a question taken on each separately, there
was scarcely a dissenting voice. On the two last a debate of
some length took place, which ended in rejection. Mr. Edmund
Randolph, who advocated all the others, stood on this contest
in the front of opposition. His principal objection was pointed
against the word 'retained,' in the eleventh proposed amend
ment, and his argument, if I understood it, was applied in this
manner: that as the rights declared in the first ten of the pro
posed amendments were not all that a free people would require
* R. H. Lee. t Col. Grayson.
VOL. i. 32
498 WORKS OF MADISON. 1789.
the exercise of, and that as there was no criterion by which it
could be determined whether any other particular right was
retained or not, it would be more safe, and more consistent
with the spirit of the 1st and 17th amendments proposed by
Virginia, that this reservation against constructive power
should operate rather as a provision against extending the
powers of Congress by their own authority, than a protection
to rights reducible to no definite certainty. But others, among
whom I am one, see not the force of this distinction; for by
preventing an extension of power in that Body, from which
danger is apprehended, safety will be insured, if its powers be
not too extensive already; and so, by protecting the rights of
the people and of the States, an improper extension of power
will be prevented, and safety made equally certain. If the
House should agree to the Resolution for rejecting the two last»
I am of opinion it will bring the whole into hazard again; as
some who have been decided friends to the ten first think it
would be unwise to adopt them without the 11 and 12th.
Whatever may be the fate of the amendments submitted by
Congress, it is probable that an application for further amend
ments will be made by this Assembly; for the opposition to the
Federal Constitution is, in my opinion, reduced to a single
point — the power of direct taxation. Those who wish the
change are desirous of repeating the application, while those
who wish it not are indifferent on the subject, supposing that
Congress will not propose a change which would take from
them a power so necessary for the accomplishment of those
objects which are confided to their care. Mess" Joseph Jones
and Spencer Roane are appointed Judges of the General Court,
to fill the vacancies occasioned by the death of Mr. Carey, and
the removal of Mr. Mercer to the Court of Appeals.'7
The difficulty started against the amendments is really un
lucky, and the more to be regretted as it springs from a friend
to the Constitution. It is a still greater cause of regret, if the
distinction be, as it appears to me, altogether fanciful. If a
line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights
retained, it would seem to be the same thing whether the latter
1789. LETTERS. 499
be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that
the former shall not be extended. If no such line can be drawn,
a declaration in either form would amount to nothing. If the
distinction were just, it does not seem to be of sufficient impor
tance to justify the risk of losing the amendments, of furnishing
a handle to the disaffected, and of arming N. Carolina with a
pretext, if she be disposed to prolong her exile from the Union,
{Copy of a letter from Senators E. H. Lee and William Gray son
to the Legise of Virya.~]
NEW YORK, Septr 28, 1789.
SIB, — We have now the honor of inclosing the proposition
of amendments to the Constitution of the United States that
has been finally agreed upon by Congress. We can assure you,
Sir, that nothing on our part has been omitted to procure the
success of those radical amendments proposed by the Conven
tion and approved by the Legislature of our country, which, as
our Constituent, we shall always deem our duty with respect
and reverence to obey. The journal of the Senate, herewith
transmitted, will at once show how exact and how unfortunate
we have been in this business. It is impossible for us not to
see the necessary tendency to consolidated empire in the natural
operation of the Constitution, if no further amended than now
proposed. And it is equally impossible for us not to be appre
hensive for Civil Liberty, when we know no instance in the
records of History that shew a people ruled in freedom when
subject to an undivided Government, and inhabiting a Territory
so extensive as that of the United States, and when, as it seems
to us, the nature of men and things join to prevent it. The
impracticability, in such case, of carrying representation suffi
ciently near to the people for procuring their confidence, and
consequent obedience, compels a resort to fear, resulting from
great force and excessive power in Government. Confederated
Republics, when the federal hand is not possessed of absorbing
power, may permit the existence of freedom, whilst it preserves
500 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
unioA, strength, and safety. Such amendments, therefore, as
may secure against the annihilation of the State Governments,
we devoutly wish to see adopted.
If a persevering application to Congress from the States that
have desired such amendments should fail of its objects, we are
disposed to think, reasoning from causes to effects, that unless
a dangerous apathy should invade the public mind, it will not
be many years before a Constitutional number of Legislatures
will be found to demand a Convention for the purpose. We
have sent a complete set of the Journals of each House of Con
gress, and thro' the appointed Channel will be the Acts that
have passed this Session. In these will be seen the extent and
nature of the Judiciary, the estimated expenses of the Govern
ment, and the means so far adopted of defraying the latter.
We beg, Sir, to be presented with all duty to the House of
Representatives, and to assure you that we are, with every sen
timent of respect and esteem, Sir, your most obedient and very
humble servants,
RICHARD HENRY LEE,
WILLIAM GRAYSON.
The complete set of Journals is ordered to be sent to each
State by the respective Clerks, with the laws. They are not
now ready.
TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.
GEORGETOWN, Jan^ 4, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — After being detained 8 or ten days beyond the
intended commencement of my journey by the critical illness
of my mother, I am now subjected to a further delay by an
attack on my own health, * * * and shall be under the
necessity not only of remaining here a few days longer, but of
travelling afterwards with some circumspection.
You will probably have seen by the papers that the contest
in the Assembly on the subject of the amendments ended in the
1790. LETTERS. 501
loss of them. The House of Delegates got over the objections
to the llth and 12th, but the Senate revised them with an
addition of the 3d and 8th Articles, and by a vote of adherence
prevented a ratification. On some accounts this event is no
doubt to be regretted, but it will do no injury to the Gen1 Govc.
On the contrary, it will have the effect with many of turning
their distrust towards their own Legislature. The miscarriage
of the 3d Article, particularly, will have this effect.
A few days before I was allowed to set out for New York, I
took a ride to Monticello. The answer of Mr. Jefferson to the
notification of his appointment will no doubt have explained
the state of his mind on that subject. I was sorry to find him
so little biassed in favor of the domestic service allotted to
him, but was glad that his difficulties seemed to result chiefly
from what I take to be an erroneous view of the kind and
quantity of business annexed to that which constitutes the
foreign Department. He apprehends that it will far exceed
the latter, which has, of itself, no terrors to him. On the
other, it was supposed, and I believe truly, that the Domestic
part will be very trifling, and for that reason improper to be
made a distinct Department. After all, if the whole business
can be executed by any one man, Mr. Jefferson must be equal
to it; if not, he will be relieved by a necessary division of it.
All whom I have heard speak on the subject are remarkably
solicitous for his acceptance, and I flatter myself that they will
not, in the final event, be disappointed.
In case I should be detained here much longer than I calcu
late, and anything should occur, I may trouble you with a few
lines further.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, Jan? 24, 1790.
DEAR SIR,— * * * * * * *
The business of Congress is as yet merely in embryo. The
principal subjects before them are the plans of revenue and the
502 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
Militia, reported by Hamilton and Knox. That of the latter is
not yet printed, and being long, is very imperfectly understood.
The other has scarcely been long enough from the press to be
looked over. It is too voluminous to be sent entire by the mail.
I will by the next mail commence a transmission in fractions.
Being in possession at present of a single copy only, I cannot
avail myself of this opportunity for the purpose. You will find
a sketch of the plan in one of the newspapers herewith inclosed.
Nothing has passed, either in Congress or in conversation, from
which a conjecture can be formed of the fate of the Report.
Previous to its being made, the avidity for stock had raised it
from a few shillings to eight or ten shillings in the pound, and
emissaries are still exploring the interior and distant parts of
the Union in order to take advantage of the ignorance of hold
ers. Of late, the price is stationary at, or fluctuating between,
the sums last mentioned. From this suspence it would seem as
if doubts were entertained concerning the success of the plan in
all its parts.
I take for granted that you will before the receipt of this
have known the ultimate determination of the President on
your appointment. All that I am able to say on the subject is,
that a universal anxiety is expressed for your acceptance, and
to repeat my declarations, that such an event will be more con
ducive to the general good, and perhaps to the very objects
you have in view in Europe, than your return to your former
station.
I do not find that any late information has been received
with regard to the Revolution in France. It seems to be still
unhappily forced to struggle with the adventitious evils of pub
lic scarcity, in addition to those naturally thrown in its way by
antient prejudices and hostile interests. I have a letter from
Havre of the 13th Novr, which says that wheat was then selling
at 10 livres per Bushel, and flour at 50 livres per 100 Ebs., and
the demand pressing for all kinds of materials for bread. The
letter adds that a bounty of 2 livres per 100 Bb. marc on wheat,
and on flour in proportion, &c., &c., was to commence the 1st
1790. LETTERS. 503
December last, and continue till the 1st of July next, in favour
of imports from any quarter of the Globe.
^TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, February 4, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of January 9, inclosing one of Sep
tember last, did not get to hand till a few days ago. The idea
which the latter evolves is a great one, and suggests many in
teresting reflections to Legislators, particularly when contract
ing and providing for public debts. Whether it can be received
in the extent to which your reasonings carry it is a question
which I ought to turn more in my thoughts than I have yet
been able to do before I should be justified in making up a full
opinion on it. My first thoughts lead me to view the doctrine
as not in all respects compatible with the course of human af
fairs. I will endeavour to sketch the grounds of my skepticism.
" As the Earth belongs to the living, not to the dead, a living
generation can bind itself only; in every society, the will of the
majority binds the whole; according to the laws of mortality,
a majority of those ripe for the exercise of their will do not live
beyond the term of 19 years; to this term, then, is limited the va
lidity of every act of the society, nor can any act be continued
beyond this term, without an express declaration of the public
will." This I understand to be the outline of the argument.
The acts of a political society may be divided into three
classes:
1. The fundamental constitution of the Government.
2. Laws involving some stipulation which renders them irre
vocable at the will of the Legislature.
3. Laws involving no such irrevocable quality.
1. However applicable in theory the 'doctrine may be to a
Constitution, it seems liable in practice to some weighty objec
tions.
\ Would not a Government, ceasing of necessity at the end of
term, unless prolonged by some Constitutional Act pre-
504 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
vious to its expiration, be too subject to the casualty and con
sequences of an interregnum ?
Would not a Government so often revised become too muta
ble and novel to retain that share of prejudice in its favor
which is a salutary aid to the most rational Government?
Would not such a periodical revision engender pernicious
factions that might not otherwise come into existence, and agi
tate the public mind more frequently and more violently than
might be expedient?
2. In the second class, of acts involving stipulations, must not
exceptions, at least to the doctrine, be admitted?
If the earth be the gift of nature to the living, their title can
extend to the earth in its natural state only. The improvements
made by the dead form a debt against the living, who take the
benefit of them. This debt cannot be otherwise discharged
than by a proportionate obedience to the will of the authors of
the improvements.
But a case less liable to be controverted may, perhaps, be
stated. Debts may be incurred with a direct view to the inter
ests of the unborn, as well as of the living. Such are debts for
repelling a conquest, the evils of which descend through many
/ generations. Debts may even be incurred principally for the
I benefit of posterity. Such, perhaps, is the debt incurred by the
1 United States. In these instances the debts might not be dis-
(chargeable within the term of 19 years.
There seems, then, to be some foundation in the nature of
things, in the relation which one generation bears to another,
for the descent of obligations from one to another. Equity may
require it. Mutual good may be promoted by it. And all that
seems indispensable in stating the account between the dead
and the living is, to see that the debts against the latter do not
exceed the advances made by the former. Few of the incum-
brances entailed on nations by their predecessors would bear a
liquidation even on this principle.
3. Objections to the doctrine, as applied to the third class of
acts, must be merely practical. But in that view alone they
appear to be material.
1790. LETTERS. 505
Unless such temporary laws should be kept in force by acts
regularly anticipating their expiration, all the rights depending
on positive laws, that is, most of the rights of property, would
become absolutely defunct, and the most violent struggles ensue
between the parties interested in reviving, and those interested
in reforming, the antecedent state of property. Nor does it
seem improbable that such an event might be suffered to take
place. The checks and difficulties opposed to the passage of
laws, which render the power of repeal inferior to an opportu
nity to reject, as a security against oppression, would here ren
der the latter an insecure provision against anarchy. Add to
this, that the very possibility of an event so hazardous to the
rights of property could not but depreciate its value; that the
approach of the crisis would increase the effect; that the fre
quent return of periods superseding all the obligations depend
ent on antecedent laws and usages must, by weakening the
sense of them, co-operate with motives to licentiousness already
too powerful; and that the general uncertainty and vicissitudes
of such a state of things would, on one side, discourage every
useful effort of steady industry pursued under the sanction of
existing laws, and, on the other, give an immediate advantage
to the more sagacious over the less sagacious part of the So
ciety.
I can find no relief from such embarrassments but in the re
ceived doctrine that a tacit assent may be given to established
Governments and laws, and that this assent is to be inferred
from the omission of an express revocation. It seerns more
practicable to remedy by well-constituted Governments the pes
tilent operation of this doctrine in the unlimited sense in which
it is at present received, than it is to find a remedy for the evils
necessarily springing from an unlimited admission of the con
trary doctrine. 9
Is it not doubtful whether it be possible to exclude wholly
the idea of an implied or tacit assent, without subverting the
very foundation of civil society?
On what principle is it that the voice of the majority binds
the minority? It does not result, I conceive, from a law of na-
506 WORKS OF MADISON. 1T90.
/ ture, but from compact founded on utility. A greater propor-
X tior might be required by the fundamental Constitution of So-
/ ciety, if under any particular circumstances it were judged eli
gible. Prior, therefore, to the establishment of this principle,
unanimity was necessary; and rigid Theory accordingly pre
supposes the assent of every individual to the rule which sub
jects the minority to the will of the majority. If this assent
cannot be given tacitly, or be not implied where no positive
evidence forbids, no person born in Society could, on attaining
ripe age, be bound by any acts of the majority, and either a
unanimous renewal of every law would be necessary as often
as a new member should be added to the society, or the express
consent of every new member be obtained to the rule by which
the majority decides for the whole.
If these observations be not misapplied, it follows that a lim
itation of the validity of all acts to the computed life of the
generation establishing them is in some cases not required by
theory, and in others not consistent with practice. They are
not meant, however, to impeach either the utility of the princi
ple as applied to the cases you have particularly in view, or the
general importance of it in the eye of the philosophical Legis
lator. On the contrary, it would give me singular pleasure to
see it first announced to the world in a law of the United States,
and always kept in view as a salutary restraint on living gen
erations from unjust and unnecessary burdens on their succes
sors. This is a pleasure, however, which I have no hope of en
joying. It is so much easier to descry the little difficulties im
mediately incident to every great plan than to comprehend its
general and remote benefits, that further light must be added
to the Councils of our Country before many truths which are
seen through the medium of philosophy become visible to the
v naked eye of the ordinary politician.
1790. LETTERS. 507
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, Feb* U, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — We proceed slowly in business. The Report of
Mr. Hamilton has been, of late, the principal subject of debate.
On the foreign debt the vote has been unanimous. On the do
mestic, a reduction of the transferred principal has been brought
into view by several arguments and propositions. My idea is
that there should be no interference of the public in favour of
the public either as to principal or interest, but that the high
est market price only should be allowed to the purchasers, and
the balance be applied to solace the original sufferers, whose
claims were not in conscience extinguished by a forced payment
in depreciated certificates. The equity of this proposition is not
contested. Its impracticability will be urged as an insuperable
objection. I am aware of the difficulties of the plan, but believe
they might be removed by one-half the exertion that will be
used to collect and colour them.
A Bill for taking a census has passed the House of Repre
sentatives, and is with the Senate. It contained a schedule for
ascertaining the component classes of the Society, a kind of in
formation extremely requisite to the Legislator, and much
wanted for the science of Political Economy. A repetition of
it every ten years would hereafter afford a most curious and
instructive assemblage of facts. It was thrown out by the Sen
ate as a waste of trouble and supplying materials for idle people
to make a book. Judge by this little experiment of the recep
tion likely to be given to so great an idea as that explained in
your letter of September.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, March 4, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — Your recommendation of Doctor M was
handed me some time ago. I need not tell you that I shall
508 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
always rely on your vouchers for merit, or that I shall equally
be pleased with opportunities of forwarding your wishes.
The only act of much consequence which the present Session
lias yet produced is one for enumerating the Inhabitants, as the
basis of a reapportionment of the Representation. The House
of Representatives has been chiefly employed of late on the Re
port of the Secretary of the Treasury. As it has been printed
in all the Newspapers, I take for granted that it must have
fallen under your eye. The plan which it proposes is in gen
eral well-digested, and illustrated and supported by very able
reasoning. It has not, however, met with universal concurrence
in every part. I have myself been of the number who could not
suppress objections. I have not been able to persuade myself
that the transactions between the United States and those whose
services were most instrumental in saving their country did, in
fact, extinguish the claims of the latter on the justice of the
former; or that there must not be something radically wrong in
suffering those who rendered a bona fide consideration to lose
| of their dues, and those who have no particular merit towards
their country to gain 7 or 8 times as much as they advanced.
In pursuance of this view of the subject, a proposition was made
for redressing, in some degree, the inequality. After much dis
cussion, a large majority was in the negative. The subject at
present before a Committee of the whole is the proposed as
sumption of the State debts. On this, opinions seem to be pretty
equally divided. Virginia is endeavoring to incorporate with
the measure some effectual provision for a final settlement and
payment of balances among the States. Even with this ingre
dient, the project will neither be just nor palatable if the as
sumption be referred to the present epoch, and by that means
deprives the States who have done most of the benefit of their
exertions. We have accordingly made an effort, but without
success, to refer the assumption to the state of the debts at the
close of the war. This would probably add J more to the
amount of the debts, but would more than compensate for this
by rendering the measure more just and satisfactory. A simple,
unqualified assumption of the existing debts would bear pecu-
1790. LETTERS. 5Q9
liarly hard on Virginia. She lias paid. I believe, a greater part
of her quota? since the peace than Massachusetts. She suffered
far more during- the war. It is agreed that she will not be less
a creditor on the final settlement; yet, if such an assumption
were to take place, she would pay towards the discharge of the
debts in the proportion of -]- and receive back to her creditor cit
izens -f or |, whilst Massachusetts would pay not more than y or
J, and receive back not less than i. The case of South Carolina
is a still stronger contrast. In answer to this inequality we
are referred to the final liquidation, for which provision may be
made. But this may possibly never take place. It will prob
ably be at some distance. The payment of the balances among
the States will be a fresh source of delay and difficulties. The
merits of the plan, independently of the question of equity, are
also controvertible, though on the other side there are advan
tages which have considerable weight.
We have no late information from Europe more than what
the newspapers contain. France seems likely to carry through
the great work in which she has been laboring. The Austrian
Netherlands have caught the flame, and with arms in their hands
have renounced the Government of the Emperor forever. Even
the lethargy of Spain begins to awake at the voice of liberty,
which is summoning her neighbors to its standard. All Europe
must by degrees be aroused to the recollection and assertion of
the rights of human nature. Your good will to mankind will
be gratified with this prospect, and your pleasure as an Amer
ican be enhanced by the reflection that the light which is cha
sing darkness and despotism from the old World is but an em
anation from that which has procured and succeeded the estab
lishment of liberty in the new.
TO DOCTOR RUSH.
NEW YORK, March 7, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — Although your last favor of the 27 February does
not require any particular answer, I cannot let this occasional
510 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
correspondence drop without thanking you for so interesting a
supplement to your former remarks on the subject lately decided
in the House of Representatives. It not only gives me pleas
ure, but strengthens my conviction, to find my sentiments rati
fied by those of enlightened and disinterested judges. If we
are to take for the criterion of truth a majority of suffrages,
they ought to be gathered from those philosophical and patri
otic citizens who cultivate their reason apart from every scene
that can disturb its operations, or expose it to the influence of
the passions. The advantage enjoyed by public bodies in the
light struck out by the collision of debate is but too often over
balanced by the heat proceeding from the same source. Many
other sources of involuntary error might be added. It is no
reflection on Congress to admit for one the united voice of the
place where they may happen to deliberate. Nothing is more con
tagious than opinion, especially on questions which, being sus
ceptible of very different glosses, beget in the mind a distrust of
itself, fit is extremely difficult, also, to avoid confounding the
local with the public opinion, and to withhold the respect due to
the latter from the fallacious specimen exhibited by the former}
Without looking, therefore, beyond innocent causes of fallibility,
I can retain the sentiments which produced the late motion,'55'
notwithstanding the disproportion of members by which it was
outvoted; especially when I can fortify them with such reflec
tions as your two favors have communicated. Indeed, it seems
scarcely possible for me ever to be persuaded that there is not
something radically immoral, and consequently impolitic, in suf
fering the rewards due for the most valuable of all considera
tions, the defence of liberty, to be transferred from the gallant
earners of them to that class of people who now take their
places. It is equally inconceivable, if the new Constitution
was really calculated to attain more perfect justice, that an ex
position of it can be right which confirms and enforces the most
flagrant injustice that ever took place under the old.
* To divide the payment of the public debt between the original and purcha
sing holders of certificates.
1790. LETTERS. 511
I must add my thanks for the little pamphlet covered by your
last. I have for some time been a thorough believer in the doc
trine which it exemplifies, and am not unapprized of the obliga
tion which, in common with other proselytes, I am under to the
lessons of your pen.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, March 8. 1790.
DEAR SIR, — The newspapers will have shewn you the late
proceedings of the House of Representatives. The present sub
ject of deliberation is the proposed assumption of the State
debts. Opinions are nearly balanced on it. My own is no
otherwise favorable to the measure than as it may tend to se
cure a final settlement and payment of balances among the
States. An assumption even under such circumstances is liable
to powerful objections. In the form proposed that object would
be impeded by the measure, because it interests South Carolina
an-d Massachusetts, who are to be chiefly relieved, against such
a settlement and payment. The immediate operation of the
plan would be peculiarly hard on Virginia. I think, also,
that an increase of the federal debt will not only prolong the
evil, but be further objectionable as augmenting a trust already
sufficiently great for the virtue and number of the federal Legis
lature.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, March 14, 1790.
MY DEAR FRIEND > — I have received the few lines you dropped
ine from Baltimore, and daily expect those promised from
Fredericksburg. I am made somewhat anxious on the latter
point by the indisposition under which you were travelling.
The question depending at your departure was negatived by
a very large majority, though less than stated in the news-
512 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
papers. The causes of this disproportion, which exceeds
greatly the estimate you carried with you, cannot be alto
gether explained. Some of them you will conjecture. Others
I reserve for conversation, if the subject should ever enter
into it. As far as I have heard, the prevailing sense of the
people at large does not coincide with the decision, and that
delay and other means might have produced a very different
result.
The assumption of the State debts has of late employed most
the House of Representatives. A majority of 5 agreed to the
measure in Committee of the whole. But it is yet to pass many
defiles, and its enemies will soon be reinforced by North Caro
lina. The event is consequently very doubtful. It could not
be admissible to Virginia unless subservient to final justice, or
so varied as to be more consistent with intermediate justice.
In neither of these respects has Virginia been satisfied, and the
whole delegation is against the measure, except Bland !
The substance of the Secretary's arrangements of the Debts
of the Union has been agreed to in Committee of the whole,
and will probably be agreed to by the House. The number of
alterations have been reduced for the sake of greater simplicity,
and a disposition appears at present to shorten the duration of
the Debt. According to the Report, the debt would subsist 40
or 50 years, which, considering intermediate probabilities,
amounts to a perpetuity.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, March 21, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 10th came to hand yesterday.
I feel much anxiety for the situation in which you found Mrs.
Randolph; but it is somewhat alleviated by the hopes which
you seem to indulge.
The language of Richmond on the proposed discrimination
does not surprise me. It is the natural language of the towns,
nnd decides nothing. Censure, I well knew, would flow from
1790. LETTERS. 513
those sources. Should it also flow from other sources, I shall
not be the less convinced of the right of the measure, or the
less satisfied with myself for having proposed it. The conduct
of the Gentlemen in Amherst and Culpeper proves only that
their personal animosity is unabated. Here, it is a charge
against me that I sacrificed the federal to anti-federal sentiments.
I am at a loss to divine the use that C. and S. can make of the
circumstance.
The debates occasioned by the Quakers have not yet expired.
The stile of them has been as shamefully indecent as the matter
was evidently misjudged. The true policy of the Southern
members was to have let the affair proceed with as little noise
as possible, and to have made use of the occasion to obtain,
along with an assertion of the powers of Congress, a recogni
tion of the restraints imposed by the Constitution.
The State debts have been suspended by the preceding busi
ness more than a week. They lose ground daily, and the
assumption will, I think, ultimately be defeated. Besides a
host of objections against the propriety of the measure in its
present form, its practicability becomes less and less evident.
The case of the paper money in Georgia, S. Carolina, N. Caro
lina, &c., to Rhode Island, is a most serious difficulty. It is a
part of the debts of those States, and comes in part within the
principle of the assumption.
A packet arrived a few days ago, but threw little light on the
affairs of Europe. Those of France do not recede, but their
advance does not keep pace with the wishes of liberty.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, March 30, 1790.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your favor of the 15th, which requests
an immediate acknowledgment, by some irregularity did not
come to hand till I had received that of the 18th, nor till it
was too late to comply with the request by the last mail. I
have been so unlucky, also, as to miss seeing the President
VOL. i. 33
514
WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
twice that I have waited on him, in order to intimate the cir
cumstances which you wish him to know. I shall continue to
repeat my efforts until I shall have an opportunity of executing
your commands.
The House have recommitted the Resolutions on the report
of the Treasury. Those relating to the assumption of State
debts were recommitted by a majority of two votes. The
others, from an extreme repugnance in many to a separation of
the two subjects. N. Carolina has 2 votes on the floor, which
turned the scale. The final decision is precarious. The imme
diate decision will repeal the former one in favour of the as
sumption, unless the composition of the House or the Committee
should be varied to-morrow. Of six absent members, a majority
will be opposed to the measure.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, April 4, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — You will see by the papers herewith covered
that the proposed assumption of the State debts continues to
employ the deliberations of the House of Representatives. The
question seems now to be near its decision, and unfortunately,
though so momentous a one, is likely to turn on a very small
majority, possibly on a single vote. The measure is not only
liable to many objections of a general cast, but in its present
form is particularly unfriendly to the interests of Virginia. In
this light it is viewed by all her representatives, except Col.
Bland.
The American Revolution, with its foreign and future conse
quences, is a subject of such magnitude that every circumstance
connected with it, more especially every one leading to it, is
already, and will be more and more a matter of investigation.
In this view, I consider the proceedings in Virginia during the
crisis of the stamp act as worthy of particular remembrance,
and a communication of them as a sort of debt due from her
cotemporary citizens to their successors. As I know of no
1790. LETTERS. 515
memory on which my curiosity could draw for more correct or
more judicious information, you must forgive this resort to
yours. Were I to consult nothing but my curiosity, my en
quiries would not be very limited. But as I could not indulge
that motive fully without abusing the right I have assumed, my
request goes no farther than that you will, as leisure and recol
lection may permit, briefly note on paper by whom and how the
subject commenced in the Assembly; where the resolutions pro
posed by Mr. Henry really originated; what was the sum of the
arguments for and against them, and who were the principal
speakers on each side; with any little anecdotes throwing light
on the transaction, on the characters concerned in it, or on the
temper of the colony at the time.*
TO GENL HENRY LEE.
NEW YORK, Api 13th, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 4th ult. by Col. Lee was re
ceived from his hands on Sunday last. I have since received
that of the 3d instant. The antecedent one from Alexandria,
though long on the way, was received some time before. In all
these, I discover strong marks of the dissatisfaction with which
you behold our public prospects. Though in several respects
they do not comport with my wishes, yet I cannot feel all the
despondency which you seem to give way to. I do not mean
that I entertain much hope of the Potowmac; that seems pretty
much out of sight; but that other measures in view, however
improper, will be less fatal than you imagine.
The plan of discrimination has met with the reception in
Virginia on which I calculated. The towns would for obvious
reasons disrelish it, and for a time they always set public
opinion. The country in this region of America, in general, if
I am not misinformed, has not been in unison with the cities,
* The answer of Mr. P. was sent to Mr. Wirt when collecting materials for his
life of P. Henry, and not returned.
516 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
nor has any of the latter, except this, been unanimous against
the measure. Here the sentiment was in its full vigor, and
produced every exertion that could influence the result.
I think with you that the Report of the Secretary of the
Treasury is faulty in many respects; it departs particularly
from that simplicity which ought to be preserved in finance
more than anything else. The novelty and difficulty of the task
lie had to execute form no small apology for his errors, and I
am in hopes that in some instances they will be diminished, if
not remedied.
The proposed assumption of the State debts has undergone
repeated discussions and contradictory decisions. The last
vote was taken yesterday in a Committee of the whole, and
passed in the negative, 31 vs. 29. The minority do not aban
don, however, their object, and tis impossible to foretell the
final destiny of the measure. It has some good aspects, and
under some modifications would be favorable to the pecuniary
interests of Virginia, and not inconsistent with the general
principle of justice. In any attainable form it would have
neither of these recommendations, and is, moreover, liable to
strong objections of a general nature. It would certainly be
wrong to force an affirmative decision on so important and con-
trovertible a point by a bare majority, yet I have little hope of
forbearance from that scruple. Massachusetts and S. Carolina,
with their allies of Connecticut and N. York, are too zealous
to be arrested in their project, unless by the force of an adverse
majority.
I have received your reflections on the subject of a public
debt with pleasure. In general they are, in my opinion, just
and important. Perhaps it is not possible to shun some of the
evils you point out, without abandoning too much the re-estab
lishment of public credit. But as far as this object will permit,
I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse, and in
a Republican Government a greater than in any other.
1790. LETTERS. 517
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, April 13, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — I thank you for your favor of the 2nd instant
From the sentiments expressed in it, you will hear with pleas
ure that the proposed assumption of the State debts was yester
day negatived, after many days' deliberation, by 31 vs. 29. We
hoped that this vote would have been mortal to the project. It
seems, however, that it is not yet to be abandoned. The other
part of the secretary's Report has been studiously fastened to
the assumption by the friends of the latter, and of course has
made no progress.
A British packet arrived yesterday, but has had a long pas
sage, and I do not find that she brings any news.
I am, dear sir, yours most affectionately.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NKW YORK, April 17, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — The House of Representatives are still at the
threshold of the Revenue business. The assumption of the State
debts is the great obstacle. A few days ago it was reconsid
ered, and rejected by 31 against 29. The measure is not, how
ever, abandoned. It will be tried in every possible shape by
the zeal of its patrons. The Eastern members talk a strange
language on the subject. They avow, some of them at least, a
determination to oppose all provision for the public debt which
does not include this, and intimate danger to the Union from a
refusal to assume. We shall risk their prophetic menaces if we
should continue to have a majority.
518 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, May 2, 1790.
DEAR SIB, — I thank you very sincerely for the readiness with
which you have complied with my troublesome request on the
subject of the Stamp act. I made it on a supposition that you
had been present at the proceedings of the Virginia Assembly,
which I find was not the case. But, knowing the accuracy and
extent of your intelligence on all such interesting occurrences,
I consider the particulars with which you have favored me as
not the less authentic on that account.
You were right in predicting that the assumption would not
be abandoned as long as new shapes could be devised for the
measure. I understand that the leading advocates persist in
declarations of their hopes of final success, and that new exper
iments are in agitation. Since my last, a vote has passed by a
large majority separating that part of the Secretary's plan from
the provision for the federal debt, and bills have been ordered
in for the latter alone. This will embarrass the efforts in favor
of the assumption, but will not defeat it, if by any means a ma
jority can be made up on that side.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK, May 19, 1790.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — The President has been critically ill for
some days past, but is now, we hope, out of danger; his com
plaint is a peripneumony. united probably with the Influenza.
Since my last, I have found that I did not go too far in intima
ting that the cause of your delay would forbid the smallest crit
icism on it. I earnestly pray that you may no longer have oc
casion to plead that apology.
In consequence of a petition from New Hampshire, the subject
of our commercial relation to Great Britain has been revived.
A majority of the Hcuse of Representatives seem disposed to
make a pretty bold experiment; and I think it will meet a very
1790. LETTERS. 510
different reception in the Senate from the measure tried at the
last session, If it fails, it will be owing to a dislike of the pref
erence to Nations in Treaty.
The debt is not yet funded. The zealots for the assumption
of the State debts keep back, in hopes of alarming the zealots
for the federal debt. I understand that another effort is to be
made for the assumption. Motives are felt, I suspect, which
will account for the perseverance.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, June 1, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — The assumption has been revived, and is still de
pending. I do not believe it will take place, but the event may
possibly be governed by circumstances not at present fully in
view. The funding bill for the proper debt of the United States
is engrossed for the last reading. It conforms in substance to
the plan of the Secretary of the Treasury. You will have seen
by late papers that an experiment for navigation and commer
cial purposes has been introduced. It has powerful friends, and
from the present aspect of the House of Representatives will
succeed there by a great majority. In the Senate its success is
not improbable, if I am rightly informed. You will see by the
inclosed paper that a removal from this place lias been voted by
a large majority of our House. The other is pretty nearly bal
anced. The Senators of the 3 Southern States are disposed to
couple the permanent with the temporary question. If they do,
I think it will end in either an abortion of both, or in a decision
of the former in favour of the Delaware. I have good reason
to believe that there is no serious purpose in the Northern
States to prefer the Potowmac, and that, if supplied with a pre
text for a very hasty decision, they will indulge their secret
wishes for a permanent establishment on the Delaware. As
Rhode Island is again in the Union, and will probably be in the
Senate in a day or two, the Potowmac has the less to hope arid
the more to fear from this quarter. Our friend, Col. Bland, was
520 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
a victim this morning to the influenza, united with the effects
and remains of previous indisposition. His mind was not right
for several days before he died. The President has been at the
point of death, but is recovered. Mr. Jefferson has had a tedious
spell of the head-ache. It has not latterly been very severe, but
is still not absolutely removed.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, June 17, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — You will find in the inclosed papers some account
of the proceedings on the question relating to the seat of Gov
ernment. The Senate have hung up the vote for Baltimore,
which, as you may suppose, could not have been seriously meant
by many who joined in it. It is not improbable that the per
manent seat may be coupled with the temporary one. The Po-
towmac stands a bad chance, and yet it is not impossible that
in the vicissitudes of the business it may turn up in some form
or other.
The assumption still hangs over us. The negative of the
measure has benumbed the whole revenue business. I suspect
that it will yet be unavoidable to admit the evil in some quali
fied shape. The funding bill is before the Senate, who are ma
king very free with the plan of the Secretary. A committee of
that body have reported that the alternatives be struck out, the
interest reduced absolutely to 4 per cent., and, as I am informed,
the indents be not included in the provision for the principal.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
NEW YORK, June 22, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — The pressure of business as the session approaches
its term, the earlier hour at which the House of Representatives
has for some time met, and the necessity of devoting a part of
the interval to exercise, after so long a confinement, have obliged
1790. LETTERS. 521
me to deny myself the pleasure of communicating regularly with
my friends. I regret much that this violation of my wishes has
unavoidably extended itself to the correspondences on which I
set the greatest value, and which, I need not add, include yours.
The regret is the greater, as I fear it will not be in my power
to atone for past omissions by more punctuality during the resi
due of the session. In your goodness alone I must consequently
look for my title to indulgence.
The funding and Revenue systems are reduced by the discord
of opinions into a very critical state. Out of this extremity,
however, some effective provision must, I think, still emerge.
The affair of the State debts has been the great source of delay
and embarrassment, and, from the zeal and perseverance of its
patrons, threatens a very unhappy issue to the session, unless
some scheme of accommodation should be devised. The busi
ness of the seat of Government is become a labyrinth, for which
the votes printed furnish no clue, and which it is impossible in
a letter to explain to you. We are endeavoring to keep the
pretensions of the Potowmac in view, and to give to all the cir
cumstances that occur a turn favorable to it. If any arrange
ment should be made that will answer our wishes, it will be the
effect of a coincidence of causes as fortuitous as it will be pro
pitious. You will see by the papers inclosed that Great Britain
is itching for war. I do not see how one can be avoided, un
less Spain should be frightened into concessions. The conse
quences of such an event must have an important relation to the
affairs of the United States. I had not the pleasure of seeing
Col. Hoomes during his momentary stay in New York, but had
that of hearing that he gave a very favorable account of your
health.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, July 4, 1790.
DEAR STR, — You will find by one of the Gazettes herewith
sent, that the bill fixing the permanent seat of Government on
the Potowinac, and the temporary at Philadelphia, has got
522 WORKS OF MADISON. 1790.
through the Senate. It passed by a single voice only, Izzard
and Few having both voted against it. Its passage through the
House of Representatives is probable, but attended with great
difficulties. If the Potowmac succeeds, even on these terms, it
will have resulted from a fortuitous coincidence of circumstances
which might never happen again.
The provision for the public debt has been suspended for
some time in the Senate by the question relating to the seat of
Government. It is now resumed in that House, and it is to be
hoped will soon be brought to an issue. The assumption sleeps,
but I am persuaded will be awakened on the first dawn of a fa
vorable opportunity. It seems, indeed, as if the friends of the
measure were determined to risk everything rather than suffer
that finally to fail.
We hear nothing further of the controversy between England
and Spain.
TO JAMES MONROE.
NEW YORK, July 24, 1790.
DEAR SIR, — After all the vicissitudes through which the as
sumption has passed, it seems at present in a fair way to suc
ceed as part of the general plan for the public debt. The Senate
have included it among their amendments to the funding bill,
and a vote of yesterday in the House of Representatives indi
cates a small majority in favor of the measure. In its present
form it will very little affect the interest of Virginia in either
way. I have not been able to overcome my other objections, or
even to forbear urging them. At the same time, I cannot deny
that the crisis demands a spirit of accommodation to a certain
extent. If the measure should be adopted, I shall wish it to be
considered as an unavoidable evil, and possibly not the worst
side of the dilemma.
1791. LETTERS. 523
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan? 2d, 1791.
DEAR SIR, — Previous to my leaving New York, I received a
letter from you which was not then answered, because the sub
ject of it required more consideration than could then be spared,
and because an answer was not prompted by anything agitated
or proposed on the subject in Congress. I am afraid that not
withstanding the interval which has passed, I am still not suffi
ciently prepared to do justice to your queries, some of which
are of a delicate, and all of which are of an important nature.
I am, however, the less concerned on this account, as I am sure
that your own reflections will have embraced every idea which
mine, if ever so mature, could have suggested.
Your first quere is, " are the words of the Treaty, ' there shall
be no legal impediment to the bona fide recovery of debts on
either side,' a law of repeal, or a covenant that a law of repeal
shall be passed?" As Treaties are declared to be the supreme
law of the land, I should suppose that the ivords of the treaty
are to be taken for the tvords of the law, unless the stipulation
be expressly or necessarily executory, which does not in this
instance appear to be the case.
"Was not the contrary the sense of the Congress who made
the Treaty, when they called on the States to repeal the several
laws containing such impediments?" As well as I recollect, the
act of Congress on that occasion supposed the impediments to
be repealed by the Treaty, and recommended a repeal by the
States, merely as declaratory, and in order to obviate doubts
and discussions. Perhaps, too, on a supposition that a legal re
peal might have been necessary previous to the new Constitu
tion, it may be rendered unnecessary by the terms of this instru
ment above quoted, which seem to give a legal force to the
Treaty.
" Admitting the treaty to be a law of repeal, what is the extent
of it? does it repeal all acts of limitation, and such as regulate
the modes of proving debts ? " This question probably involves
several very nice points, and requires a more critical knowledge
524 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
of the state of the American laws, the course of legal proceed
ings, and the circumstances of the British debts, than I possess.
Under this disadvantage, I am afraid to say more than that the
probable intention of the parties, and the expression "bona fide
recovery of debts," seem to plead for a liberal, and even favor
able interpretation of the article. Unless there be very strong
and clear objections, such an interpretation would seem to re
quire that the debts should be viewed as in the state in which
the original obstacles to their recovery found them, so far at
least as the nature of the case will permit.
"What is meant by the Supreme law, as applied to treaties?
is it like those of the Medes and Persians, unalterable? or may
not the contracting powers annul it by consent? or a breach
on one side discharge the other from an obligation to perform
its part?" Treaties, as I understand the Constitution, are made
Supreme over the Constitutions and laws of the particular
States, and, like a subsequent law of the United States, over
pre-existing laws of the United States; provided, however, that
the Treaty be within the prerogative of making Treaties, which,
no doubt, has certain limits.
That the contracting powers can annul the Treaty cannot, I
presume, be questioned, the same authority, precisely, being ex
ercised in annulling as in making a Treaty.
That a breach on one side (even of a single article, each being
considered as a condition of every other article) discharges the
other, is as little questionable; but with this reservation, that
the other side is at liberty to take advantage or not of the
breach, as dissolving the Treaty. Hence I infer that the Treaty
with Great Britain, which has not been annulled by mutual
consent, must be regarded as in full force by all on whom its
execution in the United States depends, until it shall be declared,
by the party to whom a right has accrued by the breach of the
other party to declare, that advantage is taken of the breach,
and the Treaty is annulled accordingly. In case it should be
advisable to take advantage of the adverse breach, a question
may perhaps be started, whether the power vested by the Con
stitution with respect to Treaties in the President and Senate
1791. LETTERS. 525
makes them the competent Judges, or whether, as the Treaty is
a law, the whole Legislature are to judge of its annulment, or
whether, in case the President and Senate be competent in or
dinary Treaties, the Legislative authority be requisite to annul
a Treaty of peace, as being equivalent to a Declaration of war,
to which that authority alone, by our Constitution, is compe
tent.
Mr. White tells me he has sent you a copy of Col. Hamilton's
plan of a Bank. I do not therefore inclose one. I augur that
you will not be in love with some of its features. Mr. Ran
dolph's Report on the Judiciary is not yet printed. I know
that a copy is allotted for you. The report of the ways and
means from the Treasury Department for the assumed debt has
been in the newspapers, and has, I presume, found its way to
you through that channel. There are objections of different
sorts to the proposed mode of revenue. But as direct taxes
would be still more generally obnoxious, and as imports are
already loaded as far as they will bear, an excise is the only
resource, and of all articles distilled spirits are least objection
able. Indeed, the duty imposed on imported rum forces a pro
portional duty on Country rum, and from the latter a duty on
other spirits distilled at home results of course. There is, of
consequence, scarce an option.
The Militia bill and a plan for disposing of the public lands
have been under consideration for some time, and have made
some progress, but are not in a state as yet from which their
final shape can be decided. The Senate have before them the
Bank, the report of the Secretary of State on weights and meas
ures, and the case of Kentucky. This last subject has experi
enced no other difficulties than what proceeded from some little
scruples concerning punctilios in the transition from the old to
the new station of the District. I understand from Col. Mon
roe that the Senate are really disposed to forward the object.
Vermont will probably soon follow, and may even be a member
of the Union before the period to which the law of Virginia
postpones the actual admission of Kentucky.
526 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
The Gazette of last evening contains the following paragraph
under the Philadelphia head:
"By an express which arrived this afternoon at the post office,
from Lewistown, near the capes of Delaware, we have received
letters from London down to the 4th of November. The fol
lowing letter will convey important intelligence to the Ameri
can public:
" ' Copy of a letter received by the Lord Mayor of London from the Duke of Leeds.
" ' I have the honour to acquaint your Lordship that the Mes
senger Dressin arrived here this morning, with despatches from
Mr. Fitzherbert, Ambassador at the Court of Madrid, dated
Sunday, 24 October, containing an account that a Convention
for terminating the differences which had arisen with that Court
had been agreed upon between his Excellency, on the part of
his Majesty, and the C* de Florida Blanca, on the part of the
Catholic King; and that the Convention was to be signed and
exchanged by those Ministers the 27 of the same month.
" ' London^ 4 Novr. (Signed) LEEDS/ "
From this extract it may be concluded, unless there be a for
gery not to be suspected, that the question which has been so
long depending between Great Britain and Spain has issued in
peace.
The date of my letter reminds me of the compliments which
belong to the season. I offer them with the sincerest wish that
they may yet often be repeated to you, and that the state of
health in which this will find you may promise that satisfaction
to all your friends, among whom no one will enjoy it in a higher
degree than,
Your affectionate and obt serv*.
1791. LETTERS. 527
TO JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, January 23, 1791.
HONORED SIR, — Since my last to my Brother A., I have re
ceived no letter from Orange, although yours and his both pre
ceding left me particularly anxious to know the event of the
Influenza attack on my mother's health.
The peace between Great Britain and Spain has been fully
authenticated. The English accounts give a sad picture of af
fairs in France, but there are more direct accounts which are
more favorable.
The House of Representatives has been long employed on the
excise Bill. It is much opposed within and without doors. I
think, however, it will pass, as less offensive than a direct tax,
which seems to be the alternative. What reception will it
meet with in your quarter? Stills will be taxed, but the owner
will have the option of returning and paying for the quantity
of spirits actually distilled.
. The Kentucky Bill has come down from the Senate, and will
probably go through the House of Represent8 without difficulty.
The Bank is also come from the Senate, but will not go through,
if at all, without opposition. The militia and western land
Bill wait for the conclusion of the excise Bill.
Let Mr. W. Webb know that I have received his papers from
Col. Monroe, and have drawn and presented a petition for him.
The fate of it is uncertain, and probably will not be known for
a considerable time.
Your affectionate son.
What is the number of inhabitants in Orange, and what the
state of the census in general?
528 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, FebJ 13, 1791.
DEAR SIE, — Since the receipt of your favor of the 15th Jan
uary, I have had the further pleasure of seeing your valuable
observations on the Bank more at length, in your communica
tions to Mr. White. The subject has been decided, contrary
to your opinion, as well my own, by large majorities in both)
Houses, and is now before the President. The power of incor
porating cannot, by any process of safe reasoning, be drawn
within the meaning of the Constitution as an appurtenance of
any express power, and it is not pretended that it is itself an
express power. The arguments in favor of the measure rather
increased my dislike to it, because they were founded on remote
implications which strike at the very essence of the Govern
ment, as composed of limited and enumerated powers. The plan
is, moreover, liable to a variety of other objections, which you
have so judiciously developed.
The excise is not yet returned by the Senate. It has under
gone sundry alterations in that House, but none that affect its
principle or will affect its passage. In many respects it is dis
pleasing to me, and a greater evil than a direct tax. But the
latter would not be listened to in Congress, and would, perhaps,
be not less offensive to the ears of the people at large, particu
larly in the Eastern part of the Union. The Bill contains, as
you would wish, an optional clause, permitting the owners of
country stills to pay the tax on their capacity, or to keep an
account of the liquors actually distilled, and pay according to
that and no more.
The Bill for admitting Kentucky has passed into a law, and
another for extending the privileges to Vermont, who is knock
ing at the door for it, has come from the Senate, and will not
be opposed in the House of Representatives. The Bill for sell
ing the public lands has made some progress, and I hope will
go through. The fate of the Militia and several other import
ant bills is problematical at the present Session, which will ex
pire on the 4th of next month.
1791. LETTERS. 529
With the sincerest affection, I am, dear sir, most respectfully
yours.
The enclosed paper, I observe, has a sketch of some of the
arguments against the Bank. They are extremely mutilated,
and in some instances perverted, but will give an idea of the
turn which the question took.
TO JAMES MADISON, ESQ.
PHILADELPHIA, February 13, 1791.
HONORED SIR, — I have received yours of the 31 ult°, and am
glad to find that my sister Hite has withdrawn herself from the
region of the small-pox. It gives me particular pleasure, also,
to learn that my mother's health has been so far restored.
You will see by one of the enclosed papers that the price of
wheat continues at from 8,9. 4c?. to 8s. 6d. Whether it will rise
or fall, or how much, is more than I can say. I think the
chances will justify your refusal of the Virginia prices at least.
I do not see what better you can do with your certificates
than to subscribe them to the public fund at Richmond. Those
from North Carolina are to be liquidated and subscribed here.
You had best send them by Mr. Hite in the spring. I received
Mr. Webb7s papers from Col. Monroe, and laid them before the
House of Representatives, with a petition, which has been re
ferred to the secretary of the Treasury. The crowd of such
business which had been previously referred to him makes it
pretty certain that no report can be made to the present ses
sion. Let Mr. W. know this, if you please, and save me the
trouble of writing to him.
The Excise Bill has not yet got through the Senate, where it
is undergoing sundry alterations, but none that will materially
affect it. The optional clause, permitting the owners of stills
to pay either the tax on the size of the stills, or on the quantity
actually distilled, will pretty certainly remain a part of the
VOL. i. 34
530 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
Bill, and as an answer to the most popular objection to it. The
Bill for incorporating a Bank has passed the two Houses by large
majorities, and is before the President. It was opposed in both
as being unconstitutional, as well as in other respects objection
able.
The arguments against it are extremely mutilated, and even
perverted in the newspapers, but the sketch will give some idea
of the turn of them.
The Bill for admitting Kentucky has become a law. Ver
mont is applying for the same privilege, and will be also grati
fied.
The subject immediately before the House of Representatives
is the Bill for selling the "Western Lands. It has made some
progress, and I hope will get through. The other important
Bills are in some danger of failing at the present session, which
will end on the 4th of March.
I remain, your affectionate and dutiful son.
The earthquake was not felt here at all. The winter has
been very dry, and, with intervals of mild spells, very cold. I
am not informed of its effects on the winter grain, but suspect
it must have been unfavorable.
Substance of a conversation held by James Madison, Jr., with Col.
Beckwitli, at the desire of Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State.
Last evening offered the first opportunity of breaking to Col.
B. the subject for which he has been thought a proper channel
to the Governor of Canada. It was explicitly made known to
him, that besides its being generally understood that the N. W.
Indians were supplied with the means of war from their inter
course with Detroit, &c., the president had received information,
which he considered as certain, that ample supplies of that sort
had, about the commencement of last campaign, been received
1791. CONVERSATION WITH BECKWITH. 531
by the hostile tribes from places at present in British hands.
It was observed to him at the same time, that as the United
States had no other object in the present [Indian] war but to
effect and establish peace on their frontier, it was obvious in
what light such a circumstance must be viewed by them. And
as a further consideration heightening the colour of the fact, he
was reminded that the Indians in question were, without an ex
ception, inhabitants of the acknowledged territory of the Uni
ted States, and, consequently, stood in a certain relation to them
well understood by the nations possessing territories on this
continent.
The sum of his answer was, that as a fact so stated, however
unaccountable it might be, was not to be contradicted, he could
only undertake to affirm that it was impossible it could have
proceeded directly or indirectly from the British Government,
or have had the sanction or countenance of the authority on the
spot. He multiplied assurances that the whole spirit and policy
of their Government was opposed to Indian hostilities; and that
the sentiments, views, and orders of Lord Dorchester discour
aged them as much as possible. This he knew to be the case.
He asked whether there were any particulars of time, place, or
persons, contained in the information to the President; whether
there was any evidence that the articles supplied were in greater
quantities than were usual for other purposes than war; inti
mating that, if there were just ground of complaint, a regular
statement and communication of it, in any mode that might be
thought not improper, would be most correspondent with the
customary proceedings in such cases. For himself, he should
be very ready on receiving any such statements or communica
tions to transmit them. He was here, however, not in any
formal character; on the contrary, in an informal one — a very
informal one, to be sure; and he entered into this conversation
as between one private gentleman and another. He had, in
deed, been a good while at New York before, as well as here,
[Philadelphia,] since the removal of the Government. He
hoped his stay would be rendered short by the arrival of some
more authentic character. He was at New York before Mr.
532 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
Jefferson came into the office he now holds, and he believed ii
was known on what footing he was. Yet he had not in any
.respect been turned over to Mr. Jefferson, nor had anything
passed that could give him any pretensions to be in any commu
nication with the Secretary of State. Such a communication was
no doubt thought improper by the Secretary of State with so
informal a character, though in a way ever so informal. He did
not undertake to suppose it was not right; especially as differ
ent forms of Governments have different modes of proceedings,
&c.
The turn given to the conversation shewing pretty clearly a
desire to make the occasion subservient to some further and
direct intercourse with the Government, it was thought proper
for that reason, as well as for avoiding the necessity of another
conversation, to reply at once that it was not probable the in
formation received by the President would be made known to
him in any way more authentic than the present, which it was
true, as he had observed, was merely a conversation between
two private gentlemen; but if the fact that the President had
received the information, as stated, was made sufficiently cred
ible, the proper effect of the communication need not depend on
the mode of it. If the dispositions of Lord Dorchester were
such as were described, and of which his reputation for human
ity and prudence left no room for doubt, any evidence amounting
to probability only would ensure all the interference that might
depend on him. The conduct of Governments towards formal
and informal characters was certainly not within the compass
of this conversation. It was probable, however, that no dis
tinction was made by the Government here which was not made
by all Governments; the difference between those characters
seeming to lie not in the circumstance of the former being pos
sessed of written and the latter of verbal authority, but in the
greater publicity and formality of the written credentials pro
duced from the proper source by the former. The evident im
propriety of the military supplies afforded to the Indians re
quired, no doubt, that the countenance of the British Govern
ment, or even the sanction of the officer on the spot, ought not
1791. CONVERSATION WITH BECKWITH. 533
to be presumed as long as the fact could be otherwise explained;
but as the effect of these aids was the same whether furnished
by public authority or by vindictive or avaricious individuals,
it was in every case to be expected that the abuse would be
corrected; and the circumstance of the Indians in question being
within the acknowledged limits of the United States, and re
ceiving the means of war against them from a foreign source,
was again brought into view as heightening the colour of the
affair. With respect to the particulars of the fact, they did not
seem to be material. In what degree the President was pos
sessed of them could not be said. It might be difficult to ascer
tain the particulars, and yet the general fact be sufficiently es
tablished. As the Indians at War traded with British subjects
only, their being able to carry on hostilities was of itself suffi
cient evidence in the case. It might be difficult, also, to mark
precisely the line between supplies for war and for hunting; but
it was probable that not only the difference of quantity de
manded, but other indications, must leave little doubt of the
purpose for which they were intended.
Col. B. professed the strongest disposition to do anything in
his power, having been actuated by this disposition in all his
communications to Canada, but repeated his wish for more
exact information on the subject. The intelligence was itself
so vague, and was communicated to him under such reserve,
that he was really at a loss how to represent it. " May I, Sir,
mention your name in the case ?" He was answered, that, from
the nature of the conversation, he would be under no restraint
from mentioning any circumstance relating to it he pleased.
" May I, Sir, say that I have your permission to use your
name ?" Answer. The permission being a part of the conver
sation, he must be equally free to mention it if he thought fit,
though it was not perceived to be a circumstance very material.
" Will you be so good, Sir, as to repeat the information you
mention to have been received by the President ?" This request
being complied with, he said he should certainly look out for
the first opportunity of making the matter known to Lord D.,
and if Mr. M. should be here on the receipt of an answer, he
534 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
should be made acquainted with it, repeating his declaration
that it was impossible the British Government could in any
respect have countenanced or approved any supplies to the
Indians as an aid or encouragement to their hostilities.
JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA, April 18, 1791.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, May 1, 1791.
DEAR SIR— * * * * * * *
I send you herewith a copy of Priestley's answer to Burke,
which has been reprinted here. You will see by a note, page
/56, how your idea of limiting the right to bind posterity is
\ germinating under the extravagant doctrines of Burke on that
/ subject. Paine's answer has not yet been received here. The
ynoment it can be got, Freneau tells me it will be published in
Childs' paper. It is said that the pamphlet has been suppressed
in England, and that the author withdrew to France before or
immediately after its appearance. This may account for his
not sending copies to his friends in this country.
From conversations which I have casually heard, it appears
that among the enormities produced by the spirit of speculation
and fraud, a practice is spreading of taking out administration
on the effects of deceased soldiers and other claimants leaving
no representatives. By this knavery, if not prevented, a pro
digious sum will be unsaved by the public, and reward the
worst of its citizens. A number of adventurers are already
engaged in the pursuit, and as they easily get security as ad
ministrators, and as easily get a commission on the usual sug
gestion of being creditors, they desire nothing more than to
ascertain the name of the party deceased or missing, trusting
to the improbability of their being detected or prosecuted by
the public. It cannot but have happened, and is, indeed, a fact
well understood, that the unclaimed dues from the United States
are of very great amount. What a door is here open for col-
1791. LETTERS. 535
lusion also, if any of the clerks in the account offices are not
proof against the temptation ?
We understood in Philadelphia that during the suspension
of the Bank bill in the hands of the President, its partizans here
indulged themselves in reflections not very decent. I have reason
to believe that the licentiousness of the tongues of speculators
and Tories far exceeded anything that was conceived. The
meanest motives were charged on him, and the most insolent
menaces held over him, if not in the open streets, under circum
stances not less marking the character of the party.
In returning a visit to Mr. King yesterday, our conversation
fell on the conduct of Great Britain towards the United States,
which he evidently laments as much as he disapproves. He
took occasion to let me understand, that although he had been
averse to the appearance of precipitancy in our measures, he
should readily concur in them after all probability should be
over of voluntary relaxations in the measures of the other
party; and that the next session of Congress would present
such a crisis if nothing to prevent it should intervene. He
mentioned, also, that a young gentleman here (a son of W.
Smith, now Chief Justice of Canada) gives out, as information
from his friends in England, that no Minister will be sent to
this country until one shall have previously arrived there.
What credit may be due to this person or his informers I do
not know. It shews, at least, that the conversation and ex
pectations which lately prevailed are dying away.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, May 12, 1791.
DEAR SIR- * * * * *
I had seen Paine's pamphlet, with the preface of the Phila
delphia Editor. It immediately occured that you were brought
into the Frontispiece in the manner you explain. But I had
not foreseen the particular use made of it by the British parti-
536 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
zans. Mr. Adams can least of all complain. Under a mock
defence of the Republican Constitutions of liis Country, he at
tacked them with all the force he possessed, and this in a book
with his name to it, whilst he was the Representative of his
Country at a foreign Court. Since he has been the 2d magis
trate in the new Republic, his pen has constantly been at work
in the same cause; and though his name has not been prefixed
to his anti-republican discourses, the author has been as well
known as if that formality had been observed. Surely, if it be
innocent and decent in one servant of the public thus to write
attacks against its Government, it cannot be very criminal or in
decent in another to patronize a written defence of the principles
on which that Government is founded. The sensibility of Ham
mond and Bond for the indignity to the British Constitution is
truly ridiculous. If offence could be justly taken in that quar
ter, what would France have a right to say to Burke's pamphlet,
and the countenance given to it and its author, particularly by
the King himself? What, in fact, might not the United States
say, whose revolution and democratic Governments come in for
a large charge of the scurrility lavished on those of France?
I do not foresee any objection to the route you propose. I
had conversed with Beckley on a trip to Boston, &c., and still
have that in view; but the time in view for starting from this
place will leave room for the previous excursion. Health, rec
reation, and curiosity, being my objects, I can never be out of
my way.
Not a word of news here. My letters from Virginia say lit
tle more than those you had received. Carrington says the re
turns have come in pretty thickly of late, and warrant the esti
mate founded on the Counties named to me some time ago. As
well as I recollect these averaged upwards of 8,000 souls, and
were considered by him as under the general average.
Yrs affectionately.
1791. LETTERS. 537
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
(Extract.)
NEW YORK, June 23d, 1791.
DEAR SIR,— * * * *
You have no doubt seen the French Regulations on the sub
ject of Tobacco, which commence hostilities against the British
navigation Act. Mr. King tells me an attack on Paine has
appeared in a Boston paper under the name of Publicola, and
has an affinity in the stile as well as sentiments to the discourses
on Davila.
I observed in a late paper here an extract from a Philadel
phia pamphlet on the Bank. If the publication has attracted
or deserves notice, I should be glad of a copy from you. I will
write again in a few days; in the mean time remaining,
Yours most affectionately.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, June 27. 1791.
DEAR SIR, — I have seen Col. Smith more than once. He
would have opened his budget fully to me, but I declined giving
him the trouble. He has written to the President a statement
of all his conversations with the British Ministry, which will
get into your hands of course. He mentioned to me his wish
to have put them there in the first instance, and your situation
on his arrival as an apology for not doing it. From the com
plexion of the little anecdotes and observations which dropped
from him in our interviews, I suspect that report has, as usual,
far overrated the importance of what has been confided to him.
General professions, which mean nothing, and the sending a
Minister, which can be suspended at pleasure, or which, if exe
cuted, may produce nothing, are the amount of rny present
guesses.
Mr. Adams seems to be getting faster and faster into diflicul-
538 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
ties. His attack on Paine, which I have not seen, will draw
the public attention to his obnoxious principles more than every
thing he has published. Besides this, I observe in McLean7s
paper here a long extract from a sensible letter republished
from Poughkeepsie, which gives a very unpopular form to his
anti-republican doctrines, and presents a strong contrast of them
with a quotation from his letter to Mr. Wythe in 1776.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, July 10, 1791.
DEAR SIR,- ******
The Bank shares have risen as much in the Market here as
at Philadelphia. It seems admitted on all hands now that the
plan of the institution gives a moral certainty of gain to the
subscribers, with scarce a physical possibility of loss. The sub
scriptions are consequently a mere scramble for so much public
plunder, which will be engrossed by those already loaded witli
the spoils of individuals. The event shews what would have
been the operation of the plan, if, as originally proposed, subscrip
tions had been limited to the 1st of April, and to the favorite
species of stock which the Bank Jobbers had monopolized. It
pretty clearly appears, also, in what proportions the public debt
lies in the Country, what sort of hands hold it, and by whom
the people of the United States are to be governed. Of all the
shameful circumstances of this business, it is among the greatest
to see the members of the Legislature who were most active in
pushing this job openly grasping its emoluments. Schuyler is
to be put at the head of the Directors, if the weight of the New
York subscribers can effect it. Nothing new is talked of here.
In fact, stock-jobbing drowns every other subject. The Coffee-
House is in an eternal buzz with the Gamblers.
1791. LETTERS 539
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, July 13, 1791.
DEAR SIR,— * * * * * *
Beckley has just got back from his eastern trip. He says
that the partizans of Mr. Adams's heresies in that quarter are
perfectly insignificant in point of number; that particularly in
Boston he is become distinguished for his unpopularity; that
Publicola is probably the manufacture of his son, out of mate
rials furnished by himself, and that the publication is generally
as obnoxious in New England as it appears to be in Pennsylva
nia. If young Adams be capable of giving the dress in which
Publicola presents himself, it is very probable he may have been
made the Editor of his father's doctrines.
I hardly think the printer would so directly disavow the fact
if Mr. Adams was himself the writer. There is more of method,
also, in the arguments, and much less of clumsiness and heavi
ness in the style, than characterize his writings. I mentioned
to you some time ago an extract from a piece in the Poughkeep-
sie paper as a sensible comment on Mr. Adams' doctrines. The
whole has since been republished here, and is evidently from a
better pen than any of the Anti-Publicolas I have seen. In
Greenleaf 's paper of to-day is a second letter from the same
quarter, which confirms the character I have given of the Au
thor.
We understand here that 800 shares in the Bank, committed
by this City to Mr. Constable, have been excluded by the man
ner in which the business was conducted; that a considerable
number from Boston met with the same fate, and that Baltimore
has been kept out in toto. It is all charged on the manoeuvres
of Philadelphia, which is said to have secured a majority of the
whole to herself. The disappointed individuals are clamorous
of course, and the language of the place marks a general indig
nation on the subject. If it should turn out that the cards were
packed for the purpose of securing the game to Philadelphia,
or even that more than half the Institution, and of course the
whole direction of it, have fallen into the hands of that city,
540 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
some who have been loudest in their plaudits whilst they ex
pected to share in the plunder will be equally so in sounding
the injustice of monopoly, and the danger of undue influence on
the Government.
The packet is not yet arrived. By a vessel arrived yester
day, newspapers are received from London which are said to be
later than any yet come to hand. I do not find that any par
ticular facts of moment are handed out. The miscellaneous
articles come to me thro' Childs' paper, which you get sooner
than I could rehearse to you. It has been said here by the
Anglicans that the President's message to Congress on the sub
ject of the commercial disposition of Great Britain has been
asserted openly by Mr. Pitt to be misrepresentation; and as it
would naturally be traced to Gouverneur Morris, it has been
suggested that he fell into the hands of the Chevalier Luzerne,
who had the dexterity to play off his negotiations for French
purposes. I have reason to believe that Beckwith has had a
hand in throwing these things into circulation. I wish you suc
cess with all my heart in your efforts for Paine. Besides the
advantage to him, which he deserves, an appointment for him
at this moment would do public good in various ways,
x Always and truly yours.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, August 4, 1791.
DEAR SIR— * * * * * *
Stock and scrip continue to be the sole domestic subjects of
conversation. The former has mounted in the late sales above
par, from which a superficial inference would be drawn that the
rate of interest had fallen below 6 per cent. It is a fact, how
ever, which explains the nature of these speculations, that they
are carried on with money borrowed at from 2i per cent, a
month, to 1 per cent, a week.
Adieu. Yours most affectionately.
1791. LETTERS. 541
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
NEW YORK, August 8, 1791.
MY DEAR SIR - * *
It is surmised that the deferred debt is to be taken up at the
next session, and some anticipated provision made for it. This
may either be an invention of those who wish to sell, or it may
be a reality imparted in confidence to the purchasers, or smelt
out by their sagacity. I have had a hint that something is in
tended and has dropt from - — , which has led to this
speculation. I am unwilling to credit the fact until I have
further evidence, which I am in a train of getting, if it exists.
It is said that packet boats and expresses are again sent from
this place to the Southern States, to buy up the paper of all
sorts which has risen in the market here.
These and other abuses make it a problem whether the sys
tem of the old paper under a bad Government, or of the new
under a good one, be chargeable with the greater substantial
injustice. The true difference seems to be, that by the former
the few were the victims to the many; by the latter, the many
to the few. It seems agreed on all hands now, that the bank
is a certain and gratuitous augmentation of the capitals sub
scribed, in a proportion of not less than 40 or 50 per cent. ; and
if the deferred debt should be immediately provided for in fa
vour of the purchasers of it in the deferred shape, and since the
unanimous vote that no change should be made in the funding
system, my imagination will not attempt to set bounds to the
daring depravity of the times. The stock-jobbers will become
the pretorian band of the Government, at once its tool and its
tyrant; bribed by its largesses, and overawing it by clamours
and combinations.
Nothing new from abroad. I shall not be in Philadelphia
till the close of the week.
Adieu. Yrs most affectionately.
542 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
TO ROBERT PLEASANTS.
PHILADELPHIA, October 30, 1791.
SIR, — The delay in acknowledging your letter of the 6th
June last proceeded from the cause you conjectured. I did not
receive it till a few days ago, when it was put into my hands
by Mr. James Pemberton, along with your subsequent letter of
the 8th August.
The petition relating to the Militia bill contains nothing that
makes it improper for me to present it. I shall, therefore, read
ily comply with your desire on that subject. I am not satisfied
that I am equally at liberty with respect to the other petition.
Animadversions such as it contains, and which the authorized
object of the petitioners did not require, on the slavery existing
in our country, are supposed by the holders of that species of
property to lessen the value by weakening the tenure of it.
Those from whom I derive my public station are known by me
to be greatly interested in that species of property, and to view
the matter in that light. It would seem that I might be charge
able at least with want of candour, if not of fidelity, were I to
make use of a situation in which their confidence has placed me
to become a volunteer in giving a public wound, as they would
deem it, to an interest on which they set so great a value. I
am the less inclined to disregard this scruple as I am not sen
sible that the event of the petition would in the least depend on
the circumstance of its being laid before the House by this or
that person.
Such an application as that to our own Assembly, on which
you ask my opinion, is a subject, in various respects, of great
delicacy and importance. The consequences of every sort ought
to be well weighed by those who would hazard it. From the
view under which they present themselves to me, I cannot but
consider the application as likely to do harm rather than good.
It may be worth your own consideration whether it might not
produce successful attempts to withdraw* the privilege now al-
* It so happened.
1791. LETTERS. 543
lowed to individuals, of giving freedom to slaves. It would at
least be likely to clog it with a condition* that the persons
freed should be removed from the country; there being argu
ments of great force for such a regulation, and some would con
cur in it, who, in general, disapprove of the institution of
slavery.
I thank you, sir, for the friendly sentiments you have ex
pressed towards me, and am, with respect, your obt, humble
servt.
TO GENL H. LEE.
PHILADELPHIA, Decr 18th, 1791.
MY DEAR SIR, — I have received your. favor of the 8th, and
handed to Freneau the subscriptions inclosed for him. His
paper, in the opinion here, justifies the expectations of his
friends, and merits the diffusive circulation they have endeav
oured to procure it.
I regret that I can administer no balm to the wound given
by the first report of our Western disaster. You will have seen
the official account which has gone into all the Newspapers. It
does not seem to contain any of the saving circumstances you
are so anxious to learn. The loss of blood is not diminished,
and that of impression is as great as the most compleat triumph
of the savages can render it. The measures planning for the
reparation of the calamity are not yet disclosed. The suspected
relation of Indian hostility to the Western posts became here,
as with you, a subject of pretty free conversation.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Dec' 18, 1791.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of afforded me much pleasure
by the information it gave of the return of such flourishing
* It so happened.
544 WORKS OF MADISON. 1791.
health, and has laid me under great obligation by the valuable
state it enclosed of the great question lately argued in the
federal court at Richmond. We are all anxious to learn the
decision of the Judges, though there is a report that they de
cline giving their opinions; and were that not so, the importance
of them is diminished by the probability of an appeal.
Notwithstanding the proportion of time which has run oif.
the last hand has been put to a very inconsiderable part of the
business of the Session. The two Houses have been of late
chiefly occupied by the Representation bill, which, both in its
principles and consequences, is of the first importance. The
House of Representatives, by a very great majority, decided in
favor of the ratio of 1 for 30,000, as the most obvious intention
of the Constitution, or at least of the amendment which is
likely to be made a part of it, as most congenial with the repub
lican character of the Government, and as most correspondent
with the expectations of the public. In the Senate there were
three opinions: one favoring the transfer of the fractions from
the Eastern States, where they happen to fall more than on the
Southern States; another favoring a small representation in
the Government; and a third favoring a large representation.
These opinions being strangely compounded in the same indi
viduals, and divided among the body, produced as strange a
checker of projects for new-modelling the ratio proposed by
the other House. After a miscarriage of sundry of them, and
a delay severely felt at Richmond, they at length, by the
casting vote of the chair, agreed on a change of the ratio to 1
for 33,000. To this the House of Representatives disagreed,
by a bare majority only. The Senate have insisted, and the
question will probably be to-morrow renewed in the House of
Representatives. Should they adhere, the Senate will probably
recede. Should a conference be proposed, the issue will proba
bly be less favorable. The chance may be bettered if Col. Lee
should arrive in time, who is said to be on the road. But it
may happen that a vote of concurrence on the part of the House
of Representatives will cut the business short without a further
appeal to the temper of the Senate.
1792. LETTERS. 545
Nothing is yet public with respect to any communications of
Mr. Hammond with the Executive on the matters in general
depending between this country and his. We only learn that
he has authoritatively disavowed any encouragement or coun
tenance from the Government of Canada to Indian hostilities
against the United States, to which he adds, from analogy and
his personal conviction, that no such countenance can have been
afforded to the hostile views of the Creeks attached to Bowles.
Major Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina, is to be the counter
Minister of the United States at the Court of Great Britain.
The French revolution seems to have succeeded beyond the
most sanguine hopes. The King, by freely accepting the Con
stitution, has baffled the external machinations against it, and
the peaceable election of a Legislative Assembly of the same
complexion with their predecessors, and the regular commence
ment of their functions, have equally suppressed the danger of
internal confusions.
With the most affectionate esteem, I remain, dear sir, your
obt friend and serv*.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan* 21, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — I have delayed for some time writing, in the
daily expectation that I should be able to resume the subject of
the Representation bill, the progress and fate of which were
mentioned in my last. A motion for reviving it in another
form has been some days on the table, and is now the order
of the day, but has been kept back partly by a general torpor
resulting from the critical loss of the bill, and partly by the
interference of other business. The motion alluded to pro
poses, as compensation for the present inequality of fractions,
a repetition of the census in 4 or 5 years, which will have not
only the effect of shortening the term of the fractions com-
VOL, i. 35
546 WORKS OF MADISON.
plained of, but of preventing the accumulation of much greater
inequalities within a period of ten years. This expedient is
relished generally by the Southern States, and by New York
arid Vermont, which are growing States. It will be equally
unpalatable to Massachusetts, Connecticut, £c., which are very
willing to take the benefit of the future operation of an appor
tionment for ten years, although they raise so great an outcry
against the little fractional advantage accruing to other States
from the ratio of 1 for 30,000.
The House of Representatives has been occupied for some
days, with shut doors, on the communications of the President
relating to the Western Frontiers. There is a pretty general
disposition to make the protection effectual, but a great want
of unanimity as to the best means. It is probable that much
will be left to the judgment of the President; and it is to be
hoped that the lessons of past experience will not be without
effect.
I have reserved for you a copy of the Report of the Secretary
of the Treasury on Manufactures, for which I hoped to have
found before this a private conveyance, it being rather bulky
for the mail. Having not yet succeeded in hitting on an oppor
tunity, I send you a part of it in a newspaper, which broaches a
new Constitutional doctrine of vast consequence, and demand
ing the serious attention of the public. I consider it myself as
subverting the fundamental and characteristic principle of the
Government; as contrary to the true and fair, as well as the
received construction, and as bidding defiance to the sense in
which the Constitution is known to have been proposed, advo
cated, and adopted. If Congress can do whatever in their dis
cretion can be done by money, and will promote the General
Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing
enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular
exceptions. It is to be remarked that the phrase out of which
this doctrine is elaborated is copied from the old Articles of
Confederation, where it was always understood as nothing
more than a general caption to the specified powers, and it is a
1792. LETTERS. 547
fact that it was preferred in the new instrument for that very
reason, as less liable than any other to misconstruction.
Remaining always most affectionately yours.
TO GENL H. LEE.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan? 29th, 1792.
MY DEAR SIR, — Mr. Marshall called last evening with your
favor of the 17th, but not being at home I have not yet seen
him. The subject of Western defence is not yet over. In
relation to it thave nothing to add to the communications in
my last. You will see in Freneau's paper of to-morrow mom-
mo; the justifying memorial of the Executive against the charge
of neglecting the requisite pacific measures.
Your ideas of reformation in the Western system appear to
me to be just in every point on which I can presume to judge.
I wish they may occur to those who can give them due effect.
TO GENL H. LEE.
PHILADELPHIA, Feby 12th, 1792.
MY DEAR SIR, — I have your favor of the 29th ultimo. The
Senate have disagreed to that part of the Military Bill which
augmented the regular establishment to about 5,000 men, and
will probably send it back with that alteration. They prefer
a completion only of the old Regiments, and a liberal provision
for temporary forces. Nothing has passed from which I can
conjecture, in the most remote degree, whether you may have to
decide the point on which I consulted you. It was, as I ob
served to you, a mere contingency suggested by my own reflec
tions, and so continues. The moment I discover what is meant
to be done on that subject, whether correspondent with my own
ideas or not, I shall drop you notice, as you desire.
548 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
With respect to the light in which an exchange of Station*
might be regarded within the State, it is not possible for me to
judge so well as others. I feel the delicacy involved in your
contemplation of the subject. Perhaps this may be one of the
cases in which your own feelings will be the best counsellor.
The papers herewith inclosed will give you the current in
formation, both foreign and domestic. Cornwallis and Tippoo
cut the principal figure in those of latest date. The situation
of the former is more problematical than it was a few months
before the siege of York. An assumption of the State debts is
reported, and printed for the members. The motive of State
interest in its favor, it appears, can be felt only by about one-
third of the house, and yet I shall not be much surprised if the
measure be carried.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Feby 21, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 8th did not come to hand till
this afternoon. I thank you for the very just and interesting
observations contained in it. I have not yet met with an op
portunity of forwarding the Report on manufactures, nor has
that subject been yet regularly taken up. The Constitutional
doctrine, however, advanced in the Report, has been anticipated
on another occasion by its zealous friends; and I was drawn
into a few hasty animadversions, the substance of which you
will find in one of the inclosed papers. It gives me great pleas
ure to find my exposition of the Constitution so well supported
by yours.
The Bill concerning the election of a President and vice
President, and the eventual successor to both, which has long
been depending, has finally got through the two Houses. It
was made a question whether the number of electors ought to
correspond with the new apportionment or the existing House
* He was then Governor of Virginia. A military appointment had been sug
gested.— ED.
1792. LETTERS. 549
of Representatives. The text of the Constitution was not de
cisive, and the Northern interest was strongly in favor of the
latter interpretation. The intrinsic rectitude, however, of the
former, turned the decision in both houses in favor of the South
ern. On another point the Bill certainly errs. It provides that
in case of a double vacancy, the Executive powers shall devolve
on the President pro tempore of the Senate, and he failing, on
the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The objections
to this arrangement are various: 1. It may be questioned
whether these are officers in the Constitutional sense. 2. If of
ficers, whether both could be introduced. 3. As they are cre
ated by the Constitution, they would probably have been there
designated if contemplated for such a service, instead of being
left to the Legislative selection. 4. Either they will retain
their Legislative stations, and then incompatible functions will
be blended; or the incompatibility will supersede those stations,
and then those being the substratum of the adventitious func
tions, these must fail also. The Constitution says, Congress
may declare wliat officers, &c., which seems to make it not an
appointment or a translation, but an annexation of one office or
trust to another office. The House of Representatives proposed
to substitute the Secretary of State, but the Senate disagreed,
and there being much delicacy in the matter it was not pressed
by the former.
Another Representation Bill has gone to the Senate, modelled
on the double idea mentioned in my last. 1 for 30,000 is the
ratio fixed both for the late and the proposed census. The fate
of the Bill in the Senate is problematical. The Bill immediately
before the House of Representatives is a Militia Bill.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, March 25, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 14th came to hand yesterday.
You were right in saying "that the Northern Cocks are true
game/' but have erred in adding, " that they die hard on the
550 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
Representation bill." Their perseverance has gained them a
final victory. The bill passed on friday last in the form in
which it was sent from the Senate; that is, with the distribution
of 120 members among the States, and the provision for a sec
ond census expunged. It was carried in the Senate by a ma
jority of one, and in the House of Representatives by a majority
of two only. It now remains with the President. The history
of this subject involves many unpleasing circumstances, and the
result appears to me absolutely irreconcileable with the Con
stitution. The business next to be taken up are the reports
from the Treasury on the new duties on trade, the enlargement
of the times for subscribing to the funding system, including the
assumption part of it, and a further assumption of the remain
ing State debts. The last alone is likely to become doubtful,
and even that I consider as gaming converts daily. The two
first will be urged, as, in the one case, a reasonable indulgence
to such as have not obtained due information within the time
limited; and the other, as an inevitable consequence of the mil
itary augmentation provided for the Western defence. The
Militia bill, which originated in the House of Representatives,
is before the Senate; and the Mint, which originated in the lat
ter, will receive a decision on its 3d reading in the former to
morrow. We have no late information from Europe. That
from Sc Domingo paints the distress of the Island in the most
gloomy colours. The gambling system, which has been pushed
to such an excess, is beginning to exhibit its explosions. D . . . ,
of N. York, the Prince of the tribe of speculators, has just be
come a victim to his enterprizes, and involves an unknown num
ber to an unknown amount in his fate. It is said by some that
his operations have extended to several millions of dollars, that
they have been carried on by usurious loans from 3 to 6 per
cent, per month, and that every description and gradation of
persons, from the Church to the Stews, are among the dupes of
his dexterity and the partners of his distress.
With the highest esteem and affection, I remain, dear sir, un
alterably, your friend and serv*.
1792. LETTERS. 551
TO GENL H. LEE.
PHILADELPHIA, March 28th, 1792.
MY DEAR SIR, — No nomination lias yet been made of a new
Commander for the Military establishment, nor of any of the
Brigadiers authorized by the supplemental act lately passed.
I refer to the Newspapers for the inferior appointments which
have taken place. It is understood that Sfc Clair is not to re
main in service. A proposition was yesterday made in the
House of Representatives desiring the President to institute an
enquiry into the cause of the Western calamities, which, for
some particular reasons, was deemed improper, and was dis
agreed to, but another passed for appointing a committee to
make an enquiry. It ought to have confined the Committee to
such circumstances and abuses as are proper information for the
House, and an explanatory resolution to that effect was laid
on the table, and will probably be taken up to-day.
The Mint Bill sent from the Senate passed the House of Rep
resentatives yesterday. It was disliked and voted against by
some as it stands, because it does not establish any systematic
proportion of alloy, conforming to the arbitrary one of the last
and basest edition of the Spanish dollar; but by most, on account
of the expense, which is estimated at about 30,000 annually, and
the additional weight of influence it throws into the preponder
ating scale. In the course of the bill a small circumstance hap
pened worthy of notice, as an index of political biasses. The
Senate had proposed in the Bill that on one side of the coin
should be stamped the head of the President for the time being.
This was attacked in the House of Representatives as a feature
of Monarchy, and an amendment agreed to substituting an em
blematic figure of Liberty; on the return of the Bill to the Sen
ate the amendment was instantly disagreed to, and the Bill sent
back to the House of Representatives. The question was viewed,
on account of the rapidity and decision of the Senate, as more
serious than at first. It was agitated with some fervor, and the
first vote of the house confirmed by a large majority. The Sen
ate perceiving the temper, and afraid of losing the Bill, as well
552 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
as unwilling to appeal in such a controversy to the public crit
icism, departed from their habitual perseverance, and acceded
to the alteration proposed.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, April 9, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — You will find by the inclosed papers that the
President's negative has saved us from the unconstitutional al
lotment of 120 Representatives proposed by the Bill on that
subject. The contest is now to be between a ratio of 1 for 30,
and one for 33 thousand. If the next bill should begin with
the former, I think it most likely to end in the latter, this being
most favorable to the northern part of the Union — the circum
stance which produced the curious project contained in the
other Bill. The assumption of the remainder of the State debts,
amounting to about 41,000,000 dollars, has been lately on the
anvil. The first vote was in its favor. On the 2d, it was thrown
out. It will, however, be pretty certainly renewed, and, in the
end, not improbably carried. Besides a legion of objections
against the measure, its being pressed is the more extraordi
nary, as the progress of the Commissioners for settling the final
balances among the States promises a conclusion of the work
almost as soon as provision can be made for paying the first
interest on the debts to be assumed. For the plan is, to pass
the assumption now, and leave the revenue to be provided here
after. The obligation of public faith will then be an answer to
all objections against the new taxes, or contrivances that will
be called for. The ways and means for the Western defence
have been the subject of latest discussion. They consist of in
creased duties on imports; and it is to be feared that advantage
will be taken of the occasion to make the increase permanent,
although the object is temporary. New York continues to be
a scene of Bankruptcies, resulting from - — ''s fate, and the
fall of the Stocks. Every day exhibits new victims, and opens
new scenes of usury, knavery, and folly. If the Stocks should
1792. LETTERS. 553
not be artificially revived, it is suspected that the ensuing week
will be a very trying one to this City.
TO GENL H. LEE.
PHILADELPHIA, April 15th, 1792.
MY DEAR SIR, — I have already acquainted you with the nom
inations of the President for General Officers. They have all
been confirmed by the Senate except Wilkinson, who, I am told,
will be to-morrow. The Commander-in- Chief, it is said, went
through the Senate rather against the bristles. The appoint
ment is well relished of course by some, but does not escape, al
ready, considerable criticism. I am glad to find by your letter
of the 4th, which did not come to hand till yesterday, that your
inclinations and your anticipations so well coincide as they re
lated to yourself; with respect to mine, the latter are as little
disappointed by the event as yours, though that is not the case
as to the former. The disappointment, however, would be more
regretted if your present station were less important, and par
ticularly to our own Country, at the present moment.
Your remarks on the augmented duties are solid and weighty,
but they will not prevail against the aversion to other taxes,
and the collateral views to be answered by duties on imported
manufactures. The worst is, that many of the new duties are
made permanent, for which an advantage is taken of the pre
texts blended with the original cause.
You will see by the paper rcpublished from New York that
the scene there is become more and more gloomy. There are
reports which make it much worse. Speculating and Banking
are as much execrated in that City as they were idolized a few
weeks ago. The language will probably soon become general.
Several failures have taken place here, notwithstanding the in
cessant and elaborate efforts to parry such a catastrophe as
New York exhibits. It is thought, however, that an earthquake,
though much slighter, will be inevitable within the present
month. The train of circumstances which has led to these evils
554 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
is obvious; and reflections must soon force themselves on the
public mind, from which it has hitherto been diverted by a fal
lacious prosperity, and uncontradicted declamation in the Ga
zette.
You know already that the President has exerted his power
of checking the unconstitutional career of Congress. The judges
have also called the attention of the public to Legislative falli
bility, by pronouncing a law providing for Invalid Pensioners
unconstitutional and void; perhaps they may be wrong in the
execution of their power, but such an evidence of its existence
gives inquietude to those who do not wish Congress to be con-
trouled or doubted whilst its proceedings correspond with their
views. I suspect, also, that the inquietude is increased by the
relation of such a power to the Bank Law, in the public con
templation, if not in their own.
Nothing done since my last on the further assumption, or the
Report on the public debt.
Substance of a Conversation ivith the President, 5 May, 1792.
In consequence of a note this morning from the President,
requesting me to call on him, I did so; when he opened the
conversation by observing, that having some time ago commu
nicated to me his intention of retiring from public life on the
expiration of his four years, he wished to advise with me on the
mode and time most proper for making known that intention.
He had, he said, spoken with no one yet on those particular
points, and took this opportunity of mentioning them to me,
that I might consider the matter, and give him my opinion
before the adjournment of Congress, or my departure from
Philadelphia. He had, he said, forborne to communicate his
intentions to any other persons whatever but Mr. Jefferson,
Col. Hamilton, General Knox, and myself, and of late to Mr.
Randolph. Col. Hamilton and Gen1 Knox, he observed, were
extremely importunate that he should relinquish his purpose,
and had made pressing representations to induce him to it.
1792. CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESIDENT. 555
Mr. Jefferson had expressed his wishes to the like effect. He
had not, however, persuaded himself that his continuance ii>
public life could be of so much necessity or importance as was
conceived, and his disinclination to it was becoming every day
more and more fixed; so that he wished to make up his mind as
soon as possible on the points he had mentioned. What he
desired was, to prefer that mode which would be most remote
from the appearance of arrogantly presuming on his re-election
in case lie should not withdraw himself, and such a time as
would be most convenient to the public in making the choice
of his successor. It had, he said, at first occurred to him, that
the commencement of the ensuing session of Congress would
furnish him with an apt occasion for introducing the intimation;
but besides the lateness of the day, he was apprehensive that it
might possibly produce some notice in the reply of Congress
that might entangle him in farther explanations.
I replied, that I would revolve the subject as he desired, and
communicate the result before my leaving Philadelphia, but
that I could not but yet hope there would be no necessity at
this time for his decision on the two points he had stated. I
told him that when he did me the honor to mention the resolu
tion he had taken, I had forborne to do more than briefly
express my apprehensions that it would give a surprise and
shock to the public mind, being restrained from enlarging on
the subject by an unwillingness to express sentiments sufficiently
known to him, or to urge objections to a determination which,
if absolute, it might look like affectation to oppose; that the
aspect which things had been latterly assuming seemed, how
ever, to impose the task on all who had the opportunity of
urging a continuance of his public services; and that, under
such an impression, I held it a duty, not indeed to express my
wishes, which would be superfluous, but to offer my opinion
that his retiring at the present juncture might have effects that
ought not to be hazarded; that I was not unaware of the
urgency of his inclination, or of the peculiar motives he might
feel to withdraw himself from a situation into which it was so
well known to myself he had entered with a scrupulous reluc-
556 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
tancc; that I well recollected the embarrassments under which
his mind labored in deciding the question on which he had con
sulted me, whether it could be his duty to accept his present
station after having taken a final leave of public life; and that
it was particularly in my recollection that I then entertained
and intimated a wish that his acceptance, which appeared to be
indispensable, might be known hereafter to have been in no
degree the effect of any motive, which strangers to his charac
ter might suppose, but of the severe sacrifice which his friends
knew he made of his inclinations as a man to his obligations as
a citizen; that I owned I had at that time contemplated, and, I
believed, suggested, as the most unequivocal though not the
only proof of his real motive, a voluntary return to private
life as soon as the state of the government would permit; trust
ing that if any premature casualty should unhappily cut off the
possibility of this proof, the evidence known to his friends
would in some way or other be saved from oblivion, and do
justice to his character; that I was not less anxious on the
same point now than I was then; and if I did not conceive that
reasons of a like kind to those which required him to under
take still required him to retain, for some time longer, his
present station, or did not presume that the purity of his
motives would be sufficiently vindicated, I should be the last
of his friends to press, or even to wish, such a determination.
He then entered on a more explicit disclosure of the state of
his mind; observing that he could not believe or conceive him
self any wise necessary to the successful administration of the
Government; that, on the contrary, he had from the beginning
found himself deficient in many of the essential qualifications,
owing to his inexperience in the forms of public business, his
imfitness to judge of legal questions, and questions arising out
of the Constitution; that others more conversant in such mat
ters would be better able to execute the trust; that he found
himself, also, in the decline of life, his health becoming sensibly
more infirm, and perhaps his faculties also; that the fatigues
and disagreeableness of his situation were in fact scarcely toler
able to him; that he only uttered his real sentiments when he
1792. CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESIDENT. 557
declared that his inclination would lead him rather to go to his
farm, take his spade in his hand, and work for his bread, than
remain in'his present situation; that it was evident, moreover,
that a spirit of party in the Government was becoming a fresh
source of difficulty, and he was afraid was dividing some (al
luding to the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury)
more particularly connected with him in the administration;
that there were discontents among the people which were also
shewing themselves more and more, and that although the va
rious attacks against public men and measures had not in gen
eral been pointed at him, yet, in some instances, it had been vis
ible that he was the indirect object, and it was probable the
evidence would grow stronger and stronger that his return to
private life was consistent with every public consideration, and,
consequently, that he was justified in giving way to his inclina
tion for it.
I was led by this explanation to remark to him, that however
novel or difficult the business might have been to him, it could
not be doubted that, with the aid of the official opinions and in
formations within his command, his judgment must have been
as competent in all cases as that of any one who could have
been put in his place, and, in many cases, certainly more so; that
in the great point of conciliating and uniting all parties under
a Government which had excited such violent controversies and
divisions, it was well known that his services had been in a
manner essential; that with respect to the spirit of party that
was taking place under the operations of the Government, I was
sensible of its existence, but considered that as an argument for
his remaining, rather than retiring, until the public opinion, the
character of the Government, and the course of its administra
tion, should be better decided, which could not fail to happen in
a short time, especially under his auspices; that the existing
parties did not appear to be so formidable to the Government
as some had represented ; that in one party there might be a few
who. retaining their original disaffection to the Government,
might still wish to destroy it, but that they would lose their
weight with their associates by betraying any such hostile pur-
558 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
poses; that although it was pretty certain that the other were,
in general, unfriendly to republican Government, and probably
aimed at a gradual approximation of ours to a mixed monarchy,
yet the public sentiment was so strongly opposed to their
views, and so rapidly manifesting itself, that the party could
not long be expected to retain a dangerous influence; that it
might reasonably be hoped, therefore, that the conciliating in
fluence of a temperate and wise administration would, before
another term of four years should run out, give such a tone and
firmness to the Government as would secure it against danger
from either of these descriptions of enemies; that although I
would not allow myself to believe but that the Government
would be safely administered by any successor elected by the
people, yet it was not to be denied, that in the present unsettled
condition of our young Government, it was to be feared that no
successor would answer all the purposes to be expected from
the continuance of the present chief magistrate; that the option
evidently lay between a few characters; Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay,
and Mr. Jefferson, were most likely to be brought into view;
that with respect to Mr. Jefferson, his extreme repugnance to
public life, and anxiety to exchange it for his farm and his phi
losophy, made it doubtful with his friends whether it would be
possible to obtain his own consent; and if obtained, whether
local prejudices in the Northern States, with the views of Penn
sylvania in relation to the seat of Government, would not be a
bar to his appointment. With respect to Mr. Adams, his mo
narchical principles, which he had not concealed, with his late
conduct on the representation bill, had produced such a settled
dislike among republicans every where, and particularly in the
Southern States, that he seemed to be out of the question. It
would not be in the power of those who might be friendly to
his private character and willing to trust him in a public one,
notwithstanding his political principles, to make head against
the torrent. With respect to Mr. Jay, his election would be
extremely dissatisfactory on several accounts. By many he was
believed to entertain the same obnoxious principles with Mr.
Adams, and at the same time would be less open, and therefore
1792. CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESIDENT. 559
more successful in propagating them. By others, (a pretty nu
merous class,) he was disliked and distrusted, as being thought
to have espoused the claims of British creditors at the expense of
the reasonable pretensions of his fellow-citizens in debt to them.
Among the Western people, to whom his negotiations for ceding
the Mississippi to Spain were generally known, he was consid
ered as their most dangerous enemy, and held in peculiar dis
trust and disesteem. In this state of our prospects, which was
rendered more striking by a variety of temporary circumstances,
I could not forbear thinking that although his retirement might
not be fatal to the public good, yet a postponement of it was
another sacrifice exacted by his patriotism.
Without appearing to be any wise satisfied with what I had
urged, lie turned the conversation to other subjects; and when I
was withdrawing repeated his request that I would think of the
points he had mentioned to me, and let him have my ideas on
them before the adjournment. I told him I would do so, but
still hoped his decision on the main question would supersede
for the present all such incidental questions.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, May 9, 1792.
Understanding that the President was to set out the ensuing
morning for Mount Vernon, I called on him to let him know
that, as far as I had formed an opinion on the subject he had
mentioned to me, it was in favor of a direct address of notifica
tion to the public, in time for its proper effect on the election,
which I thought might be put into such a form as would avoid
every appearance of presumption or indelicacy, and seemed to
be absolutely required by his situation. I observed that no
other mode deserving consideration had occurred, except the
one he had thought of and rejected, which seemed to me liable
to the objections that had weighed with him. I added, that if
on farther reflection I should view the subject in any new lights,
I would make it the subject of a letter, though I retained my
hopes that it would not yet be necessary for him to come to
any opinion on it. He begged that I would do so, and also
suggest any matters that might occur as proper to be included
560 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
in what lie might say to Congress at the opening of their next
session; passing over the idea of his relinquishing his purpose
of retiring in a manner that did not indicate the slightest as
sent to it.
FRIDAY, May 25, 1792.
I met the President on the road returning from Mount Ver-
non to Philadelphia, when he handed me the letter dated at the
latter place on the 20th of May, the copy of the answer to which
on the 21st of June is annexed.
TO MR. JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, June 12th, 1792.
MY DEAR SIR, — Since I got to the end of my journey I have
been without an opportunity of dropping you a line, and this is
written merely to be ready for the first casual conveyance to
Fredericksburg.
I received yesterday your two favors, No. 1 and 2. The Ga
zettes, under a preceding cover, had come to hand some days
before. Your answer to Hammond has, on the whole, got tri
umphantly through the ordeal.* It is certainly not materially
injured, though, perhaps, a little defaced, by some of the criti
cisms to which you have yielded. The points on which you did
not relax appear to me to be fully vindicated; the main ones
unanswerably so. The doctrine which would make the States
the contracting parties could have been as little expected from
that quarter as it is irreconcilable with the tenor of their con
federation. The expectation of Hammond, if sincere, of final
instructions by the meeting of Congress, throws light, I think,
on the errand of Bond. He can scarcely calculate on the re
sult of his Court's reconsideration of the subject within the
short time allowed by five months, after deducting the double
voyage.
I have letters from Kentucky down to the 8th May. Little
* In the Cabinet.
LETTERS. 561
n
depredations from the savages continue to be complained of.
The people, however, are chiefly occupied with the approaching
distribution of the new offices. Nothing is said as to their prob
able Govr. Congress and the Judiciary are thought of more
importance to the State. Brown can be what he pleases. Some
are disposed to fix him on the Bench. None will object to his
going into the Senate, if that should be his choice. Campbell
and Muter are the other names in conversation for the Senate,
and Brackenridge and Greenup for the House of Representa
tives. I have this information from a Mr. Taylor, a pretty in
telligent man, engaged in their public affairs. George Nicholas
specifies no names, observing that it is impossible to conjecture
those that will succeed in the competitions. Among the con
tents of the enclosed letter is a printed copy of the Constitution
of Kentucky, as finally agreed to. You can take out that or
anything else for perusal, as you please, after which you will be
good enough to have the letter handed in such way as you may
judge best. I would not have thrown the trouble on you if
any other channel had occurred.
The unpopularity of the excise has evidently increased in this
quarter, owing partly to the effect of Sidney,* who has found
his way here, and partly to the unavoidable vexations it car
ries into the family distilleries.
The tax on newspapers is another article of grievance. It is
not very well understood, but if it were, it would not be satis
factory: first, because too high; secondly, because suspected of
being an insidious forerunner of something worse. I am afraid
the subscriptions will soon begin to be withdrawn from the
Philadelphia papers, unless some step be speedily taken to pre
vent it. The best that occurs seems to be to advertize that the
papers will not be put into the mail, but sent, as Ji&retofore, to all
who shall not direct them to be put into the mail. Will you
hint this to Freneau? His subscribers in this quarter seem
pretty well satisfied with the degree of regularity and safety
* Writer in the Gazette.
VOL. i. 36
502 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
with which they get the papers, and highly pleased with the
paper itself.
I found this country labouring under a most severe drought.
There had been no rain whatever since the 18th or 20th of
April. The flax and oats generally destroyed; the corn dying
in the hills. No Tobacco planted, and the wheat in weak land
suffering; in the strong, not injured materially; in the very
strong, perhaps benefited. Eight days ago there was a very
local shower here. A day or two after, a better, but still very
local. Neither of them, from appearances, extended as far south
as Albemarle. For several days past it has rained almost con
stantly, and is still raining, with the wind from North East,
with every appearance of a general rain; so that the only clan
ger now is of too much wet for the wheat, which I am happy to
find has effectually supplanted tobacco in the conversation and
anxieties of our crop-mongers, and is rapidly doing so in their
fields.
I met the President on the road. I had no conversation
with him, but he handed me a letter which he had written to
me at home. Its contents are very interesting, but do not ab
solutely decide the problem"- which dictated yours to him.
Monroe and his lady left us on Wednesday, on their way
home. He is to meet the revisors at Richmond about the loth.
1 understood Mrs. M. was to be added to the family at Monti-
cello during his absence.
Will you be so good as to cover under your next a copy of
Mease's inaugural oration on the Hydrophobia? Rush sent me
a copy, which had just been printed, the morning I set out, for
Dr Jones. I wished to have got one for another friend, but had
not time. If the bulk will permit, send two, and I will send
one for the amusement of Gilmer, who, I hear, though through
imperfect channels, is still in a critical situation.
Always and affectionately yours.
* Declining a re-election.
1792. LETTERS. 563
The promised list of names is enclosed. When your Tableau
of national debts and polls is made out, may I ask a copy?
TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
ORAXGE, June 21, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — Having been left to myself for some days past, I
have made use of the opportunity for bestowing on your letter of
the 20th ult°, handed to me on the road, the attention which
its important contents claimed. The questions which it presents
for consideration are — 1st. At what time a notification of your
purpose to retire will be most convenient ? 2. What mode will
be most eligible ? 3. Whether a valedictory address will be
requisite or advisable? 4. If either, whether it would be
more properly annexed to the notification, or postponed to your
actual retirement ?
The answer to the first question involves two points: first,
the expediency of delaying the notification; secondly, the pro
priety of making it before the choice of electors takes place,
that the people may make the choice with an eye to the circum
stances under which the trust is to be executed. On the first
point, the reasons for as much delay as possible are too obvious
to need recital. The second, depending on the times fixed in
the several States, which must be within 34 days preceding the
first Wednesday in December, requires that the notification
should be in time to pervade every part of the Union by the
beginning of November. Allowing six weeks for this purpose,
the middle of September, or perhaps a little earlier, would
seem a convenient date for the act.
2. With regard to the mode, none better occurs than a simple
publication in the newspapers. If it were proper to address it
through the medium of the general Legislature, there will be no
opportunity. Nor does the change of situation seem to admit
a recurrence to the State governments, which were the channels
used for the former valedictory address. A direct address to
the people, who are your only constituents, can be made, I
564 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
think, with most propriety, through the independent channel of
the press, through which they are, as a constituent Body, usually
addressed.
3. On the third question, I think there can be no doubt that
such an address is rendered proper in itself by the peculiarity
and importance of the circumstances which mark your situation,
and advisable by the salutary and operative lessons of which it
may be made the vehicle. The precedent at your military
exit might also subject an omission now to conjectures and in
terpretations which it would not be well to leave room for.
4. The remaining question is less easily decided. Advan
tages and objections lie on both sides of the alternative. The
occasion on which you are necessarily addressing the people
evidently introduces, most easily and most delicately, any
voluntary observations that are meditated. In another view, a
farewell address before the final moment of departure is liable
to the appearance of being premature and awkward. On the
opposite side of the alternative, however, a postponement will
beget a dryness and an abridgment in the first address little
corresponding with the feelings which the occasion would natu
rally produce both in the author and the objects of it; and
though not liable to the above objection, would require a re
sumption of the subject apparently more forced, and on which
the impressions having been anticipated and familiarized, and
the public mind diverted, perhaps, to other scenes, a second
address would be received with less sensibility and effect than
if incorporated with the impressions incident to the original
one. It is possible, too, that, previous to the close of the term,
circumstances might intervene in relation to public affairs, or
the succession to the Presidency, which would be more embar
rassing, if existing at the time of a valedictory appeal to the
public, than if unknown at the time of that delicate measure.
On the whole, my judgment leans to the propriety of blend
ing the acts together; and the more so, as the crisis which will
terminate your public career will still afford an opportunity, if
any immediate contingency should call for a supplement to
your farewell observations. But as more correct views of the
1792. DRAUGHT OF ADDRESS. 555
subject may produce a different result in your mind, I have en
deavored to fit the draught enclosed to either determination.
You will readily observe that in executing it I have arrived at
that plainness and modesty of language which you had in view,
and which, indeed, are so peculiarly becoming the character and
the occasion; and that I have had little more to do as to the
matter than to follow the very just and comprehensive outline
which you had sketched. I flatter myself, however, that in
everything which has depended on me, much improvement will be
made before so interesting a paper shall have taken its last form.
Having thus, sir, complied with your wishes, by proceeding
on a supposition that the idea of retiring from public life is to
be carried into execution, I must now gratify my own by hoping
that a reconsideration of the measure, in all its circumstances
and consequences, will have produced an acquiescence in one
more sacrifice, severe as it may be, to the desires and interests
of your country. I forbear to enter into the arguments which
plead for it in my mind, because it would be only repeating
what I have already taken the liberty of fully explaining. But
I could not conclude such a letter as the present without a
repetition of my ardent wishes and hopes that our country may
not, at this important conjuncture, be deprived of the inestima
ble advantage of having you at the head of its counsels.
[Draught enclosed in the above.~\
The period which will close the appointment with which my
fellow-citizens have honored me being not very distant, and the
time actually arrived at which their thoughts must be designa
ting the citizen who is to administer the Executive Government
of the U. S. during the ensuing term, it may be requisite to a
more distinct expression of the public voice that I should ap
prize such of my fellow-citizens as may retain their partiality
towards me, that I am not to be numbered among those out of
whom a choice is to be made.
I beo: them to be assured that the resolution which dictates
566 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
this intimation has not been taken without the strictest regard
to the relation which, as a dutiful citizen, I bear to ray country;
and that in withdrawing that tender of my service which silence
in my situation might imply, I am not influenced by the smallest
deficiency of zeal for its future interests, or of grateful respect
for its past kindness, but by the fullest persuasion that such a
step is compatible with both.
The impressions under which I entered on the present ardu
ous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In discharge
of this trust, I can only say that I have contributed towards
the organization and administration of the Government the best
exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. For
any errors which may have flowed from this source, I feel all
the regret which an anxiety for the public good can excite; not
without the double consolation, however, arising from a con
sciousness of their being involuntary, and an experience of the
candor which will interpret them. If there were any circum
stances which could give value to my inferior qualifications for
the trust, these circumstances must have been temporary. In
this light was the undertaking viewed when I ventured upon
it. Being, moreover, still farther advanced into the decline of
life, I am every day more sensible that the increasing weight
of years renders the private walks of it in the shade of retire
ment as necessary as they will be acceptable to me. May I be
allowed to add that it -will be among the highest, as well as the
purest enjoyments that can sweeten the remnant of my days, to
partake in a private station, in the midst of my fellow-citizens,
of that benign influence of good laws under a free Government
which has been the ultimate object of all our wishes, and in
which I confide as the happy reward of our cares and labors ?
May I be allowed further to add, as a consideration far more
important, that an early example of rotation in an office of so
high and delicate a nature may equally accord with the repub
lican spirit of our Constitution, and the ideas of liberty and
safety entertained by the people?
(If a farewell address is to be added at the expiration of the
term, the following paragraph may conclude the present:)
1702. DRAUGHT OF ADDRESS. 5(37
Under these circumstances, a return to my private station,
according to the purpose with which I quitted it, is the part
which duty as well as inclination assigns me. In executing it,
T shall carry with me every tender recollection which gratitude
to my fellow-citizens can awaken, and a sensibility to the per
manent happiness of my country that will render it the object
of my unceasing vows and most fervent supplications.
(Should no further address be intended, the preceding clause
may be omitted, and the present address proceed as follows:)
In contemplating the moment at which the curtain is to drop
forever on the public scenes of my life, my sensations anticipate,
and do not permit me to suspend, the deep acknowledgments re
quired by that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved
country for the many honors it has conferred on me, for the dis
tinguished confidence it has reposed in me, and for the opportu
nities I have thus enjoyed of testifying my inviolable attach
ment by the most stedfast services which my faculties could ren
der. All the returns I have now to make will be in those vows
which I shall carry with me to my retirement and to my grave,
that Heaven may continue to favor the people of the United
States with the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that their
union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free
Constitution, which is the work of their own hands, may be sa
credly maintained: that its administration in every Department
may be stamped with wisdom and with virtue, and that this
character may be ensured to it by that watchfulness over public
servants and public measures which, on one hand, will be neces
sary to prevent or correct a degeneracy, and that forbearance,
on the other, from unfounded or indiscriminate jealousies, which
would deprive the public of the best services by depriving a
conscious integrity of one of the noblest incitements to perform
them; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of America under
the auspices of liberty may be made complete, by so careful a
preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will ac
quire them the glorious satisfaction of recommending it to the
affection, the praise, and the adoption, of every nation which is
yet a stranger to it.
WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
And may we not dwell with well-grounded hopes on this flat
tering prospect, when we reflect on the many ties by which the
people of America are bound together, and the many proofs they
have given of an enlightened judgment and a magnanimous pa
triotism?
We may all be considered as the children of one common
country. We have all been embarked in one common cause.
We have all had our share in common sufferings and common
successes. The portion of the earth allotted for the theatre of
our fortunes fulfils our most sanguine desires. All its essential
interests are the same; whilst the diversities arising from cli
mate, from soil, and from other local and lesser peculiarities,
will naturally form a mutual relation of the parts that must
give to the whole a more entire independence than has, perhaps,
fallen to the lot of any other nation.
To confirm these motives to an affectionate and permanent
union, and to secure the great objects of it, we have established
a common Government, which, being free in its principles, being
founded in our own choice, being intended as the guardian of
our common rights and the patron of our common interests, and
wisely containing within itself a provision for its own amend
ment as experience may point out its errors, seems to promise
everything that can be expected from such an institution; and
if supported by wise counsels, by virtuous conduct, and by mu
tual and friendly allowances, must approach as near to perfec
tion as any human work can aspire, and nearer than any which
the annals of mankind have recorded.
With these wishes and hopes I shall make my exit from civil
life, and I have taken the same liberty of expressing them which
I formerly used in offering the sentiments which were suggested
by my exit from military life. If, in either instance, I have
presumed more than I ought on the indulgence of my fellow-
citizens, they will be too generous to ascribe it to any other
cause than the extreme solicitude which I am bound to feel, and
which I can never cease to feel, for their liberty, their prosper
ity, and their happiness.
1792. LETTERS. 569
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.
ORANGE, Sepf 13, 1792.
MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your favor of the 12th ultimo having ar
rived during an excursion into Albemarle, I did not receive it
till my return on yesterday. I lose not a moment in thanking
you for it, particularly for the very friendly paragraph in the
publication in Fenno's paper. As I do not get his paper here,
it was by accident I first saw this extraordinary manoeuvre of
calumny, the quarter, the motive, and the object of which speak
of themselves. As it respects Mr. Jefferson, I have no doubt
that it will be of service both to him and the public, if it should
lead to such an investigation of his political opinions and char
acter as may be expected. With respect to myself, the conse
quence, in a public view, is of little account. In any view, there
could not have been a charge founded on a grosser perversion
of facts, and, consequently, against which I could feel myself
more invulnerable.
That I wished and recommended Mr. Freneau to be appointed
to his present Clerkship is certain. But the Department of
State was not the only, nor, as I recollect, the first one, to which
I mentioned his name and character. I was governed in these
recommendations by an acquaintance of long standing, by a re
spect for his talents, and by a knowledge of his merit and suf
ferings in the course of the Revolution. Had I been less abste
mious in my practice from solicitations in behalf of my friends,
I should probably have been more early in thinking of Mr. F.
The truth is, that my application, when made, did not originate
with myself. It was suggested by another gentleman,* who
could feel no motive but a disposition to patronize merit, and
who wished me to co:operate with him. That, with others of
Mr. Freneau's particular acquaintances, I wished and advised
him to establish a press at Philadelphia, instead of one medi
tated by him in New Jersey, is also certain. I advised the
change because I thought his interest would be advanced by it,
* General H. Lee.
570 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
and because, as a friend, I was desirous that his interest should
he advanced. This was my primary and governing motive.
That, as a consequential one, I entertained hopes that a free
paper meant for general circulation, and edited by a man of
genius of republican principles, and a friend to the Constitu
tion, would be some antidote to the doctrines and discourses
circulated in favour of Monarchy and Aristocracy, and would
be an acceptable vehicle of public information in many places
not sufficiently supplied with it, this, also, is a certain truth; but
it is a truth which I never could be tempted to conceal, or wish
to be concealed. If there be a temptation in the case, it would
be to make a merit of it.
But that the establishment of Mr. Freneau's press was wished
in order to sap the Constitution, and that I forwarded the meas
ure, or that my agency negociated it, by an illicit or improper
connection between the functions of a translating clerk in a
public Office and those of an Editor of a Gazette, these are
charges which ought to be as impotent as they are malicious.
The first is surely incredible, if any charge could be so; and the
second is, I hope, at least improbable, and not to be credited,
until unequivocal proof shall be substituted for anonymous and
virulent assertions.
When I first saw the publication, I was half disposed to meet
it with a note to the printer, with my name subscribed. I was
thrown into suspense, however, by reflecting that as I was not
named, and was only incidentally brought into view, such a step
might be precipitate, if not improper, in case the principal
should not concur in such a mode of vindication. 2. That I
was not enough acquainted with the turn the thing might take,
and the light in which it might be viewed on the spot. 3. That
in a case the least doubtful, prudence would not rush into the
newspapers. These considerations have been since sanctioned
by the opinion of two or three judicious and neutral friends
whom I have consulted. The part finally proper, however, re
mains to be decided, and on that I shall always be thankful tor
the ideas of my friends most in a condition to judge.
1792. LETTERS. 571
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Novr 16, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — I make use of the opportunity afforded by the
return of Col. Hoomes to inclose a parcel of the late newspapers,
which may contain some things not in the other papers you get.
You will find in them all the particulars known here concerning
the affairs of France, and sketches of the business as yet brought
before Congress. The President's speech and the two answers
are, I believe, also in the collection. The passages relating to
the excise are particularly interesting in several respects. The
answer of the House of Representatives on that subject is thought
by some of us to have been carried too far. That laws in force
should be supported is right, and ought to be asserted; but to
say, first, that a free Government should listen to representa
tions with a disposition to give redress where proper, and then
to prejudge them by saying that the progress of contentment is as
obvious as it is rational, does not appear very consistent. And
as little prudent was it, perhaps, to add, what will be regarded
as an insinuation, that the opposition to the excise proceeds from
a selfish and unjust wish to avoid a common share of burden;
an insinuation not generally true, and more likely to inflame
than heal the wound. We are anxious for the arrival of Col.
Taylor. I hear with much pleasure from Col. PI. of your good
health. Wishing a continuance of it and every other blessing,
I remain, dear sir, your affecte friend.
P. S. I throw in for your amusement an anonymous pamphlet,
which makes pretty free with the characters of several of your
friends. In what respects myself, every thing happens to be
notoriously false which I would wish not to be true.
572 WORKS OF MADISON. 1792.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Deer 6, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — I am just favored with yours of the 28th ult. I
wish I could remove your anxiety for the French. The last
accounts are so imperfect and contradictory that it is difficult
to make anything of them. They come, also, through the Brus
sels and English channels, which increases the uncertainty. It
appears, on the whole, that the combination against the revolu
tion, and particularly against their new Republic, is extremely
formidable, and that there is still greater danger within from
the follies and barbarities which prevail in Paris. On the other
hand, it seems tolerably clear that the nation is united against
Royalty, and well disposed to second the Government in the
means of defence. At this distance it is impossible to appreci
ate particular measures, or foresee the turn which things may
finally take.
The newspaper tax noticed by the President has been re
ferred to a Committee, but no report has yet been made. It is
of great importance that some change should take place that
will remove the obstruction which has been thrown in the way
of information to the people. In all Governments the public
censorship is necessary, in order to prevent abuses. In such an
one as ours, where the members are so far removed from the eye
of their constituents, an easy and prompt circulation of public
proceedings is peculiarly essential.
The election of a Vice President has excited in this quarter
considerable animation, and called forth comparative portraits
of the political characters of Mr. Adams arid Governor Clinton,
the only candidates brought into the field. The former has
been exhibited in all its monarchical features, and the latter in
the anti-federal colors it wore in 1788. There are not sufficient,
data here to calculate with certainty the event of the contest.
The probability is rather favorable to Mr. Adams, but not in
such a degree as to prevent pretty keen apprehensions among
Ms friends. As the opposition to him is levelled entirely
against his political principles, and is made under very great
1702. LETTERS. , 573
disadvantages, the extent of it, whether successful or not, will
satisfy him that the people at large are not yet ripe for his sys
tem.
We are informed by the last advices from Europe that the
harvest has generally been scanty, and that in England, partic
ularly, it has suffered prodigiously from the wetness of the sea
son. From this cause, and the general state of things abroad,
a great demand on our stock is anticipated. Wheat is already
up at 9s., and flour at 45-5. , of this currency. The rise must soon
communicate itself to Virginia, and it is to be hoped the farmers
will not lose the benefit of it by premature sales. We all re
gret the detention of Col. Taylor. I hope the cause of it has
ceased, and that we shall soon have his arrival in proof of it.
It is probable that Mr. Jefferson will not remain very long in
his public station, but it is certain that his retirement is not to
be ascribed to the newspaper calumnies which may have had
that in view.
I remain, dear sir, yours, &c.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Decr 10, 1792.
DEAR SIR, — As you find an amusement in our newspapers, I
inclose two of the last; which, however, contain little of conse
quence, except a new Report from the Treasury Department.
The mover of the reference which gave birth to it declared he
did not mean to authorize a proposition of new taxes, and it
appeared that some at least voted for the motion on that idea.
You will find, however, that a different construction has been
made by the head of that Department. Quere: Is not a tax on
horses a direct tax, and therefore unconstitutional in the form
proposed? Quere: How much will Virginia pay more than her
share of such a tax compared with Connecticut, and the South
ern States, generally, than the Eastern? Quere: Is it not rather
hard that those who are to have least of the benefit should con
574 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
stantly be saddled with most of the burden? Quere: If a new
tax and a direct tax is to be encountered, is it not mockery to
begin with one that is to raise forty odd thousand dollars only
as a fund for sinking the debt? Quere — but there would be no
end to the Queries arising out of the project.
Yours affectionately.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON.
PHILADELPHIA, Febr 23, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Since we had the pleasure of Col. Taylor's arri
val, I have left in his better hands the trust of keeping you sup
plied with whatever communications might interest or amuse
you. As the political scene here is, however, soon to be sus
pended, I cannot refuse myself the last opportunity I shall have
before a dispersion of the dramatis persons takes place of en
joying the pleasure I always feel in tendering my respects and
affection, as well as testifying the high value I set on your cor
respondence.
I seize the opportunity in this case with the more avidity, as
it permits me, at the same time, to tell you how much we have
been charmed with the successor to Col. R. H. Lee, and to en
treat your co-operation with a number of his other friends in
overcoming his repugnance to his present station. His talents,
during the fraction of time he has been on the federal theatre,
have been of such infinite service to the republican cause, and
such a terror to its adversaries, that his sudden retirement, on
which he is strongly bent, ought to be regarded as a public ca
lamity, and counterworked by all the means his friends can use.
We think it essential that he should be prevailed on to prolong
his stay in the Government at least through the next session,
which will form a critical epoch in our political History. Much
will depend on the turn our affairs will then take; and that will
depend not a little on the character which Virginia, in particu
lar, will exhibit in the National Councils. In this view, it is to
1793. LETTERS. 575
be desired that her weight of talents in one branch should cor
respond with her force of numbers in the other. The figure she
is to make in the latter, with respect to talents, will depend on
the issue of the approaching elections. We understand, in gen
eral, that there will be no scarcity of competitors; but our in
formation is too defective for an accurate conjecture of the re
sult. Your district has been said to abound more than any
other in candidates. Mr. C., I presume, is most distinguished
for parliamentary talents and activity, and on that score claims
a favorable wish, if the course he would be likely to take should
furnish no objection, of which those most in the knowledge of
his politics are the best judges.
You will have discovered from the newspapers that a pretty
interesting scrutiny has been started into the administration of
the Treasury Department.* The documents furnished shew
that there has been, at least, a very blameable irregularity and
secrecy in some particulars of it, and many appearances which
at least require explanation. With some, suspicions are car
ried very far; others resolve the whole that is wrong into fa
voritism to the Bank, <fcc.; whilst the partizans of the Secre
tary either see nothing amiss, or are willing to ascribe every
thing that is so to venial, if not laudable motives.
The January Packet has just arrived at New York. Her
budget is not yet fully opened to the public. The Government
of England, it is said, remains firm in the saddle, notwithstand
ing the spurs which Mr. Paine has so vigorously applied to the
people. Whether a war is to be forced with France is still
uncertain, though the affirmative is most countenanced by indi
vidual opinions. The arms of France continue to maintain their
reputation. She is threatened with a further trial of them by
all the efforts that Austria and Prussia, at least, can make. Spain
is disposed to be neutral, but would fain make the preservation
of Louis a condition. You will find by the inclosed paper that
his fate must ere this have been decided by an appeal to the
judgment of the nation.
* By Giles' Resolutions of 28tli February.
576 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
With every sentiment of esteem and attachment, I am, dear
sir, yours.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORASTGE, April 12, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 31 ult., and the preceding one
without date, have been received. The refusal of Dunlap in
the case you mention confirms the idea of a combined influence
against the freedom of the press. If symptoms of a dangerous
success in the experiment should shew themselves, it will be
necessary, before it be too late, to convey to the public through
the channels that remain open an explicit statement of the fact,
and a proper warning of its tendency. In the mean time, it is,
perhaps, best to avoid any premature denunciations that might
fix wavering or timid presses on the wrong side. You say that
the subject of the three millions of florins is to be revived.
Have you discovered in what mode; whether through the next
Congress or through the press; and if the latter, whether avow
edly or anonymously? I suspect that the President may not
be satisfied with the aspect under which that and other parts
of the fiscal administration have been left.
As far as I can learn, the people of this country continue to
be united and firm in the political sentiments expressed by their
Representatives. The re-election of all who were most decided
in those sentiments is among the proofs of the fact.
The only individual discontinued is the one who dissented
most from his colleagues. The vote at the election stood thus:
for R., 886; S., 403; W., 276. It is said that the singular vote
on assuming the balances gave the coup de grace to his popu
larity. We were told at Alexandria that if the member for
that district had been opposed, his election would have failed;
and at Fredericksburg, that a notice of G.7s vote on the resolu
tions of censure had nearly turned the scale against him. I
have seen and conversed with Mr. F. Walker. I think it im-
1793. LETTERS. 577
possible he can go otherwise than right. He tells me that J.
Cole, and not Clay, as in the newspapers, is elected for the Hal
ifax District. Hancock is the new member from the district
adjoining Moore, and Preston for that beyond him. I fell in
with Mr. Brackenridge on his way Jx> Kentucky. He had ad
verted to Greenup's late vote with indignation, and dropped
threats of its effect on his future pretensions.
The sympathy with the fate of Louis has found its way pretty
generally into the mass of our citizens; but relating merely to
the man, and not to the Monarch, and being derived from the
spurious accounts in the papers of his innocence, and the blood-
thirstyness of his enemies, I have not found a single instance in
which a fair statement of the case has not new-modelled the
sentiment. "If he was a Traitor, he ought to be punished as
well as another man." This has been the language of so many
plain men to me, that I am persuaded it will be found to ex
press the universal sentiment, whenever the truth shall be made
known.
Our fields continue to anticipate a luxuriant harvest. The
greatest danger is apprehended from too rapid a vegetation
under the present warm and moist weather. The night before
last it received a small check from a smart frost. The ther
mometer was down at 37, and we were alarmed for the fruit.
It appears, however, that no harm was done. We have at pres
ent the most plentiful prospect of every kind of it.
Will you be go good, in case an opportunity should offer, to
enquire of Doctor Logan as to the ploughs he was to have made
and sent to Mrs. House's, and to repay what may have been
advanced for those and two or three other articles that were
to be forwarded to Fredericksburg by water? I forgot to
make the proper arrangements before I left Philadelphia.
Adieu. Yours affectionately.
VOL. i. 37
WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, May 8th. 1703.
DEAR SIR, — Your last received was of the 28 April. The
receipt of all the preceding is verified by the uninterrupted
dates of the Gazettes inclosed. I anxiously wish that the re
ception of Genet may testify what I believe to be the real affec
tions of the people. It is the more desirable, as a seasonable
plum after the bitter pills which it seems must be administered.
Having neither the Treaty nor law of Nations at hand, I form
no opinion as to the stipulations of the former, or the precise
neutrality defined by the latter. I had always supposed that
the terms of the Treaty made some sort of difference, at least as
far as would consist with the Law of Nations, between France
and Nations not in Treaty, particularly Great Britain. I should
still doubt whether the term impartial, in the Proclamation, is
not stronger than was necessary, if not than was proper. Peace
is no doubt to be preserved at any price that honor and good
faith will permit. But it is no less to be considered that the
least departure from these will not only be most likely to end
in the loss of .peace, but is pregnant with every other evil that
could happen to us. In explaining our own engagements under
the Treaty with France, it would be honorable as well as just
to adhere to the sense that would at the time have been put on
them. The attempt to shuffle off the Treaty altogether, by
quibbling on Vattel, is equally contemptible for the meanness
and folly of it. If a change of Government is an absolution
from public engagements, why not from those of a domestic as
well as of a foreign nature; and what then becomes of public
debts, &c., <fec? In fact, the doctrine would perpetuate every
existing Despotism, by involving in a reform of the Government
a destruction of the social pact, an annihilation of property,
and a compleat establishment of the state of nature. What
most surprises me is, that such a proposition should have been
discussed.
Our weather has not been favorable of late, owing more to
want of sun than excess of rain. Vegetation of all sorts, even
1793. LETTERS. 579
the wheat, nevertheless continues to flourish; and the fruit hav
ing no longer anything to fear from frost, we are sure of good
crops of that agreeable article.
Yours always and affectionately.
Will you send me a copy of the little pamphlet advertised
under the title of an examination of the proceedings in the case
of the Secretary of the Treasury ?
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
May 27, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — I have received your letter, with the unsealed
one for Monroe, and have forwarded the latter. Your subse
quent one, which I calculate to have been written on the 12th
instant, came to hand two days ago. I feel for your situation,
but you must bear it. Every consideration, private as well as
public, requires a further sacrifice of your longings for the re
pose of Monticello. You must not make your final exit from
public life till it will be marked with justifying circumstances
which all good citizens will respect, and to which your friends
can appeal. At the present crisis, what would the former think?
what could the latter say? The real motives, whatever they
might be, would either not be admitted, or could not be ex
plained; and if they should be viewed as satisfactory at a future
day, the intermediate effects would not be lessened, and could
not be compensated. I am anxious to see what reception Genet
will find in Philadelphia. I hear that the fiscal party in Alex
andria was an over-match for those who wished to testify th<j
American sentiment. George Town, it is said, repaired the
omission. A public dinner was intended for him at Fredericks-
burg, but he passed with such rapidity that the compliment mis
carried. It would not be amiss if a knowledge of this would
in a proper mode get to him. I think it certain that he will be
misled if he takes either the fashionable cant of the cities, or
580 WORKS OF MADISON. 1703.
the cold caution of the Government, for the sense of the public;
and I am equally persuaded that nothing but the habit of im
plicit respect will save the Executive from blame, if, through
the mask of neutrality, a secret Anglomany should betray itself.
I forgot, when I requested your attention to my ploughs, to
ask the favor of you to pay for them, and to let me know the
amount of your several advances.
Yours always and affectionately.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, June 13, 1793.
MY DEAR SIR, — My last was of the 27 May. It enclosed,
among other things, a letter to the French Minister de 1'Inte-
rieure, in answer to one enclosing a Decree of the National
Assembly. On the propriety of the answer I wished your
freest judgment; and as the sending one at all may be rendered
by events improper, I must request the favor of you not to for
ward the letter if intelligence should confirm such to be the
state of things that it would be totally mal-apropos there.
Provided it be proper there, and consequently proper in itself,
I shall not trouble myself about any comments which the pub
lication attending all such things may produce here. The letter
preceding rny last, as well as the last, contained some other
papers which I wish to know have been received.
Your two last favors were of May 27 and June 2. The
latter confirms the apostasy of Duinouricz, hut relieves us from
the more alarming account of his being supported in it by the
army. Still, however, much is to be dreaded from the general
posture of things. Should they take a turn decidedly wrong, I
fear little regard will be paid to the limited object avowed by
the Austrian general in his first proclamation. In fact, if the
plan of Dumouriez had succeeded, it is probable that, under the
clause of the proclamation relating to an amendment of imper
fections in the Constitution of 1791, the form of the national,
1703. LETTERS. 581
sanction would have been obtained, as in the Restoration of
Charles II, to whatever establishment military despotism might
please to dictate. The only hope of France, next to the success
of her own efforts, seems to lie in the number and discordant
views of her combined enemies.
1 observe that the newspapers continue to criticise the Presi
dent's proclamation, and I find that some of the criticisms
excite the attention of dispassionate and judicious individuals
here. I have heard it remarked by such, with some surprise,
that the President should have declared the United States to
be neutral in the unqualified terms used, when we were so
notoriously and unequivocally under eventual engagements to
defend the American possessions of France. I have heard it
remarked, also, that the impartiality enjoined on the people was
as little reconcileable with their moral obligations as the un
conditional neutrality proclaimed by the Government is with
the express articles of the Treaty. It has been asked, also,
whether the authority of the Executive extended by any part
of the Constitution to a declaration of the Disposition of the
United States on the subject of war and peace ? I have been
mortified that on these points I could offer no bona fide explan
ations that ought to be satisfactory. On the last point, I must
own my surprise that such a prerogative should have been exer
cised. Perhaps I may have not attended to some parts of the
Constitution with sufficient care, or may have misapprehended
its meaning. But, as I have always supposed and still conceive,
a proclamation on the subject could riot properly go beyond a
declaration of the fact that the United States were at war or
peace, and an injunction of a suitable conduct on the citizens.
The right to decide the question whether the duty and in
terest of the United States require war or peace under any
given circumstances, and whether their disposition be towards
the one or the other, seems to be essentially and exclusively
involved in the right vested in the Legislature of declaring
war in time of peace, and in the President and Senate of
making peace in time of war. Did no such view of the subject
present itself in the discussions of the Cabinet ? I am ex-
582 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
tremely afraid that the President may not be sufficiently aware
of the snares that may be laid for his good intentions by men
whose politics at bottom are very different from his own. An
assumption of prerogatives not clearly found in the Constitu
tion, and having the appearance of being copied from a monar
chical model, will beget animadversion equally mortifying to
him and disadvantageous to the Government. Whilst animad
versions of this sort can be plausibly ascribed to the spirit of
party, the force of them may not be felt. But all his real
friends will be anxious that his public conduct may bear the
strictest scrutiny of future times, as well as of the present day;
and all such friends of the Constitution would be doubly pained
at infractions of it under auspices that may consecrate the evil
till it be incurable.
*#******
The great danger of misconstruing the sentiment of Virginia
with regard to liberty and France is from the heretical tone of
conversation in the Towns on the post roads. The voice of the
country is universally and warmly right. If the popular dis
position could be collected and carried into effect, a most im
portant use might be made of it in obtaining contributions of
the necessaries called for by the danger of famine in France.
Unfortunately, the disaffection of the Towns, which alone could
give effect to a plan for the purpose, locks up the public grati
tude and beneficence.
Our fine prospects in the wheat fields have been severely
injured by the weather for some time past. A warm and moist
spring had pushed the wheat into rather a luxuriant state. It
had got safe into the head, however, and with tolerable weather
would have ripened into a most exuberant crop. Just as the
grain was in a milky state the weather became wetter^ than
ever, and has continued raining or cloudy almost constantly
since. This has brought on a little of the rust, and pretty
universally in this quarter a decay of the ear called the Rot.
Should the weather be ever so favorable henceforward, a con
siderable proportion will be lost; and if unfavorable, the loss
may be almost entire. We are at this moment both excessively
1703. LETTERS. 583
wet and hot. The forwardest wheat is turning fast, and may
bo nearly safe. The generality is not sufficiently advanced to
be out of danger of future, or beyond the effect of past causes.
The Kentucky coffee trees in this neighborhood are too
young to bear for some years. I will do all I can to get the
seed for Bartram from Kentucky as soon as possible.
Adieu.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, June 17, 1793.
MY DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 9th I received late last
night by a messenger from the neighbourhood of Fredericks-
burg, who returns early this morning. I have therefore not had
time to read the papers inclosed in it, and even the letter itself
but hastily. Its silence as to France is a cordial to the fears we
have been kept in by the newspapers and reports here, of hear
ing every moment of her final catastrophe. If the army had
stox)d by Dumouriez's treason, as was the uncontradicted idea
for a time, scarce a possibility seemed to remain of any other
result. I fell in two days ago with French Strother, who was
returning circuitously from Richmond. He had seen W. C.
Nicholas on his way, and spoke of him as among the decided
friends of the French cause. In general, I discovered that his
testimony and conviction corroborated the fact that the people
of this Country, where you cannot trace the causes of particular
exceptions, are unanimous and explicit in their sympathy with
the Revolution. He was in Richmond during the session of the
Court of the United States, and heard the opinions of the Judges
on the subject of the British debts. Jay's, he says, was, that the
depreciated payments into the Treasury discharged the debtor,
but leaves the State liable to the creditor. It would be a hard
tax on those who have suffered themselves by the depreciation
to bear such a burden. It would be severely felt by those who
put money into the Treasury on loan, and have received certifi-
584 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
cates by the scale, and those again further reduced by the mod
ifications of the assumption.
**********
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ORANGE, June 19, 1793.
DEAR SIR,— ********
Every Gazette I see (except that of the United States) exhib
its a spirit of criticism on the Anglified complexion charged on
the Executive politics. I regret extremely the position into
which the President has been thrown. The unpopular cause of
Anglomany is openly laying claim to him. His enemies, mask
ing themselves under the popular cause of France, are playing
off the most tremendous batteries on him. The proclamation
was, in truth, a most unfortunate error. It wounds the national
honor, by seeming to disregard the stipulated duties to France.
It wounds the popular feelings, by a seeming indifference to the
cause of liberty. And it seems to violate the forms and spirit
of the Constitution, by making the Executive Magistrate the
organ of the disposition, the duty, and the interest of the nation,
in relation to war and peace — subjects appropriated to other
departments of the Government. It is mortifying to the real
friends of the President that his fame and his influence should
have been unnecessarily made to depend in any degree on polit
ical events in a foreign quarter of the Globe; and particularly
so that he should have anything to apprehend from the success
of liberty in another country, since he owes his pre-eminence to
the success of it in his own. If France triumphs, the ill-fated
proclamation will be a millstone, which would sink any other
character, and will force a struggle even on his.
1793. LETTERS. 585
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
June 29, 1793.
MY DEAR SIR,— * * * * *
My last was of the 19th. I have since seen several of the
National Gazettes, which continue to teem with animadversions
on the Proclamation. My opinion of it was expressed in my
last. I foresee that a communication of it will make a part of
the speech to the next Congress, and that it will bring on some
embarrassments. Much will depend on events in Europe; and
it is to be regretted that the popularity of the President or the
policy of our Government should ever be staked on such contin
gencies. I observe that our vessels are frequently and inso
lently seized and searched for French goods. Is not this com
plained of by our own people as a breach of the modern law of
nations; and whilst British goods are protected by the neutral
ity of our bottoms, will not remonstrances come from France
on the subject?
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
July 18. 1793.
DEAR SIR, — The season of harvest having suspended all in
tercourse with Fredericksburg, your favor of the 7th instant
has but just been received. That of the 29th ult. came to hand
at the same time. The preceding one of the 23d would have
been acknowledged before, but for the cause above mentioned.
The present is the first opportunity, and, like several others,
leaves me but a moment to prepare for it.
I have read over the subject which you recommend to my
attention. It excites equally surprise and indignation, and ought
certainly to be taken notice of by some one who can do it jus
tice. In my present disposition, which is perfectly alienated
from such things, and in my present situation, which deprives
me of some material facts and many important lights, the task
586 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
would be in bad hands if I were otherwise better qualified for
it. I am in hopes of finding that some one else has undertaken
if. In the mean time, I will feel my own pulse, and if nothing
uprears, may possibly try to supply the omission.
Return my thanks to Dr. Logan for the pamphlet, and also
for the ploughs arrived at Frederick sburg, though, by a singular
succession of errors and accidents, they are still on the road
between this and that. Your account of Genet is dreadful. He
must be brought right, if possible. His folly will otherwise do
mischief which no wisdom can repair. Is there no one through
whom he can be effectually counselled? De la Forest is said
to be able, and if himself rightly disposed, as I have understood
him to be, might, perhaps, be of great use. The result of the
Harvest is perhaps less favorable than I once supposed. I hope,
however, the crop of wheat, as to quantity at least, will be tol
erable. Of the quality, I have great apprehensions. The sea
son for getting it in was as bad as was possible. Every other
article of our cultivation is prosperous, and will help to make
amends if the rest of the year be favorable. The corn is partic
ularly luxuriant in all quarters.
Yours always and affec7.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
July 22? 1793.
DEAR SIR, — My last was on the 18th, and acknowledged yours
of the 30th Ult. and 7th instant. I had not then time to men
tion that W. C. Nicholas passed an evening with me on his way
home from his brother's, where he had met Edmund Randolph
on his return to Philadelphia. From his conversation, his sen
timents are right and firm on the French Revolution, and in
other respects I discovered no symptoms of heresy. He spoke
particularly and emphatically of the unquestionable unanimity
of the Country in favor of the cause of France. I have no doubt
that he held this language to every one, and, consequently, that
1793. LETTERS. 587
the impressions depending on him have been rightly made. I
could not but infer from all that he said with regard to Ed.
Randolph that he considered the sentiments of him on French
affairs as similar to his own, and to such as were expressed by
himself. Some allowance, however, in all such conversations,
must be made for the politeness or policy of respecting the
known sentiments of the party to which they are addressed or
communicated. He had seen the first part of Hamilton's publi
cation,* and spoke of it as from that quarter. He expressed
some surprise at the doctrines and cabinet efforts of the author,
as he had learnt them from E. Randolph, and seemed unable to
account for some things without suspecting Hamilton of a secret
design to commit and sacrifice the President. His ideas on this
subject must have grown out of the language of E. Randolph, if
not actually copied from it.
I have read over, with some attention, the printed papers you
inclosed, and have made notes towards a discussion of the sub
ject. I find myself, however, under some difficulties: first, from
my not knowing how far concessions have been made on partic
ular points behind the cur'tain. 2dly. From my not knowing how
far the President considers himself as actually committed with
respect to some doctrines. 3dly. From the want of some lights
from the law of nations as applicable to the construction of the
Treaty. 4th. From my ignorance of some material facts, such
as whether any call was made by Great Britain, or any other
Belligerent power, for the intentions of the United States prior
to the proclamation; whether France was heard on the subject
of her constructions and pretensions under the Treaty; whether
the Executive had before them any authentic documents, or en
tered into any discussions on the question whether the war be
tween France and Great Britain is offensive or defensive, &c.
I do not mean that all such information ought to be brought
into the controversy, though some of it is necessary, and some
more might be used to advantage. But all or most of it seems
proper, in order to avoid vulnerable assertions or suppositions,
* Pacificus.
588 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
which might give occasion to triumphant replies. If an answer
to the publication be undertaken, it ought to be both a solid and
a prudent one. None but intelligent readers will enter into
such a controversy, and to their minds it ought principally to
be accommodated. If you can lay your hands on the explana
tory publication of the real object of the Proclamation referred
to in your last, or the preceding one, send it to me. The one I
had is no longer in my hands. I expect to-day to receive your
letter next in date to the 7th.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
July 30, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — My last was of the 22d instant. I have since re
ceived yours covering the paper now returned, that covering
the report of the Commissioners of accounts between the United
States and the particular States, and that of the 21st instant.
The intermediate one of the 14th was left by mistake in a secure
place by the person who was to bring it up from Fredericksburg,
and is not yet arrived. The delay has been inconvenient, as it
deprives me of part of the publication, which I wish to see in all
its parts before I formed a regular view of any. As I intimated
in my last, I have forced myself into the task of a reply. I can
truly say I find it the most grating one I ever experienced; and
the more so, as I feel at every step I take the want of counsel
on some points of delicacy, as well as of information as to sun
dry matters of fact. I shall be still more sensible of the latter
want when I get to the attack on French proceedings, and per
haps to the last topic proposed by the writer, if I ever do get to
it. As yet I have but roughly and partially gone over the first;
and being obliged to proceed in scraps of time, with a distaste
to the subject, and a distressing lassitude from the excessive and
continued heat of the season, I cannot say when I shall finish
even that. One thing that particularly vexes me is, that I fore
know, from the prolixity and pertinacity of the writer, that the
business will not be terminated by a single fire, and, of course,
1793. LETTERS. 589
that I must return to the charge in order to prevent a triumph
without a victory.
Do you know what is the idea of France with regard to the
defensive quality of the guaranty, and of the criterion between
offensive and defensive war, which I find differently defined by dif
ferent jurists; also, what are the ideas of the President on these
points? I could lay my course with more advantage through
some other parts of the subject if I could also know how far he
considers the Proclamation as expressing a neutrality, in the
sense given to that term, or how far he approves the vindication
of it on that ground.
I am sorry to find the journey to Virginia, from which useful
lessons were hoped, ending in a confirmation of errors. I can
only account for it by supposing the public sentiment to have
been collected from tainted sources, which ought to have sug
gested to a cautious and unbiassed mind the danger of confi
ding in them. The body of the people are unquestionably at
tached to the Union, and friendly. to the Constitution; but that
they have no dissatisfaction at the measures and spirit of the
Government, I consider as notoriously untrue. I am the more
surprised at the misconception of our Friend, as the two latest
sources consulted, the two brothers, I mean, are understood to
be both of them rightly disposed, as well as correctly informed.
I have got my ploughs at last. They are fine ones, and much
admired. Repeat my thanks to Dr Logan, if you have an oppor
tunity and think of it. The patent plough is worth your look
ing at, if you should visit his farm. You will see your theory
of a mould-board more nearly realized than in any other in
stance, and with the advantage of having the iron wing, which
in common bar shares or in great lies useless under the wood,
turned up into the sweep of the board, and relieving it from the
brunt of the friction. By fixing the colter, which is detached,
to the point of the share, it will, I think, be nearly complete. I
propose to have one so constructed. The detached form may
answer best in old, clear ground, but will not stand the shocks
of our rough and rooty land, especially in the hands of our
ploughmen.
590 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
Little wheat having been yet tried in bread, I cannot say how
the quality will turn out. The more I see and hear of it, the
more I fear it will be worse than was at first supposed. The
corn suffers now for want of rain, but appearances as to that
article are, on the whole, very flattering. The worst effect of
the dry weather at present felt is the extreme hardness of the
earth, which makes ploughing, particularly in fallow land, but
barely possible. So many heavy rains on ground wet for six
months, succeeded by the present hot spell, has almost beat it
and baked it into brick.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
August 5, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Your account of the ticklish situation with re
spect to Genet in the 14th is truly distressing. His folly would
almost beget suspicions of the worst sort. The consequences
you point out, in case matters come to an extremity, are so cer
tain and obvious, that it is hardly conceivable he can be blind
to them. Something must be done, if possible, to get him into
a better train. I find by the paper of the 27, that Pacificus has
entered, and I suppose closed, his last topic. I think it a feeble
defence of one important point I am striking at, viz: the ma
king a declaration, in his sense of it, before the arrival of Genet.
I argue that the act does not import a decision against the cas.
fed., from the manifest impropriety of doing so, on the ground
that France was the aggressor in every war, without, at least,
waiting for evidence as to the question of fact who made the
first attack, admitting, for the sake of argument, that to bo the
intention.
*******
1793. LETTERS. 591
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Aug. llth, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Yours of August 3d has just come to hand. All
the preceding have been acknowledged. I am extremely mor
tified, in looking for the Key to the Cypher, to find that I left
it in Philadelphia. You must therefore repeat anything that
may be of use still to be known, particularly anything that may
relate to the time of your leaving Philadelphia, which I wish to
know as long as possible before it takes place. The task on
which you have put me must be abridged, so as not to go beyond
that period. You will see that the first topic is not yet com
pleted. I hope the 2d and 3d, to wit, the meaning of the Treaty
and the obligations of gratitude, will be less essential. The
former is particularly delicate, and tho' I think it may be put
in a light that would reflect ignominy on the author of P., yet
I had rather not meddle with the subject, if it could be avoided.
I cannot say when I shall be able to take up those two parts
of the job. Just as I was embarking in the general subject, I
received from the reputed Author of Franklin a large pamphlet,
written by him against the fiscal system, particularly the Bank,
which I could not but attend to. It is put on a footing that re
quires me to communicate personally with Monroe, whom I
ought to have seen before this, as the publication of the work
is to be contrived for the Author. It really has merit, always
for its ingenuity, generally for its solidity, and is enriched with
many fine strokes of imagination, and a continued vein of pleas
antry and keen satire, that will sting deeply. I have received
a letter from the Author, wishing to hear from rne. I must,
therefore, take a ride as far asCharlottesville,as soon as I make
out the next packet for you, and suspend the residue of the busi
ness till I return. I shall endeavour in my absence to fulfil a
promise to Wilson Nicholas, which will lengthen the suspen
sion. I forward to F. a copy of the little thing of Lfl Ch.; the
last sentence is struck out as not necessary, and which may,
perhaps, wound too indiscriminately certain characters not at
present interested in supporting public corruptions.
502 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793
The paper for J. F. conld not otherwise get to him than with
your aid. You must therefore take the trouble of having it
handed into the Post Office, whence the penny post will take it.
unless you can do it at some shorter hand. I wish you would
look over what is said critically, and if you think there be any
thing of importance wrong, or that may do more harm than
good, that you will either erase it, where that will not break the
sense, or arrest the whole till I can make the correction. De
lay, I know, is bad; but vulnerable parts that would be seized
for victories and triumphs would be worse. I beg you, also, to
attend particularly to those passages slightly marked with a
pencil: the first, the declaration of the principles and sentiments
of the Author; the 2<l, beginning with, "Writers such as Locke
and Montesquieu," £e., to the pencil mark in the IT. 3'1. The
quotation from the Federalist. If you think the first had better
be omitted, it can come out without leaving the least gap; so
can the 2l. My doubts as to that proceed from the danger of
turning the controversy too much into the wilderness of books.
I use Montesquieu, also, from memory, tho7, 1 believe, without in
accuracy. The 3d can also come out without affecting the piece;
and I wish you to erase it, if you think the most scrupulous del
icacy, conjecturing the Author, could disapprove it. One N".
more, or two short Nos., will close the first topic and supersede
the last. They will be sent as soon as finished and copied.
These would have been sent somewhat sooner, but for the delay
caused by the last circumstance.
The drought has done irreparable injury to the corn in many
parts of the country. It has been interrupted, within a few days
past, by a pretty extensive rain. We shared in it here but
scantily. I understand that at Charlottesville, which had been
favored with preceding ones, it was plentiful. Be good enough
to contrive an excuse to Mr. Randolph, at Monticello, for my
not forwarding the Gazettes latterly, if you have not already
thought of it. I know not how to apologize myself, and shall
feel some awkwardness, as I shall not carry them when I go
into his neighborhood.
1793 LETTERS. 593
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
August 20th, 1793.
DEAR SIK, — Your favor of the llth came to hand the day
before yesterday. I am just setting off to Monroe's, and hope
to prevent the trouble of an express from Monticello with the
letter referred to in it. I have already acquainted you with
the immediate object of this visit. I have just received a line
from him expressing a particular desire to communicate with
me, and reminding me that he sets off the last of this month for
the Courts, and of course will be occupied for some days before
with preparations. This hurries me; and has forced me to
hurry what will be inclosed herewith, particularly the last N°.,
5, which required particular care in the execution. I shall be
obliged to leave that, and the greater part of the other Nos., to
be transcribed, sealed up, and forwarded in my absence. It is
certain, therefore, that many little errors will take place. As
I cannot let them be detained till I return, I must pray you to
make such corrections as will not betray your hand. In point
ing and erasures, not breaking the sense, there will be no diffi
culty. I have already requested you to make free with the
latter. You will find more quotations from the Federalist.
Dash them out, if you think the most squeamish critic could ob
ject to them. In N°. 5 I suggest to your attention a long pre
liminary remark, into which I suffered myself to be led before
I was aware of the prolixity. As the piece is full long without
it, it had probably better be lopped off. The propriety of the
two last paragraphs claims your particular criticism. I would
not have hazarded them without the prospect of your revisal,
and, if proper, your erasure. That which regards Spain, &c.,
may contain unsound reasoning, or be too delicate to be touched
in a newspaper. The propriety of the last, as to the President's
answers to addressers, depends on the truth of the fact, of which
you can judge. I am not sure that I have seen all the answers.
My last was of the 12th, and covered the two first Nos. of Hel-
vidius. I am assured that it was put into the post office on
Tuesday evening. It ought, therefore, to have reached you on
VOL. i. 38
594 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
Saturday last. As an opportunity to Fredericksburg may hap
pen before more than the 3d N°. may be transcribed, it is possi
ble that this may be accompanied by that alone.
The drought has been dreadful to the Corn. There has been
no rain, making any sensible impression, for seven weeks of the
hottest weather of the hottest year remembered, and at the very
period critical to that crop. Yesterday afternoon we had a
small shower, and more seemed to be passing around us. No
weather, however, can now possibly add 5 per cent, to the pros
pect. There cannot be more than half crops made generally,
and much less in many places.
Yr-s aff*
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
AT COL. MONROE'S, Aug. 22d, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — I left home the day before yesterday, which was
the date of my last; it was to be accompanied by 2, and perhaps,
tho' not probably, 3 additional Numbers of Helvidius. The
last, to wit, N°. 5, contained two paragraphs, the one relating
to the accession of Spain and Portugal to the war against
France, the other to the answers of the President to the ad
dresses on his Proclamation, which I particularly requested you
to revise, and, if improper, to erase. The whole piece was more
hurried than it ought to have been, and these paragraphs penned
in the instant of my setting out, which had been delayed as late
as would leave enough of the day for the journey. I mention
this as the only apology for the gross error of fact committed
with respect to the term neutrality, which, it is asserted, the
President has not used in any of his answers. I find, on look
ing into them here, that he used it in the first of all, to the Mer
chants of Philadelphia, and in one other, out of three which I
have examined. I must make my conditional request, therefore,
an absolute one, as to that passage. If he should forbear the
use of the term in all his answers subsequent to the perversion
1793. LETTERS. 595
of it by Pacificus, it will strengthen the argument used; but that
must be a future and contingent consideration. Mr. D. R. was
not arrived yesterday. The family here well; so, also, at Mon-
ticello, as you will, no doubt, learn from the spot itself.
Adieu. Yrs afftly.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
August 27th, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — I wrote you a few lines by the last post from this
place, just to apprise you of my movement to it. I have since
seen the Richmond and the Philada papers, containing, the
latter, the certificate of Jay & King, and the publications
relating to the subject of it; the former, the proceedings at
Richmond, dictated, no doubt, by the cabal at Philad*. It is
painful to observe the success of the management for putting
Wythe at the head of them. I under s*tand, however, that a
considerable revolution has taken place in his political senti
ments, under the influence of some disgusts he has received
from the State Legislature. By what has appeared, I discover
that a determination has been formed to drag before the public
the indiscretions of Genet, and turn them and the popularity
of the President to the purposes driven at. Some impression
will be made here, of course. A plan is evidently laid in
Richmond to render it extensive. If an early and well-digested
effort for calling out the real sense of the people be not made,
there is room to apprehend they may, in many places, be misled.
This has employed the conversation of - - and myself.
We shall endeavor at some means of repelling the danger, par
ticularly by setting on foot expressions of the public mind in
important counties, and under the auspices of respectable
names. I have written, with this view, to Caroline, and have
suggested a proper train of ideas, and a wish that Mr. P. would
patronize the measure. Such an example would have great
effect. Even if it should not be followed, it would be con-
596 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
sidered as an authentic specimen of the Country temper, and
would put other places on their guard against the snares that
may be laid for them. The want of opportunities, and our
ignorance of trustworthy characters, will circumscribe our
efforts in this way to a very narrow compass. The rains for
several days have delayed my trip to the gentleman named in
my last. Unless to-morrow should be a favorable day, I shall
be obliged to decline it altogether. In two or three days I
shall be in a situation to receive and answer your letters, as
usual. That by Mr. D. R. has not reached me.
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Sepf 2d, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — I have received your two favors of the llth ult.
by Mr. D. R., and of the 18th by post.
The conduct of Genet, as developed in these, and in his pro
ceedings as exhibited in the newspapers, is as unaccountable as
it is distressing. The effect is beginning to be strongly felt
here, in the surprise and disgust of those who are attached to
the French cause, and viewed this Minister as the instrument
for cementing, instead of alienating, the two Republics. These
sensations are powerfully reinforced by the general and habit
ual veneration for the President. The Anglican party is busy,
as you may suppose, in making the worst of everything, and in
turning the public feelings against France, and thence in favor
of England. The only antidote for their poison is to distin
guish between the nation and its agent; between principles and
events; and to impress the well-meaning with the fact that the
enemies of France and of Liberty are at work to lead them
from their honorable connection with these into the arms, and
ultimately into the Government, of Great Britain. If the
genuine sense of the people could be collected on the several
points comprehended in the occasion, the calamity would be
greatly alleviated, if not absolutely controuled. But this is
scarcely possible. The country is too much uninformed, and
1793. LETTERS. 597
too inert to speak for itself; and the language of the Towns,
which are generally directed by an adverse interest, will insid
iously inflame the evil. It is, however, of such infinite import
ance to our own Government, as well as to that of France, that
the real sentiments of the people here should be understood,
that something ought to be attempted on that head. I inclose
a copy of a train of Ideas sketched on the first rumour of the
war between the Executive and Genet, and particularly sug
gested by the Richmond Resolutions, as a groundwork for
those who might take the lead in County meetings. It was in
tended that they should be modified in every particular, ac
cording to the state of information and the particular temper
of the place. A copy has been sent to Caroline, with a hope
that Mr. Pendleton might find it not improper to step forward;
another is gone to the District Court at Staunton in the hands
of Monroe, who carried a letter from me on the subject to A.
Stuart; and a third will be for consideration at the district
court at Charlottesville. If these examples should be set,
there may be a chance of like proceedings elsewhere; and in
themselves they will be respectable specimens of the principles
and sensations of the agricultural, which is the commanding
part of the Society. I am not sanguine, however, that the
effort will succeed. If it does not, the State Legislatures, and
the federal also, if possible, must be induced to take up the
matter in its true point of view. Monroe and myself read with
attention your despatch by D. R., and had much conversation
on what passed between you and the President. It appeared
to both of us that a real anxiety was marked to retain you in
office; that over and above other motives, it was felt that your
presence and implied sanction might be a necessary shield
against certain criticisms from certain quarters; that the de
parture of the only counsellor possessing the confidence of the
Republicans would be a signal for new and perhaps very dis
agreeable attacks; that in this point of view the respectful and
conciliatory language of the President is worthy of particular
attention, and that it affords a better hope than has existed of
your being able to command attention, and to moderate the
598 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
predominant tone. We agreed in opinion, also, that whilst this
end is pursued, it would be wise to make as few concessions as
possible that might embarrass the free pursuit of measures
which may be dictated by Republican principles, and required
by the public good. In a word, we think you ought to make
the most of the value we perceive to be placed on your partici
pation in the Executive counsels. I am extremely glad to find
that you are to remain another quarter. The season will be
more apropos in several respects; and it will prevent any co
operation which a successor might be disposed to make towards
a final breach with France. I have little hope that you will
have one whose policy will have the same healing tendency
with yours. I foresee, I think, that it will be either King, if
Johnson is put at the Treasury, or E. Rutledge. if Wolcott
should be put there. I am glad the President rightly infers my
determination from antecedent circumstances, so as to free me
from imputations in his mind connected with the present state
of things. Monroe is particularly solicitous that you should
take the view of your present position and opportunities above
suggested. He sees so forcibly the difficulty of keeping the
feelings of the people as to Genet distinct from those due to
his constituents, that he can hardly prevail on himself, abso
lutely and openly, to abandon him. I concur with him that it
ought to be done no farther than is forced upon us; that general
silence is better than open denunciation and crimination; and
that it is not unfair to admit the apologetic influence of the
errors in our own government, which may have inflamed the
passions which now discolor every object to his eye — such as
the refusal, in the outset of the government, to favor the com
merce of France more than that of Great Britain; the unfor
tunate appointment of Gouv. Morris to the former; the language
of the proclamation; the attempts of Pacificus to explain away
and dissolve the Treaty; the notoriety of the author, and the
appearance of its being an informal manifestation of the views
of the Executive, &c.
I paid a short visit to Mr. W. C. Nicholas, as I proposed.
He talks like a sound Republican and sincere friend to the
1793. SKETCH, ETC. 599
French cause, in every respect. I collected from him that
Edmund Randolph had admitted to him that he drew the pro
clamation; that he had been attacked on it at Chatham by Mr.
Jos. Jones; that he reprobated the comment of Pacificus, &c.
W. C. N. observed that Hamilton had taken the Executive in
by gaining phrases, of which he could make the use he has
done.
* # # * * # #
I hope you have received the five Nos. of Helvidius. I must
resume the task, I suppose, in relation to the Treaty and grati
tude. I feel, however, so much awkwardness under the new
posture of things, that I shall deliberate whether a considerable
postponement, at least, may not be advisable.
I found, also, on my return, a house full of particular friends,
who will stay some weeks, and receive and return visits, from
which I cannot decently exclude myself. If I should perceive
it impossible or improper to continue the publication, so as to
avail myself of the channel used to the press, I shall suspend it
till I see and talk with you on the whole matter.
Adieu.
Sketch. — [Referred to in p. 597.]
It being considered that it is at all times the right, and at cer
tain periods the duty, of the people to declare their principles
and opinions on subjects which concern the national interest;
that at the present conjuncture this duty is rendered the more in
dispensable by the prevailing practice of declaratory resolutions,
in places where the inhabitants can more easily assemble and
consult than in the country at large, and where interests, views,
and political opinions, different from those of the great body of
the people, may happen to predominate, whence there may be
danger of unfair and delusive inferences concerning the true
and general sense of the people; it being also considered that,
under the disadvantage a great proportion of the people [suffer?]
in their distant and dispersed situation, from the want of timely
600 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
and correct knowledge of particular incidents, and the conduct
of particular persons connected with public transactions, it is
most prudent and safe to wait with a decent reserve for full
and satisfactory information in relation thereto, and in public
declarations to abide by those great principles, just sentiments,
and established truths, which can be little affected by personal
or transitory occurrences:
Therefore, as- the sense of the present Meeting,
Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States ought
to be firmly and vigilantly supported against all direct or in
direct attempts that may be made to subvert or violate the
same:
That as it is the interest of the United States to cultivate the
preservation of peace by all just and honorable means, the Ex
ecutive authority ought to be supported in the exercise of its
Constitutional powers and functions for enforcing the laws ex
isting for that purpose:
That the eminent virtues and services of our illustrious fel
low-citizen, George Washington, President of the United States,
entitle him to the highest respect and lasting gratitude of his
Country, whose peace, liberty, and safety, must ever remind it
of his distinguished agency in promoting the same:
That the eminent and generous aids rendered to the United
States in their arduous struggle for liberty by the French
Nation ought ever to be remembered and acknowledged with
gratitude, and that the spectacle exhibited by the severe and
glorious contest in which it is now engaged for its own liberty,
ought and must be peculiarly interesting to the wishes, the
friendship, and the sympathy of the people of America:
That all attempts which may be made, in whatever form or
disguise, to alienate the good will of the people of America
from the cause of liberty and republican Government in France,
have a tendency to weaken their affection to the free principles
of their own Government, and manifest designs which ought to
be narrowly watched and seasonably counteracted:
That such attempts to disunite Nations mutually attached to
the cause of liberty, and viewed with unfriendly eyes by all who
1793. LETTERS. 601
hate it, ought more particularly to be reprobated at the present
crisis, when such vast efforts are making by a combination of
Princes and Nobles to crush an example that may open the eyes
of all mankind to their natural and political rights:
That a dissolution of the honorable and beneficial connection
between the United States and France would obviously tend to
forward a plan of connecting them with Great Britain, as one
great, leading step towards assimilating our Government to the
form and spirit of the British Monarchy; and that this appre
hension is greatly strengthened by the active zeal displayed by
persons disaffected to the American Revolution, and by others
of known monarchical principles, in propagating prejudices
against the French Nation and Revolution.
TO JAMES MONROE.
September 15, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Since I parted from you I have had several let
ters from Mr. Jefferson, in which all the facts involving Genet
are detailed. His conduct has been that of a madman. He is
abandoned even by his votaries in Philadelphia. Hutchison
declares that he has ruined the Republican interest in that
place. I wish I could forward the details I have received, but
they are too confidential to be hazarded by the casual convey
ance to which this is destined. They ought, however, to have
no other effect on the steps to be pursued than to caution against
founding any of them on the presumed inculpability of Genet.
As he has put himself on such unjustifiable ground, perhaps it
is fortunate that he has done it in so flagrant a manner. It will
be the more easily believed here that he has acted against the
sense of his constituents, and the latter will be the less likely
to support him in his errors. I find that the Anglicans and
Monocrats, from Boston to Philadelphia, are betrayed by the
occasion into the most palpable discovery of their real views.
They already lose sight of the Agent, and direct their hostilities
immediately against France. This will do good, if proper use
602 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
be made of it. You will see by the late papers that Great
Britain has made war on our commerce, by intercepting uncon-
traband articles bound to unblockaded ports, and taking them
to herself at her own price. This must bring on a crisis with
us unless the order be revoked on our demand, of which .there
is not the least probability. I understand that the malignant
fever in Philadelphia is raging still with great violence, and all
the inhabitants who can are flying from it in every direction.
The mortality at first was in the ratio of 3 out of 4. It had
been reduced to 1 out of 3. Mr. Jefferson is in raptures with
the performance of our friend in Caroline. He means to have
it appear about two weeks before the meeting of Congress.
This will not coincide with the plan of the Author, who wished
its publication to be in time for the meeting of the State Legis
lature. Think of this, and let me know your ideas.
On my return home I found a letter from Mr. Jones, which I
enclose, as the shortest [way?] of making you acquainted with
what he wishes. With all due respect to Mrs. Monroe,
I am, yours affectionately.
TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ORAXGE, Oct. 24th, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Your letter of the 14th Inst. did not arrive till
Sunday night, and being not then at home, I did not receive it
till last night. I now lose not a moment in complying with its
request; tho' I foresee it cannot reach you before you will have
left Mount Vernon, and before you will probably have made up
a final determination on some, if not all the questions proposed.
These are:
1. Ought the President to summon Congress at a time and
place to be named by him ? or,
2. If the President has no power to change the place, ought
he to abstain from all interposition whatever ? or,
3. Ought he to notify the obstacle to a meeting at Philada,
1793. LETTERS. 603
state the defect of a regular provision for the exigency, and
suggest his purpose of repairing to a place deemed most eligi
ble for a meeting in the first instance ?
4. What is the place liable to the fewest objections?
From the best investigation I have been able to make in so
short a time, the first expedient, tho' most adequate to the exi
gency, seems to require an authority that does not exist under
the Constitution and laws of the U. S.
The only passage in the Constitution in which such an au
thority could be sought is that which says: " The President
may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either
of them.'' But the obvious import of these terms is satisfied by
referring them to the time only at which the extraordinary
meeting is summoned. If, indeed, they included a discretion as
to the place as well as the time, it would be unnecessary to re
cur to the expedient of altering the time in order to get at an
alteration of the place. The President could as well alter the
place without interfering with the time, as alter the time with
out interfering with the place. Besides, the effect of a change
as to place would not be in all respects similar to a change as
to time. In the latter case, an extraordinary Session, running
into the period of an ordinary one, would allow the ordinary
one to go on under all the circumstances prescribed by law. In
the former case, this would not happen. The ordinary part of
the Session would be held out of the place prescribed for it,
unless prevented by a positive act for returning to it.
The obvious meaning here assigned to the phrase is confirmed
by other parts of the Constitution. It is well known that much
jealousy has always appeared in everything connected with the
residence of the General Government. The solicitude of the
Constitution to appease this jealousy is particularly marked by
the lsfc paragraph of section 6th, and the 3d paragraph of section
the 7th, of Article I. The light in which these paragraphs must
be viewed cannot well be reconciled with a supposition that it
was meant to entrust the executive alone with any power on
that subject.
Laying aside the Constitution and consulting the law, the ex
604 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
pedicnt seems to be no less inadmissible. The act of July, 1790,
" establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Govern
ment of the U. S," cannot be understood to leave any such
power in the President. And as the power, if exercised so as
to interfere with the provision relating to the temporary seat,
might beget an alarm, lest, in the hands of a President unfriendly
to the permanent seat, it should be turned on some pretext or
other against that arrangement, prudential reasons unite with
legal ones for avoiding the precedent.
The 2'1 mode of treating the difficulty would seem to be best,
if the danger at Germantown were out of the way. A volun
tary resort to that place might be relied on; and the members
of the Legislature, finding themselves together and with the
President, might legalize the necessary steps; or, if that should
be thought wrong, might deliberate and decide for themselves
on the emergency. But as the danger might defeat such an ex
pectation, it results that the
3d expedient is called for by the occasion; and being sufficient,
is all that can be justified by it.
The 4th point to be considered is the delicate one of naming
the place.
In deciding this point, it would seem proper to attend, fir~st,
to the risk of the infection; this consideration lies, as you ob
serve, against Trenton and Wilmington. Secondly, to Northern
and Southern jealousies. This applies to N. York and Annap
olis. Thirdly, to the disposition of Pennsyla; which is entitled
to some regard, as well by her calamity as by the circumstance
of her being in possession of the Government.
In combining these considerations, we are led to look for some
place within the State of Pennsyla not materially different from
Philada in relation to North and South. Lancaster arid Read
ing appear to have occurred. With the former I am but little
acquainted. The latter I never saw. If the object of the Ex
ecutive should be merely to put Congress in the most neutral
situation possible for choosing a place for themselves, as would
have been the case at Germantown, Reading seems to have the
better pretensions. If the object should be to provide a place,
1793. LETTERS. 605
at once marking an impartiality in the Executive, and capable
of retaining Congress during the Session, Lancaster seems to
claim a preference.
If the measure which my present view of the subject favors
should be deemed least objectionable, something like the fol
lowing form might be given to it:
Whereas a very dangerous and infectious malady, which
continues to rage in the City of Philada, renders it indispensa
ble that the approaching Session of Congress should be held,
as well as the Executive Department be for the present admin
istered, at some other place; And whereas no regular provis
ion exists for such an emergency, so that, unless some other
place be pointed out at which the members of Congress may
assemble in the first instance, great embarrassments may hap
pen; under these peculiar circumstances, I have thought it in
cumbent on me to notify the obstacle to a meeting of Congress
at the ordinary place of their Session, and to recommend that
the several members assemble on the day appointed at - — ,
in the State of , at which place I shall be ready to
meet them.
G. W., P. U. S.
TO JAMES MONROE.
October 29, 1793.
DEAR SIR, — Inclosed are two newspapers, one of which con
tains the Resolutions proposed at Fredericksburg and a letter
from Bourdeaux, which is not uninteresting. You will find,
also, two pieces, one from Alexandria, and another answering
it, which, as connected with the present crisis, may be worth
reading. At Culpeper Court the proposed meeting took effect,
Greneral Stephens in the chair. The result, as stated to me, is
not censurable, if at all, on the score surmised. It has not the
smallest tincture of Anglomany or Aristocracy. I ain informed
that one of the Resolutions, which speaks of the attempts to
alienate America from France in the past, as well as future
606 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
time, was carried in the Committee, after considerable debate,
and confirmed by the people on a motion to amend. The Reso
lutions in Fauquier are said to be a servile echo of those in
Richmond. When you come on, pray bring with you such of
Davis' papers as may have been received since I left you. I
send the little balance of tea due to Mrs. Monroe, which I in
tended, but failed, to procure before my late trip. As you are
becoming a worshipper of Ceres, I add an ear of corn, which is
forwarder, by three weeks, than the ordinary sort, and if given
to your overseer, may supply a seasonable dish on your return
next summer. Mr. Jefferson is so delighted with it, that he not
only requested me to forward some to Mr. Randolph, but took
an ear with him, to be brought back on his return, that there
might be no possible disappointment. Should you have an op
portunity, after you know the day of your setting out, be so
good as to drop me notice of it. My compliments to Mrs.
Monroe.
Trs, always and aff ly.
HELVIDIUS,
IN ANSWER TO PAOIFICUS,
ON
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S PROCLAMATION
OF NEUTRALITY.
APRIL 22, 1793.
PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY.
APRIL 22, 1793.
WTiereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia. Sar
dinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, of the one part, and France
on the other, and the duty and interest of the United States require that they
should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and
impartial towards the belligerent powers :
I have therefore thought fit, by these presents, to declare the disposition of
the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid towards those powers respec
tively; and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to
avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in any manner tend to
contravene such disposition.
And I do hereby also make known that whosoever of the citizens of the
United States shall render himself liable to punishment or forfeiture under the
law of nations, by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the
said powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles which are deemed
contraband by the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of
the United States against such punishment or forfeiture; and further, that I have
given instructions to those officers, to whom it belongs, to cause prosecutions to
be instituted against all persons who shall, within the cognizance of the courts
of the United States, violate the law of nations, with respect to the powers at
war, or any of them.
In testimony whereof, I have .caused the seal of the United States of
America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my
[L. s.] hand. Done at the City of Philadelphia, the twenty-second day of
April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety -three, and of the In
dependence of the United States of America the seventeenth.
G. WASHINGTON.
BY THE PRESIDENT :
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
VOL. I. 39
HELVIDIUS.
NUMBER I,
Several pieces with the signature of PACIPICUS were lately
published, which have been read with singular pleasure and
applause by the foreigners and degenerate citizens among us,
who hate our republican government, and the French revolu
tion; whilst the publication seems to have been too little
regarded, or too much despised, by the steady friends to
both.
Had the doctrines inculcated by the writer, with the natural
consequences from them, been nakedly presented to the public,
this treatment might have been proper. Their true character
would then have struck every eye, and been rejected by the
feelings of every heart. But they offer themselves to the reader
in the dress of an elaborate dissertation; they are mingled with
a few truths that may serve them as a passport to credulity;
and they are introduced with professions of anxiety for the
preservation of peace, for the welfare of the government, and
for the respect due to the present head of the executive, that
may prove a snare to patriotism.
In these disguises they have appeared to claim the attention
I propose to bestow on them, with a view to show, from the
publication itself, that under color of vindicating an important
public act of a chief magistrate who enjoys the confidence and
love of his country, principles are advanced which strike at
the vitals of its constitution, as well as at its honor and true
interest.
As it is not improbable that attempts may be made to apply
insinuations, which are seldom spared when particular purposes
are to be answered, to the author of the ensuing observations,
it may not be improper to premise, that he is a friend to the
constitution, that he wishes for the preservation of peace, and
WORKS OF MADISON. ]7P3.
that the present chief magistrate has not a fellow-citizen who
is penetrated with deeper respect for his merits, or feels a purer
solicitude for his glory.
This declaration is made with no view of courting a more
favorable ear to what may be said than it deserves. The sole
purpose of it is, to obviate imputations which might weaken
the impressions of truth; and which are the more likely to be
resorted to, in proportion as solid and fair arguments may be
wanting.
The substance of the first piece, sifted from its inconsistencies
and its vague expressions, may be thrown into the following
propositions :
That the powers of declaring war and making treaties are, in
their nature, executive powers:
That being particularly vested by the constitution in other
departments, they are to be considered as exceptions out of the
general grant to the executive department:
That being, as exceptions, to be construed strictly, the powers
not strictly within them remain with the executive:
That the executive, consequently, as the organ of inter
course with foreign nations, and the interpreter and executor
of treaties, and the law of nations, is authorized to expound
all articles of treaties, those involving questions of war and
peace, as well as others; to judge of the obligations of the
'Tnited States to make war or not, under any casus feeder is, or
< ventual operation of the contract relating to war; and to pro
nounce the state of things resulting from the obligations of the
United States, as understood by the executive:
That, in particular, the executive had authority to judge
whether, in the case of the mutual guaranty between the United
States and France, the former were bound by it to engage in
the war:
That the executive has, in pursuance of that authority, de
cided thac the United States arc not bound: and
That its proclamation of the 22d of April last is to be takea
as the effect and expression of that decision.
The basis of the reasoning is, we perceive, the extraordinary
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. I. 613
doctrine that the powers of making war and treaties are, in
their nature, executive, and therefore comprehended in the
general grant of executive power, where not especially and
strictly excepted out of the grant.
Let us examine this doctrine: and that we may avoid the
possibility of mistaking the writer, it shall be laid down in his
own words; a precaution the more necessary, as scarce &ny
thing else could outweigh the improbability that so extravagant
a tenet should be hazarded at so early a day, in the face of the
public.
His words are: " Two of these [exceptions and qualifications
" to the executive powers] have been already noticed — the par-
" ticipation of the senate in the appointment of officers and the
" making of treaties. A third remains to be mentioned — the
" right of the legislature to declare war and grant letters of
:i marque and reprisal"
Again: "It deserves to be remarked, that as the participation
'• of the senate in the making of treaties, and the power of the
<; legislature to declare war, are exceptions out of the general
••' executive power vested in the president, they are to be con-
" s trued •strictly, and ought to be extended no further than is
" essential to their execution."
If there be any countenance to these positions, it must be
found either, first, in the writers of authority on public law;
or, 2d, in the quality and operation of the powers to make
war and treaties; or, 3d, in the constitution of the United
States.
It would be of little use to enter far into the first source or
information, not only because our own reason and our own con
stitution are the best guides, but because a just analysis and
discrimination of the powers of government, according to their
executive, legislative, and judiciary qualities, are not to be
expected in the works of the most received jurists, who wrote
before a critical attention was paid to those objects, and with
their eyes too much on monarchical governments, where all
powers are confounded in the sovereignty of the prince. It
will be found, however, I believe, that all of them, particularly
WORKS OF MADISON. 1703.
Wolfius, Burlamaqui, and Vattel, speak of the powers to
declare war, to conclude peace, and to form alliances, as
among the highest acts of the sovereignty, of which the
legislative power must at least be an integral and pre-eminent
part.
Writers, such as Locke and Montesquieu, who have discussed
more particularly the principles of liberty and the structure of
government, lie under the same disadvantage of having written
before these subjects were illuminated by the events and discus
sions which distinguish a very recent period. Both of them,
too, are evidently warped by a regard to the particular govern
ment of England, to which one of them owed allegiance;* and
the other professed an admiration bordering on idolatry. Mon
tesquieu, however, has rather distinguished himself by enforcing
the reasons and the importance of avoiding a confusion of the
several powers of government, than by enumerating and
defining the powers which belong to each particular class.
And Locke, notwithstanding the early date of his work on
civil government, and the example of his own government
before his eyes, admits that the particular powers in question,
which, after some of the writers on public law, he calls federa
tive, are really distinct from the executive, though almost always
united with it, and hardly to be separated into distinct hands.
Had he not lived under a monarchy in which these powers
were united, or had he written by the lamp which truth now
presents to lawgivers, the last observation would probably
never have dropped from his pen. But let us quit a field of
research which is more likely to perplex than to decide, and
bring the question to other tests of which it will be more easy
to judge.
2. If we consult for a moment the nature and operation of
the two powers to declare war and to make treaties, it will be
impossible not to see that they can never fall within a proper
definition of executive powers. The natural province of the
* The chapter on prerogative shows how much the reason of the philosopher
was clouded by the royalism of the Englishman.
HELVIDIUS. NO. I. 615
executive magistrate is to execute laws, as that of the legislature
is to make laws. All his acts, therefore, properly executive,
must presuppose the existence of the laws to be executed. A
treaty is not an execution of laws; it does not presuppose the
existence of laws. It is, on the contrary, to have itself the
force of a law, and to be carried into execution, like all other laws,
by the executive magistrate. To say, then, that the power of
making treaties, which are confessedly laws, belongs naturally
to the department which is to execute laws, is to say that the
executive department naturally includes a legislative power.
In theory this is an absurdity; in practice, a tyranny.
The power to declare war is subject to similar reasoning.
A declaration that there shall be war is not an execution of
laws: it does not suppose pre-existing laws to be executed; it
is not, in any respect, an act merely executive. It is, on the
contrary, one of the most deliberative acts that can be per
formed, and, when performed, has the effect of repealing all the
laws operating in a state of peace, so far as they are in
consistent with a state of war, and of enacting as a rule for the
executive a new code adapted to the relation between the society
and its foreign enemy. In like manner, a conclusion of peace
annuls all the laws peculiar to a state of war, and revives the
general laws incident to a state of peace.
These remarks will be strengthened by adding that treaties,
particularly treaties of peace, have sometimes the effect of
changing not only the external laws of the society, but operate
also on the internal code, which is purely municipal, and to
which the legislative authority of the country is of itself com
petent and complete.
From this view of the subject it must be evident, that although
the executive may be a convenient organ of preliminary com
munications with foreign governments on the subjects of treaty
or war, and the proper agent for carrying into execution the
final determinations of the competent authority, yet it can have-
no pretensions, from the nature of the powers in question com
pared with the nature of the executive trust, to that essential
agency which gives validity to such determinations. It must
WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
be further evident, that if these powers be not, in their nature,
purely legislative, they partake so much more of that than of
any other quality, that under a constitution leaving them to
result to their most natural department, the legislature would
be without a rival in its claim.
Another important inference to be noted is, that the powers
of making war and treaty being substantially of a legislative,
not an executive nature, the rule of interpreting exceptions
strictly must narrow, instead of enlarging, executive pretensions
on those subjects.
3. It remains to be inquired, whether there be anything in
the constitution itself which shows that the powers of making
war and peace are considered as of an executive nature,
and as comprehended within a general grant of executive
power.
It will not be pretended that this appears from any direct
position to be found in the instrument.
If it were deducible from any particular expressions, it may
be presumed that the publication would have saved us the trou
ble of the research.
Does the doctrine, then, result from the actual distribution
of powers among the several branches of the government ?
or from any fair analogy between the powers of war and
treaty, and the enumerated powers vested in the executive
alone ?
Let us examine :
In the general distribution of powers, we find that of declar
ing war expressly vested in the Congress, where every other
legislative power is declared to be vested, and without any
other qualification than what is common to every other legisla
tive act. The constitutional idea of this power would seem,
then, clearly to be, that it is of a legislative, and not an execu
tive nature.
This conclusion becomes irresistible, when it is recollected
that the constitution cannot be supposed to have placed either
any power legislative in its nature entirely among executive
powers, or any power executive in its nature entirely among
1793. HELVIDIUS. NO. T. G17
legislative powers, without charging the constitution with that
kind of intermixture and consolidation of different powers which
would violate a fundamental principle in the organization of
free governments. If it were not unnecessary to enlarge on
this topic here, it could be shown that the constitution was
originally vindicated, and has been constantly expounded, with
a disavowal of any such intermixture.
The power of treaties is vested jointly in the president and
in the senate, which is a branch of the legislature. From this
arrangement merely, there can be no inference that would neces
sarily exclude the power from the executive class: since the
senate is joined with the president in another power, that of
appointing to offices, which, as far as relate to executive offices,
at least, is considered as of an executive nature. Yet, on "lie
other hand, there are sufficient indications that the power of
treaties ib regarded by the constitution as materially different
from mere executive power, and as having more affinity to f o
legislative than to the executive character.
One circumstance indicating this, is the constitutional regula
tion under which the senate give their consent in the case of
treaties. Tn all other cases, the consent of the body is expressed
by a majority of voices. In this particular case, a concurrence
of two-thirds, at least, is made necessary, as a substitute or com
pensation for the other branch of the legislature, which, on
certain occasions, could not be conveniently a party to the
transaction.
But the conclusive circumstance is, that treaties, when formed
according to the constitutional mode, are confessedly to haT-e
the force and operation of laws, and are to be a rule for the
courts in controversies between man and man, as much as any
oilier laws. They are even emphatically declared by the con
stitution to be " the supreme law of the land."
So far, the argument from the constitation is precisely in oppo
sition to the doctrine. As little will be gained in its favor from
a comparison of the two powers with those particularly vested
in the president alone.
WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
As there are but few, it will be most satisfactory to review
them one by one.
" The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and
" navy of the United States, and of the militia when called
' into the actual service of the United States."
There can be no relation worth examining between this
power and the general power of making treaties. And instead
of being analogous to the power of declaring war, it affords a
striking illustration of the incompatibility of the two powers
in the same hands. Those who are to conduct a war cannot, in
the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war
ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded. They are
barred from the latter function by a great principle in free
government, analogous to that which separates the sword from
the purse, or the power of executing from the power of enacting
laws.
" He may require the opinion in writing of the principal
" officers in each of the executive departments upon any
" subject relating to the duties of their respective offices ;
'• and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons
*' for offences against the United States, except in case of
' impeachment." These powers can have nothing to do with
tlu subject.
" The president shall have power to fill up vacancies that
u may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting com-
" missions, which shall expire at the end of the next session."
The same remark is applicable to this power, as also to that of
41 receiving ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls."
The particular use attempted to be made of this last power will
1)0 considered in another place.
<; He shall take care that the laws shall be faithfully executed,
and shall commission all officers of the United States." To see
the laws faithfully executed constitutes the essence of the execu
tive authority. But what relation has it to the power of making
treaties and war; that is, of determining what the laws shall be
with regard to other nations? No other, certainly, than what
1793. HELVIDIUS.NO. I. (U9
subsists between the powers of executing and enacting laws; no
other, consequently, than what forbids a coalition of the powers
in the same department.
I pass over the few other specified functions assigned to the
president, such as that of convening the legislature, &c., <fec..
which cannot be drawn into the present question.
It may be proper, however, to take notice of the power of
removal from office, which appears to have been adjudged to
the president by the laws establishing the executive depart
ments, and which the writer has endeavored to press into his
service. To justify any favorable inference from this case, it
must be shown that the powers of war and treaties are of a
kindred nature to the power of removal, or at least are equally
within a grant of executive power. Nothing of this sort has
been attempted, nor probably will be attempted. Nothing can,
in truth, be clearer, than that no analogy, or shade of analogy,
can be traced between a power in the supreme officer, respon
sible for the faithful execution of the laws, to displace a sub
altern officer employed in the execution of the laws; and a
power to make treaties, and to declare war. such as these have
been found to be in their nature, their operation, and their con
sequences.
Thus it appears, that by whatever standard we try this
doctrine, it r^ust be condemned as no less vicious in theory
than it would be dangerous in practice. It is countenanced
neither by the writers on law; nor by the nature of the
powers themselves; nor by any general arrangements, or par
ticular expressions, or plausible analogies, to be found in the
constitution.
Whence, then, can the writer have borrowed it ?
There is but one answer to this -question.
The power of making treaties and the power of declaring
war, are royal prerogatives in the British government, and are
accordingly treated as executive prerogative by British commen
tators.
We shall be the more confirmed in the necessity of this solu
tion of the problem by looking back to the era of the consti-
620 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793>
tution, and satisfying ourselves that the writer could not have
been misled by the doctrines maintained by our own commenta
tors on our own government. That I may not ramble beyond
prescribed limits, I shall content myself with an extract from a
work which entered into a systematic explanation and defence
of the constitution, and to which there has frequently been
ascribed some influence in conciliating the public assent to the
government in the form proposed. Three circumstances con
spire in giving weight to this cotemporary exposition. It was
made at a time when no application to persons or measures
could bias: the opinion given was not transiently mentioned,
but formally and critically elucidated: it related to a point in
the constitution which must consequently have been viewed as
of importance in the public mind. The passage relates to the
power of making treaties; that of declaring war being arranged
with such obvious propriety among the legislative powers, as to
be passed over without particular discussion.
" Though several writers on the subject of government place
" that power [of making treaties] in the class of executive au-
11 thorities, yet this is evidently an arbitrary disposition. For if
" we attend carefully to its operation, it will be found to par-
" take more of the legislative than of the executive character,
" though it does not seem strictly to fall within the definition
" of either of them. The essence of the legislative authority is
" to enact laws; or, in other words, to prescribe rules for the
" regulation of the society; while the execution of the laws
" and the employment of the common strength, either for this
" purpose or for the common defence, seem to comprise all the
" functions of the executive magistrate. The power of making
" treaties is plainly neither the one nor the other. It relates
" neither to the execution of the subsisting laws, nor to the
" enaction of new ones, and still less to an exertion of the
" common strength. Its objects are contracts with foreign
" Lii^ious, which have the force of law, but derive it from the
" obligations of good faith. They are not rules prescribed by
"the sovereign to the subject, but agreements between sover-
ueign and sovereign. The power in question seems, there-
1793. HELVIDIUS-NO.il. 621
" fore, to form a distinct department, and to belong properly
" neither to the legislative nor to the executive. The qualities
" elsewhere detailed as indispensable in the management of
" foreign negotiations point out the executive as the most fit
" agent in those transactions ; whilst the vast importance
" of the trust, and the operation of treaties as laws, plead
" strongly for the participation of the whole or a part of the
" legislative body in the office of making them." — Federalist,
p. 343.*
It will not fail to be remarked on this commentary, that
whatever doubts may be started as to the correctness of its
reasoning against the legislative nature of the power to make
treaties; it is dear, consistent, and confident, in deciding that the
power is plainly amd evidently not an executive power.
NUMBEB II.
The doctrine which has been examined is pregnant with in
ferences and consequences, against which no ramparts in the
constitution could defend the public liberty, or scarcely the
forms of republican government. Were it once established
that the powers of war and treaty are in their nature executive;
that so far as they are not by strict construction transferred to
the legislature, they actually belong to the executive; that of
course all powers not less executive in their nature than those
powers, if not granted to the legislature, may be claimed by
the executive; if granted, are to be taken strictly, with a resid
uary right in the executive; or, as will hereafter appear, per
haps claimed as a concurrent right by the executive; and no
citizen could any longer guess at the character of the govern
ment under which he lives; the most penetrating jurist would
be unable to scan the extent of constructive prerogative.
Leaving, however, to the leisure of the reader deductions
which the author, having omitted, might not choose to own, I
* No. 75, written by Mr. Hamilton.
622 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793-
proceed to the examination of one with which that liberty can
not be taken.
" However true it may be (says he) that the right of the
" legislature to declare war includes the right of judging
11 whether the legislature be under obligations to make war or
" not, it will not follow that the executive is, in any case, ex-
" eluded from a similar right of judging, in the execution of its
" own functions."
A material error of the writer, in this application of his doc
trine, lies in his shrinking from its regular consequences. Had
he stuck to his principle in its full extent, and reasoned from it
without restraint, he would only have had to defend himself
against his opponents. By yielding the great point, that the
right to declare war, though to be taken strictly, includes the
right to judge whether the nation be under obligation to make
war or not, he is compelled to defend his argument, not only
against others, but against himself also. Observe how he
struggles in his own toils.
He had before admitted, that the right to declare war is
vested in the legislature. He here admits that the right to de
clare war includes the right to judge whether the United States
be obliged to declare war or not. Can the inference be avoided
that the executive, instead of having a similar right to judge,
is as much excluded from the right to judge as from the right
to declare ?
If the right to declare war be an exception out of the general
grant to the executive power, every thing included in the right
must be included in the exception; and, being included in the
exception, is excluded from the grant.
He cannot disentagle himself by considering the right of the
executive to judge as concurrent with that of the legislature:
for if the executive have a concurrent right to judge, and the
right to judge be included in (it is, in fact, the very essence of)
the right to declare, he must go on and say that the executive
has a concurrent right also to declare. And then, what will he
do with his other admission, that the power to declare is an
exception out of the executive power ?
1793. HELVIDIUS.NO.il. 623
Perhaps an attempt may be made to creep out of the difficulty
through the words, " in the execution of its functions." Here.
again, he must equally fail.
Whatever difficulties may arise in denning the executive au
thority in particular cases, there can be none in deciding on an
authority clearly placed by the constitution in another depart
ment. In this case, the constitution has decided what shall not
be deemed an executive authority; though it may not have
clearly decided in every case what sha*. be so deemed. The
declaring of war is expressly made a legislative function. The
judging of the obligations to make war, is admitted to be in
cluded as a legislative function. Whenever, then, a question
occurs, whether war shall be declared, or whether public stipu
lations require it, the question necessarily belongs to the de
partment to which those functions belong; and no other depart
ment can be in the execution of its proper functions if it should
undertake to decide such a question.
There can be no refuge against this conclusion but in the
pretext of a concurrent right in both departments to judge
of the obligation to declare war; and this must be intended
by the writer, when he says: " It will not follow that the ex-
;' ecutive is excluded in any case from a similar right of judg-
" ing," Ac.
As this is the ground on which the ultimate defence is to be
made, and which must either be maintained or the works
erected on it demolished, it will be proper to give its strength
a fair trial.
It has been seen that the idea of a concurrent right is at
variance with other ideas advanced or admitted by the writer.
Laying aside, for the present, that consideration, it seems
impossible to avoid concluding, that if the executive, as such,
has a concurrent right with the legislature to judge of obliga
tions to declare war, and the right to judge be essentially
included in the right to declare, it must have the same con
current right to declare as it has to judge, and, by another
analogy, the same right to judge of other causes of war as oi
the particular cause found in a public stipulation. So that,
624 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
whenever the executive, in the course of its functions, shall meet
with these cases, it must cither infer an equal authority in all,
or Acknowledge its want of authority in any.
If any doubt can remain, or rather if any doubt could ever
have arisen, which side of the alternative ought to be embraced,
it can be with those only who overlook or reject some of the
most obvious and essential truths in political science.
The power to judge of the causes of war, as involved in the
power to declare war, is expressly vested where all other legis
lative powers are vested, that is, in the Congress of the United
States. It is, consequently, determined by the constitution to
be a legislative power. Now, omitting the inquiry here, in what
respects a compound power may be partly legislative and partly
executive, and accordingly vested partly in the one and partly
in the other department, or jointly in both; a remark used on
another occasion is equally conclusive on this, that the same
power cannot belong, in the whole, to both departments, or be
properly so vested as to operate separately in each. Still more
evident is it, that the same specific function or act cannot possi
bly belong to the two departments, and be separately exercisable
by each.
Legislative power may be concurrently vested in different
legislative bodies. Executive powers may be concurrently
vested in different executive magistrates. In legislative acts
the executive may have a participation, as in the qualified
negative on the laws. In executive acts, the legislature, or at
least a branch of it, may participate, as in the appointment to
offices. Arrangements of this sort are familiar in theory, as
well as in practice. But an independent exercise of an executive
act by the legislature alone, or of a legislative act by the
executive alone, one or other of which must happen in every
case where the same act is exercisable by each, and the latter
of which would happen in the case urged by the writer, is
contrary to one of the first and best maxims of a well-organ
ized government, and ought never to be founded in a forced
construction, much less in opposition to a fair one. Instances,
it is true, may be discovered among ourselves, where this maxim
1793. HELVIDIUS.NO.il. 625
lias not been faithfully pursued; but being generally acknowl
edged to be errors, they confirm rather than impeach the truth
and value of the rnaxim.
It may happen, also, that different independent departments,
the legislative and executive, for example, may, in the exercise
of their functions, interpret the constitution differently, and
thence lay claim each to the same power. This difference of
opinion is an inconvenience not entirely to be avoided. It re
sults from what may be called, if it be thought fit, a concurrent
right to expound the constitution. But this species of concur
rence is obviously and radically different from that in question.
The former supposes the constitution to have given the power
to one department only, and the doubt to be to which it has
been given. The latter supposes it to belong to both; and that
it may be exercised by either or both, according to the course
of exigencies.
A concurrent authority in two independent departments to
perform the same function with respect to the same thing, would
be as awkward in practice as it is unnatural in theory.
If the legislature and executive have both a right to judge
of the obligations to make war or not, it must sometimes
happen, though not at present, that they will judge differently.
The executive may proceed to consider the question to-day;
may determine that the United States are not bound to take
part in a war; and, in the execution of its functions, proclaim
that determination to all the world. To-morrow, the legislature
may follow in the consideration of the same subject; may de
termine that the obligations impose war on the United States,
and, in the execution of its functions, enter into a constitutional
declaration, expressly contradicting the constitutional proclama
tion.
In what light does this present the constitution to the people
who established it? In what light would it present to the
world a nation, thus speaking through two different organs,
equally constitutional and authentic, two opposite languages,
on the same subject, and under the same existing circum
stances ?
VOL. i. 40
526 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
But it is not with the legislative rights alone that this doc
trine interferes. The rights of the judiciary may be equally
invaded. For it is clear, that if a right declared by the con
stitution to be legislative, and actually vested by it in the
legislature, leaves, notwithstanding, a similar right in the
executive, whenever a case for exercising it occurs in the course
of its functions ; a right declared to be judiciary, and vested in
that department, may, on the same principle, be assumed and
exercised by the executive in the course of its functions ; and it
is evident that occasions and pretexts for the latter inter
ference may be as frequent as for the former. So again the
judiciary department may find equal occasions in the execution
of its functions, for usurping the authorities of the executive,
and the legislature for stepping into the jurisdiction of both.
And thus all the powers of government, of which a partition
is so carefully made among the several branches, would be
thrown into absolute hotchpot, and exposed to a general
scramble.
It is time, however, for the writer himself to be heard, in
defence of his text. His comment is in the words following:
" If the legislature have a right to make war on the one
" hand, it is, on the other, the duty of the executive to preserve
" peace till war is declared; and in fulfilling that duty, it must
" necessarily possess a right of judging what is the nature of
" the obligations which the treaties of the country impose on the
" government ; and when, in pursuance of this right, it has
" concluded that there is nothing inconsistent with a state of
" neutrality, it becomes both its province and its duty to
" enforce the laws incident to that state of the nation. The
" executive is charged with the execution of all laws — the laws
" of nations, as well as the municipal law which recognizes
" and adopts those laws. It is, consequently, bound, by faith-
" fully executing the laws of neutrality, when that is the
" state of the nation, to avoid giving a cause of war to foreign
" powers."
To do full justice to this masterpiece of logic, the reader
must have the patience to follow it step by step.
1793. HELVIDIUS,NO.II. Gif
If the legislature have a right to make ivar on tJie one hand, it
is, on the other, the duty of the executive to preserve peace till war
is declared.
It will be observed that here is an explicit and peremptory
assertion, that it is the duty of the executive to preserve peace
till war is declared.
And in fulfilling that duty, it must necessarily possess a right
of judging wliat is tJie nature of the obligations which the treaties
of the country impose on the government : that is to say, in ful
filling the duty to preserve peace, it must necessarily possess the
right to judge whether peace ought to be preserved ; in other
words, whether its duty should be performed. Can words express
a flatter contradiction ? It is self-evident that the duty in this
case is so far from necessarily implying the right that it necessa
rily excludes it.
And when, in pursuance of this right, it has concluded that
there is nothing in them (obligations) inconsistent with a state of
neutrality, IT BECOMES both its province and its duty to enforce
the laios incident to that state of the nation.
And what if it should conclude that there is something incon
sistent ? Is it or is it not the province and duty of the execu
tive to enforce the same laws ? Say it is, you destroy the right
to judge. Say it is not, you cancel the duty to preserve peace
till war is declared.
Take this sentence in connexion with the preceding, and the
contradictions are multiplied. Take it by itself, and it makes
the right to judge and conclude whether war be obligatory,
absolute, and imperative; and the duty to preserve peace, sub
ordinate and conditional.
It will have been remarked by the attentive reader, that the
term peace, in the first clause, has been silently exchanged in
the present one for the term neutrality. Nothing, however, is
gained 'by shifting the terms. Neutrality means peace, with an
allusion to the circumstance of other nations being at war.
The term has no reference to the existence or non-existence of
treaties or alliances between the nation at peace and the nations
at war. The laws incident to a state of neutrality are the laws
628 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
incident to a state of peace, with such circumstantial modifica
tions only as are required by the new relation of the nations at
war; until war, therefore, be duly authorised by the United
States, they are as actually neutral when other nations are at
war, as they are at peace (if such a distinction in the terms is
to be kept up) when other nations are not at war. The exist
ence of eventual engagements, which can only take effect on the
declaration of the legislature, cannot, without that declaration,
change the actual state of the country any more in the eye of
the executive than in the eye of the judiciary department. The
.laws to be the guide of both, remain the same to each, and the
same to both.
Nor would more be gained by allowing the writer to define,
than to shift the term neutrality. For suppose, if you please,
the existence of obligations to join in war to be inconsistent
with neutrality, the question returns upon him, what laws are
to be enforced by the executive until effect shall be given to
those obligations by the declaration of the legislature ? Are
they to be the laws incident to those obligations ; that is,
incident to war ? However strongly the doctrines or deduc
tions of the writer may tend to this point, it will not be
avowed. Are the laws to be enforced by the executive, then,
in such a state of things, to be the same as if no such obliga
tions existed ? Admit this, which you must admit, if you reject
the other alternative, and the argument lands precisely where
it embarked, in the position that it is the absolute duty of the
executive, in all cases, to preserve peace till war is declared;
not that it is " to become the province and duty of the executive/7
after it has concluded that there is nothing in those obligations
inconsistent with a state of peace and neutrality. The right to
judge and conclude, therefore, so solemnly maintained in the
text, is lost in the comment.
We shall see whether it can be reinstated by what fol
lows:
The executive is charged with the execution of all laws, the laws
of nations as well as the municipal law, which recognizes and
adopts those laws. It is, consequently, bound, by faithfully exe
1703. HELVIDIUS, NO. II. 629
cuting the laivs of neutrality, when that is the state of the nation,
to avoid giving cause of ivar to foreign potvers.
The first sentence is a truth, but nothing to the point in
question. The last is partly true in its proper meaning, but
totally untrue in the meaning of the writer. That the executive
is bound faithfully to execute the laws of neutrality, whilst
those laws continue unaltered by the competent authority, is
true; but not for the reason here given, to wit, to avoid giving
cause of war to foreign powers. It is bound to the faithful
execution of these as of all other laws, internal and external,
by the nature of its trust and the sanction of its oath, even if
turbulent citizens should consider its so doing as a cause of
war at home, or unfriendly nations should consider its so doing
as a cause of war abroad. The duty of the executive to pre
serve external peace can no more suspend the force of external
laws, than its duty to preserve internal peace can suspend the
force of municipal laws.
It is certain that a faithful execution of the laws of neutral
ity may tend as much in some cases to incur war from one
quarter, as in others to avoid war from other quarters. The
executive must, nevertheless, execute the laws of neutrality
whilst in force, and leave it to the legislature to decide whether
they ought to be altered or not. The executive lias no other
discretion than to convene and give information to the legis
lature on occasions that may demand it ; and whilst this
discretion is duly exercised, the trust of the executive is
satisfied, and that department is not responsible for the conse
quences. It could not be made responsible for them without
vesting it with the legislative as well as with the executive
trust.
These remarks are obvious and conclusive, on the supposition
that the expression "laws of neutrality" means simply what
the words import, and what alone they can mean, to give force
or color to the inference of the writer from his own premises.
As the inference itself, however, in its proper meaning, does not
approach towards his avowed object, which is to work out a
prerogative for the executive to judge, in common with the
630 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
legislature, whether there be cause of war or not in a public
obligation, it is to be presumed that, " in faithfully executing
the laws of neutrality,'7 an exercise of that prerogative was
meant to be included. On this supposition, the inference, as
will have been seen, does not result from his own premises, and
has been already so amply discussed, and, it is conceived, so
clearly disproved, that not a word more can be necessary on
this branch of his argument.
NUMBER III.
In order to give color to a right in the executive to exerpise
the legislative power of judging whether there be a cause of
war in a public stipulation, two other arguments are subjoined
by the writer to that last examined.
The first is simply this: " It is the right and duty of the
" executive to judge of and interpret those articles of our
" treaties which give to France particular privileges^ in order
" to the enforcement of those privileges" from which it is stated,
as a necessary consequence, that the executive has certain
other rights, among which is the right in question.
This argument is answered by a very obvious distinction.
The first right is essential to the execution of the treaty, as a
laiv in operation, and interferes with no right vested in another
department. The second — viz: the right in question — is not
essential to the execution of the treaty, or any other law: on
the contrary, the article to which the right is applied cannot,
as has been shown, from the very nature of it, be in operation
as a law. without a previous declaration of the legislature; and
all the laws to be enforced by the executive remain, in the
mean time, precisely the same, whatever be the disposition or
judgment of the executive. This second right would also inter
fere with a right acknowledged to be in the legislative depart
ment.
If nothing else could suggest this distinction to the writer, he
ought to have been reminded of it by his own words, " in order
1793. HELVIDIUS. NO. III. 631
to the enforcement of those privileges." Was it in order to the
enforcement of the article of guaranty that the right is ascribed
to the executive ?
The other of the two arguments reduces itself into the fol
lowing form : The executive has the right to receive public
ministers; this right includes the right 01 deciding, in the case
of a revolution, whether the new government sending the min
ister ought to be recognised or not; and this, again, the right
to give or refuse operation to pre-existing treaties.
The power of the legislature to declare war and judge of the
causes for declaring it, is one of the most express and explicit
parts of the constitution. To endeavor to abridge or affect it
by strained inferences and by hypothetical or singular occur
rences, naturally warns the reader of some lurking fallacy.
The words of the constitution are: " He (the president) shall
receive ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls." I
shall not undertake to examine what would be the precise ex
tent and effect of this function in various cases which fancy
may suggest, or which time may produce. It will be more
proper to observe, in general, and every candid reader will
second the observation, that little, if anything, more was in
tended by the clause than to provide for a particular mode of
communication almost grown into a right among modern nations;
by pointing out the department of the government most proper
for the ceremony of admitting public ministers, of examining
their credentials, and of authenticating their title to the privi
leges annexed to their character by the law of nations. This
being the apparent design of the constitution, it would be
highly improper to magnify the function into an important pre
rogative, even where no rights of other departments could be
affected by it.
To show that the view here given of the clause is not a new
construction, invented or strained for a particular occasion, I
will take the liberty of recurring to the co-temporary work
already quoted, which contains the obvious and original gloss
put on this part of the constitution by its friends and advo
cates:
632 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
" The president is also to be authorized to receive ambassa-
" dors and other public ministers. This, though it has been a
" rich theme of declamation, is more a matter of dignity than
" of authority. It is a circumstance that will be without conse-
" quence in the administration of the government, and it is far
" more convenient that it should be arranged in this manner,
" than that there should be a necessity for convening the legis-
" lature, or one of its branches, upon every arrival of a foreign
" minister, though it were merely to take the place of a dc-
" parted predecessor." — Fed., vol. 2, p. 237.*
Had it been foretold in the year 1788, when this work was
published, that before the end of the year 1793, a writer,
assuming the merit of being a friend to the constitution, would
appear, and gravely maintain, that this function, which was to
be without consequence in the administration of the government,
might have the consequence of deciding on the validity of
revolutions in favor of liberty, " of putting the United States
in a condition to become an associate in war," nay, " of laying
the legislature under an obligation of declaring ivar" what would
have been thought and said of so visionary a prophet ?
The moderate opponents of the constitution would probably
have disowned his extravagance. By the advocates of the con
stitution, his prediction must have been treated as " an experi-
" ment on public credulity, dictated either by a deliberate in-
" tention to deceive, or by the overflowings of a zeal too intem-
" perate to be ingenuous."
But how does it follow from the function to receive ambas
sadors and other public ministers, that so consequential a pre
rogative may be exercised by the executive ? When a foreign
minister presents himself, two questions immediately arise: Are
his credentials from the existing and acting government of his
country ? Are they properly authenticated ? These questions
belong of necessity to the executive; but they involve no cog
nizance of the question, whether those exercising the govern
ment have the right along with the possession. This belongs
* No. 69, written by Mr. Hamilton.
1793. HELVIDIUS,NO. III. 633
to the nation, and to the nation alone, on whom the government
operates. The questions before the executive are merely ques
tions of fact; and the executive would have precisely the same
right, or rather be under the same necessity of deciding them,
if its function was simply to receive without any discretion to
reject public ministers. It is evident, therefore, that if the
executive has a right to reject a public minister, it must be
founded on some other consideration than a change in the
government, or the newness of the government j and conse
quently a right to refuse to acknowledge a new government
cannot be implied by the right to refuse a public minister.
It is not denied that there may be cases in which a respect to
the general principles of liberty, the essential rights of the
people, or the overruling sentiments of humanity, might require
a government, whether new or old, to be treated as an illegiti
mate despotism. Such are, in fact, discussed and admitted by
the most approved authorities. But they are great and extra
ordinary cases, by no means submitted to so limited an organ
of the national will as the executive of the United States; and
certainly not to be brought by any torture of words, within the
right to receive ambassadors.
That the authority of the executive does not extend to a
question, whether an existing government ought to be recognized
or not, will still more clearly appear from an examination of
the next inference of the writer, to wit: that the executive has
a right to give or refuse activity and operation to pre-existing
treaties.
If there be a principle that ought not to be questioned within
the United States, it is that every nation has a right to abolish
an old government and establish a new one. This principle is
not only recorded in every public archive, written in every
American heart, and sealed with the blood of a host of Ameri
can martyrs, but is the only lawful tenure by which the United
States hold their existence as a nation.
(It is a principle incorporated with the above, that govern
ments are established for the national good, and are organs of
the national will.
634 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
Fron these two principles results a third, that treaties formed
by the government are treaties of the nation, unless otherwise
expressed in the treaties.
Another consequence is, that a nation, by exercising the right
of changing the organ of its will, can neither disengage itself
from the obligations, nor forfeit the benefits of its treaties.
This is a truth of vast importance, and happily rests with suffi
cient firmness on its own authority. To silence or prevent
cavil, I insert, however, the following extracts: " Since, then,
" such a treaty (a treaty not personal to the sovereign) directly
" relates to the body of the State, it subsists though the form
" of the republic happens to be changed, and though it should
" be even transformed into a monarchy; for the State and the
" nation are always the same, whatever changes are made in the
" form of the government, and the treaty concluded with the
" nation remains in force as long as the nation exists." — Vattel,
B. II, § 85. " It follows that as a treaty, notwithstanding the
" change of a democratic government into a monarchy, con-
" tinues in force with the new king, in a like manner if a
" monarchy becomes a republic, the treaty made with the king
" does not expire on that account, unless it was manifestly per-
« sonal."— Burlam., part IV, c. IX, § 16, IF 6.
As a change of government, then, makes no change in the
obligations or rights of the party to a treaty, it is clear that
the executive can have no more right to suspend or prevent the
operation of a treaty on account of the change, than to suspend
or prevent the operation where no such change has happened.
Nor can it have any more right to suspend the operation of a
treaty in force as a law, than to suspend the operation of any
other law.
The logic employed by the writer on this occasion will be
best understood by accommodating to it the language of a pro
clamation, founded on the prerogative and policy of suspending
the treaty with France :
Whereas a treaty was concluded on the - - day of -
between the United States and the French nation, through the
kingly government, which was then the organ of its will; and
1703. HELVIDIUS. NO. III. 635
whereas the said nation hath since exercised its right (nowise
abridged by the said treaty) of changing the organ of its will
by abolishing the said kingly government, as inconsistent with
the rights and happiness of the people, and establishing a
republican in lieu thereof, as most favorable to the public hap
piness, and best suited to the genius of a people become sensi
ble of their rights and ashamed of their chains; and whereas,
by the constitution of the United States, the executive is
authorized to receive ambassadors, other public ministers, and
consuls; and whereas a public minister, duly appointed and
commissioned by the new republic of France, hath arrived and
presented himself to the executive, in order to be received in
his proper character, now be it known, that by virtue of the
said right vested in the executive to receive ambassadors,
other public ministers, and consuls, and of the rights included
therein, the executive hath refused to receive the said minister
from the said republic, and hath thereby caused the activity
and operation of all treaties with the French nation, hitherto
in force a-s supreme laws of the land, to be suspended until the
executive, by taking off the said suspension, shall revive the
same: of which all persons concerned are to take notice at their
peril.
The writer, as if beginning to feel that he was grasping at
more than he can hold, endeavors all of a sudden to squeeze
his doctrine into a smaller size, and a less vulnerable shape.
The reader shall see the operation in his own words.
" And where a treaty antecedently exists between the United
" States and such nation, [a nation whose government has un-
" dergone a revolution,] that right [the right of judging whether
" the new rulers ought to be recognized or not] involves the
" power of giving operation or not to such treaty. For until
" the new government is acknowledged, the treaties between
" the nations, as far at least as regards public rights, are, of
" course, suspended."
This qualification of the suspending power, though reluc
tantly and inexplicitly made, was prudent for two reasons: first,
because it is pretty evident that private rights, whether of judi-
(536 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
ciary or executive cognizance, may be carried into effect without
the agency of the foreign government; and therefore would not
be suspended, of course, by a rejection of that agency; secondly,
because the judiciary, being an independent department, and
acting under an oath to pursue the law of treaties as the
supreme law of the land, might not readily follow the executive
example; and a right in one expositor of treaties to consider
them as not in force, whilst it would be the duty of another ex
positor to consider them as in force, would be a phenomenon
not so easy to be explained. Indeed, as the doctrine stands
qualified, it leaves the executive the right of suspending the
law of treaties in relation to rights of one description, without
exempting it from the duty of enforcing it in relation to rights
of another description.
But the writer is embarked in so unsound an argument, that
he does not save the rest of his inference by this sacrifice of one
half of it. It is not true, that all public rights are of course sus
pended by a refusal to acknowledge the government, or even by
a suspension of the government. And in the next place, the
right in question does not follow from the necessary suspension
of public rights, in consequence of a refusal to acknowledge the
government.
Public rights are of two sorts: those which require the agency
of government; those which may be carried into effect without
that agency.
As public rights are the rights of the nation, not of the gov
ernment, it is clear that wherever they can be made good to the
nation, without the office of government, they are not suspended
by the want of an acknowledged government, or even by the
want of an existing government; and that there are important
rights of this description, will be illustrated by the following
case:
Suppose, that after the conclusion of the treaty of alliance
between the United States and France, a party of the enemy
had surprised and put to death every member of Congress; that
the occasion had been used by the people of America for chang
ing the old confederacy into such a government as now exists
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. III. 637
and that in the progress of this revolution, an interregnum had
happened. Suppose further, that during this interval, the States
of South Carolina and Georgia, or any other parts of the Uni
ted States, had been attacked, and been put into evident and
imminent danger of being irrecoverably lost, without the inter
position of the French arms; is it not manifest, that as the Treaty
is the Treaty of the United States, not of their government, the
people of the United States, could not forfeit their right to the
guaranty of their territory by the accidental suspension of their
government; and that any attempt, on the part of France, to
evade the obligations of the Treaty, by pleading the suspension
of government, or by refusing to acknowledge it; would justly
have been received with universal indignation, as an ignomin
ious perfidy?
With respect to public rights that cannot take effect in favour
of a nation without the agency of its government, it is admitted
that they are suspended of course where there is no government
in existence, and also by a refusal to acknowledge an existing
government. But no inference in favour of a right to suspend
the operation of Treaties, can be drawn from either case. Where
the existence of the government is suspended, it is a case of ne
cessity; it would be a case happening without the act of the ex
ecutive, and consequently could prove nothing for or against
the right.
In the other case, to wit, of a refusal by the executive to rec
ognise an existing government, however certain it may be, that
a suspension of some of the public rights might ensue; yet, it is
equally certain, that the refusal would be without right or au
thority; and that no right or authority could be implied or pro
duced by the unauthorised act. If a right to do whatever might
bear an analogy to the necessary consequence of what was done
without right, could be inferred from the analogy, there would
be no other limit to power than the limit to its ingenuity.
It is no answer to say that it may be doubtful whether a gov
ernment does or does not exist; or doubtful which may be the
existing and acting government. The case stated by the writer
is, that there are existing rulers; that there is an acting gov-
638 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
eminent; but that they are new rulers; and that it is a nciv
government. The full reply, however, is to repeat what has
been already observed; that questions of this sort arc mere
questions of fact; that as such only, they belong to the execu
tive; that they would equally belong to the executive, if it was
tied down to the reception of public ministers, without any dis
cretion to receive or reject them; that where the fact appears
to be, that no government exists, the consequential suspension
is independent of the executive; that where the fact appears to
be, that the government does exist, the executive must be gov
erned by the fact, and can have no right or discretion, on ac
count of the date or form of the government, to refuse to ac
knowledge it, either by rejecting its public minister, or by any
other step taken on that account. If it does refuse on that ac
count, the refusal is a wrongful act, and can neither prove nor
illustrate a rightful power.
I have spent more time on this part of the discussion than
may appear to some, to have been requisite. But it was con
sidered as a proper opportunity for presenting some important
ideas, connected with the general subject, and it may be of use
in shewing how very superficially, as well as erroneously, the
writer has treated it.
In other respects so particular an investigation was less
necessary. For allowing it to be, as contended, that a suspen
sion of treaties might happen from a consequential operation of
a right to receive public ministers, which is an express right
vested by the constitution; it could be no proof, that the same
or a similar effect could be produced by the direct operation of
a constructive power.
Hence the embarrassments and gross contradictions of the
writer in defining, and applying his ultimate inference from
the operation of the executive power with regard to public min
isters.
At first it exhibits an "important instance of the right of the
executive to decide the obligation of the nation with regard to
foreign nations."
Rising from that, it confers on the executive, a right "to
1793. HELVIDITTS. NO. III. 639
put the United States in a condition to become an associate in
war."
And, at its full height, it authorizes the executive "to lay the
legislature under an obligation of declaring war."
From this towering prerogative, it suddenly brings down the
executive to the right of " consequentially affecting the proper or
improper exercise of the power of the legislature to declare
war."
And then, by a caprice as unexpected as it is sudden, it es
pouses the cause of the legislature; rescues it from the execu
tive right "to lay it under an obligation of declaring war;" and
asserts it to be "free to perform its own duties, according to its
own sense of them," without any other controul than what it is
liable to, in every other legislative act.
The point at which it finally seems to rest, is, that "the ex
ecutive in the exercise of its constitutional powers, may estab
lish an antecedent state of things, which ought to weigh in the
legislative decisions; " a prerogative which will import a great
deal, or nothing, according to the handle by which you take it;
arid" which, at the same time, you can take by no handle that
does not clash with some inference preceding.
If "by weighing in the legislative decisions" be meant having
an influence on the expediency of this or that decision in the
opinion of the legislature; this is no more than what every an
tecedent state of things ought to have, from whatever cause pro
ceeding; whether from the use or abuse of constitutional powers,
or from the exercise of constitutional or assumed powers. In
this sense the power to establish an antecedent state of things
is not contested. But then it is of no use to the writer, and
is also in direct contradiction to the inference, that the execu
tive may "lay the legislature under an obligation to decide in
favour of ivar."
If the meaning be as is implied by the force of the terms "con
stitutional powers," that the antecedent state of things produced
by the executive, ought to have a constitutional weight with the
legislative: or, in plainer words, imposes a constitutional obliga
tion on the legislative decisions, the writer will not only have
640 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
to combat the arguments by which such a prerogative has been
disproved; but to reconcile it with his last concession, that "the
legislature is free to perform its duties according to its own
sense of them." He must shew that the legislature is, at the
same time, constitutionally free to pursue its oion judgment and
constitutionally bound by the judgment of the executive.
NUMBER IV.
The last papers completed the view proposed to be taken of
the arguments in support of the new and aspiring doctrine,
which ascribes to the executive the prerogative of judging and
deciding whether there be causes of war or not, in the obliga
tions of treaties; notwithstanding the express provision in the
constitution, by which the legislature is made the organ of the
national will, on questions whether there be or be not a cause
for declaring war. If the answer to these arguments has
imparted the conviction which dictated it, the reader will have
pronounced that they are generally superficial, abounding in
contradictions, never in the least degree conclusive to the main
point, and not unfrequently conclusive against the writer him
self; whilst the doctrine, that the powers of treaty and war are
in their nature executive powers, which forms the basis of those
arguments, is as indefensible and as dangerous as the particular
doctrine to which they are applied.
But it is not to be forgotten that these doctrines, though
ever so clearly disproved, or ever so weakly defended, remain
before the public a striking monument of the principles and
views which are entertained and propagated in the commu
nity.
It is also to be remembered, that however the consequences
flowing from such premises may be disavowed at this time, or
by this individual, we are to regard it as morally certain, that
in proportion as the doctrines make their way into the creed
of the government and the acquiescence of the public, every
1793. HBLVIDITJS, NO. IV. 641
power that can be deduced from them, will be deduced and
exercised sooner or later by those who may have an interest in
so doing. The character of human nature gives this salutary
warning to every sober and reflecting mind. And the history
of government in all its forms, and in every period of time,
ratines the danger. £A people, therefore, who are so happy as
to possess the inestimable blessing of a free and defined consti
tution, cannot be too watchful against the introduction, nor too
critical in tracing the consequences, of new principles and new
constructions, that may remove the landmarks of power. *)
Should the prerogative which has been examined be allowed,
in its most limited sense, to usurp the public countenance, the
interval would probably be very short before it would be heard
from some quarter or other, that the prerogative either amounts
to nothing, or means a right to judge and conclude that the
obligations of treaty impose war as well as that they permit
peace; that it is fair reasoning to say, that if the prerogative
exists at all, an operative rather than an inert character ought
to be given to it.
In support of this conclusion there would be enough to echo,
" that the prerogative in this active sense is connected with the
" executive in various capacities, as the organ of intercourse
" between the nation and foreign nations, as the interpreter of
' national treaties," (a violation of which may be a cause of
war,) " as that power which is charged with the execution of
" the laws, of which treaties make a part, as that power which
" is charged with the command and application of the public
"force."
With additional force, it might be said that the executive is
as much the executor as the interpreter of treaties; that if by
virtue of i\\e first character, it is to judge of the ctiligations of
treaties, it is, by virtue of the second, equally authorized to
carry those obligations into effect. Should there occur, for ex
ample, a casus fcederis, claiming a military co-operation of the
United States, and a military force should happen to be under
the command of the executive, it must have the same right, as
executor of public treaties, to employ the public force, as it has
VOL. i. 41
WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
in quality of interpreter of public treaties to decide whether it
ought to be employed.
The case of a treaty of peace would be an auxiliary to com
ments of this sort: it is a condition, annexed to every treaty,
that an infraction even of an important article, on one side,
extinguishes the obligations on the other; and the immediate
consequence of a dissolution of a treaty of peace is a restoration
of a state of war. If the executive is " to decide on the obli-
" gation of the nation with regard to foreign nations;" "to
" pronounce the existing condition [in the sense annexed by the
" writer] of the nation with regard to them; and to admonish
" the citizens of their obligations and duties, as founded upon
" that condition of things;77 " to judge what are the reciprocal
" rights and obligations of the United States, and of all and
" each of the powers at war;7' add that if the executive, more
over, possesses all powers relating to war, not strictly within
the power to declare war, which any pupil of political casuistry
could distinguish from a mere relapse into a war that had been
declared: with this store of materials, and the example given
of the use to be made of them, would it be difficult to fabricate
a power in the executive to plunge the nation into war, when
ever a treaty of peace might happen to be infringed ?
But if any difficulty should arise, there is another mode
chalked out, by which the end might clearly be brought about,
even without the violation of the treaty of peace; especially if
the other party should happen to change its government at the
crisis. The executive could suspend the treaty of peace by re
fusing to receive an ambassador from the new government; and
the state of war emerges of course.
This is a sample of the use to which the extraordinary publi
cation we are reviewing might be turned. Some of the infer
ences could not be repelled at all. And the least regular of
them must go smoothly down with those who had swallowed
the gross sophistry which wrapped up the original dose.
Every just view that can be taken of this subject admonishes
the public of the necessity of a rigid adherence to the simple,
the received, and the fundamental doctrine of the constitution,
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. IV. 643
that the power to declare war, including the power of judging
of the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legis
lature; that the executive has no right, in any case, to decide
the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war;
that the right of convening and informing Congress, whenever
such a question seems to call for a decision, is all the right
which the constitution has deemed requisite or proper; and that
for such, more than for any other contingency, this right was
specially given to the executive.
In IK) part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department. Beside
the objection to such a mixture of heterogeneous powers, the
trust and the temptation would be too great for any one man;
riot such as nature may offer as the prodigy of many centuries,
but such as may be expected in the ordinary successions of
magistracy. War is, in fact, the true nurse of executive aggran
dizement. In war, a physical force is to be created, and it is
the executive will which is to direct it. In war, the public
treasures are to be unlocked, and it is the executive hand which
is to dispense them. In war, the honors and emoluments of
office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage
under which they are to be enjoyed. It is in war, finally, that
laurels are to be gathered; and it is the executive brow they
are to encircle. The strongest passions and most dangerous
weaknesses of the human breast, ambition, avarice, vanity, the
honorable or venial love of fame, are all in conspiracy against
the desire and duty of peace.
Hence it has grown into an axiom that the executive is the
department of power most distinguished by its propensity to
war; hence it is the practice of all States, in proportion as they
are free, to disarm this propensity of its influence.
As the best praise, then, that can be pronounced on an execu
tive magistrate, is that he is the friend of peace — a praise that
rises in its value as there may be a known capacity to shine in
war — so it must be one of the most sacred duties of a free
people to mark the first omen in the society, of principles that
644 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
may stimulate the hopes of other magistrates of another pro
pensity, to intrude into questions on which its gratification
depends. If a free people be a wise people also, they will not
forget that the danger of surprise can never be so great as
when the advocates for the prerogative of war can sheathe it in
a symbol of peace.
The constitution has manifested a similar prudence in re
fusing to the executive the sole power of making peace. The
trust in this instance, also, would be too great for the wisdom,
and the temptations too strong for the virtue, of a single
citizen. The principal reasons on which the constitution pro
ceeded in its regulation of the power of treaties, including
treaties of peace, are so aptly furnished by the work already
quoted more than once, that I shall borrow another comment
from that source.
" However proper or safe it may be in a government where
" the executive magistrate is an hereditary monarch, to commit
" to him the entire power of making treaties, it would be
" utterly unsafe and improper to entrust that power to an
" elective magistrate of four years' duration. It has been
" remarked upon another occasion, and the remark is unques-
" tionably just, that an hereditary monarch, though often the
" oppressor of his people, has personally too much at stake in
" the government to be in any material danger of being cor-
" rupted by foreign powers; but that a man raised from the
" station of a private citizen to the rank of chief magistrate,
" possessed of but a moderate or slender fortune, and looking
" forward to a period not very remote when he may probably
" be obliged to return to the station from which he was taken,
" might sometimes be under temptations to sacrifice his duty to
" his interest, which it would require superlative virtue to with-
" stand. An avaricious man might be tempted to betray the
" interests of the State to the acquisition of wealth. An am-
" bitious man might make his own aggrandizement, by the aid
" of a foreign power, the price of his treachery to his constitu-
" ents. The history of human conduct does not warrant that
" exalted opinion of human virtue which would make it wise in
1703. HELVIDIUS, NO. IV. 645
" a nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a
" kind as those which concern its intercourse with the rest of the
" world to the sole disposal of a magistrate created and circum-
" stanced as would be a president of the United States." — Fed
eralist, vol. 2, p. 344.*
I shall conclude this paper and this branch of the subject
with two reflections, which naturally arise from this view of the
constitution.
The first is, that as the personal interest of an hereditary
monarch in the government is the only security against the
temptation incident to the commitment of the delicate and
momentous interests of the nation, which concerns its inter
course with the rest of the world to the disposal of a single
magistrate, it is a plain consequence, that every addition that
may be made to the sole agency and influence of the executive,
in the intercourse of the nation with foreign nations, is an in
crease of the dangerous temptation to which an elective and
temporary magistrate is exposed; and an argument and advance
towards the security afforded by the personal interests of an
hereditary magistrate.
Secondly, as the constitution has not permitted the executive
singly to conclude or judge that peace ought to be made, it
might be inferred from that circumstance alone that it never
meant to give it authority, singly, to judge and conclude that
war ought not to be made. The trust would be precisely simi
lar and equivalent in the two cases. The right to say that war
ought not to go on, would be no greater than the right to say
that war ought not to begin. Every danger of error or cor
ruption incident to such a prerogative in one case is incident to
it in the other. If the constitution, therefore, has deemed it
unsafe or improper in the one case, it must be deemed equally
so in the other case.
* No. 75, written by Mr. Hamilton.
646 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
NUMBER V.
Having seen that the executive has no constitutional right to
interfere in any question, whether there be or be not a cause of
war, and the extensive consequences flowing from the doctrines
on which such a claim has been asserted, it remains to be inquired,
whether the writer is better warranted in the fact which he
assumes, namely, that the proclamation of the executive has
undertaken to decide the question whether there be a cause of
war or not, in the article of guaranty between the United States
and France, and in so doing has exercised the right which is
claimed for that department.
Before I proceed to the examination of this point, it may not
be amiss to advert to the novelty of the phraseology, as well
as of the doctrines espoused by this writer. The source from
which the former is evidently borrowed may enlighten our con
jectures with regard to the source of the latter. It is a just
observation, also, that words have often a gradual influence on
ideas, and when used in an improper sense may cover fallacies
which would not otherwise escape detection.
I allude particularly to his application of the term govern
ment to the executive authority alone. The proclamation is a
" manifestation of the sense of the government" " Why did
" not the government wait," <fcc. " The policy on the part of
" the government of removing all doubt as to its own disposi-
" tion."* " It was of great importance that our citizens should
" understand as early as possible the opinion entertained by the
" government" &c. " If, in addition to the rest, the early mani-
" festation of the views of the government had any eifect in
"fixing the public opinion" &c. The reader will probably be
struck with the reflection, that if the proclamation really pos
sessed the character, and was to have the effects, here ascribed
to it, something more than the authority of the government, in
* The writer ought not in the same paper, No. VII, to have said, '' Had the
'• president announced his own disposition, he would have been chargeable with
" egotism, if not presumption."
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. V. 647
the writer's sense of government, would have been a necessary
sanction to the act; and if the term "government" be removed,
and that of " president" substituted, in the sentences quoted,
the justice of the reflection will be felt with peculiar force.
But I remark only on the singularity of the style adopted by
the writer, as showing either that the phraseology of a foreign
government is more familiar to him than the phraseology proper
to our own, or that he wishes to propagate a familiarity of the
former in preference to the latter. I do not know what degree
of disapprobation others may think due to this innovation of
language; but I consider it as far above a trivial criticism to
observe, that it is by no means unworthy of attention, whether
viewed with an eye to its probable cause or its apparent ten
dency. '; The government " unquestionably means, in the
United States, the whole government, not the executive part,
either exclusively or pre-eminently ; as it may do in a monarchy,
where the splendor of prerogative eclipses, and the machinery
of influence directs, every other part of the government. In
the former and proper sense, the term has hitherto been used
in official proceedings, in public discussions, and in private
discourse. It is as short and as easy, and less liable to mis
apprehension, to say the executive or the president, as to say
the government. In a word, the new dialect could not proceed
either from necessity, conveniency, propriety, or perspicuity;
and being in opposition to common usage, so marked a fondness
for it justifies the notice here taken of it. It shall no longer
detain me, however, from the more important subject of the
present paper.
I proceed, therefore, to observe, that as a " proclamation," in
its ordinary use, is an address to citizens or subjects only; as
it is always understood to relate to the law actually in operation,
and to be an act purely and exclusively executive, there can be
no implication in the name or the form of such an instrument,
that it was meant principally for the information of foreign
nations; far less that it related to an eventual stipulation on the
subject acknowledged to be within the legislative province.
When the writer, therefore, undertook to engraft his new
G48 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
prerogative on the proclamation by ascribing to it so unusual
and uuimplied a meaning, it was evidently incumbent on him to
show that the text of the instrument could not be satisfied by
any other construction than his own. Has he done this ? No.
What has he done ? He has called the proclamation a procla
mation of neutrality; he has put his own arbitrary meaning on
that phrase, and has then proceeded in his arguments and his
inferences with as much confidence as if no question was ever
to be asked, whether the term "neutrality" be in the procla
mation, or whether, if there, it could justify the use he makes
of it.
It has appeared from observations already made, that if the
term " neutrality" was in the proclamation, it could not avail
the writer in the present discussion; but the fact is, no such
term is to be found in it, nor any other term of a meaning
equivalent to that, in which the term neutrality is used by
him.
There is the less pretext in the present case for hunting after
any latent or extraordinary object, because an obvious and
legal one is at hand to satisfy the occasion on which the
proclamation issued. The existence of war among several
nations with which the United States have an extensive inter
course; the duty of the executive to preserve peace by enfor
cing its laws whilst those laws continued in force; the danger
that indiscreet citizens might be tempted or surprised by the
crisis into unlawful proceedings, tending to involve the United
States in a war which the competent authority might decide
them to be at liberty to avoid, and which, if they should be
judged not at liberty to avoid, the other party to the eventual
contract might be willing not to impose on them; these surely
might have been sufficient grounds for the measure pursued by
the executive; and being legal and rational grounds, it would
be wrong, if there be no necessity to look beyond them.
If there be anything in the proclamation of which the writer
could have made a handle, it is the part which declares the dis
position, the duty, and the interest of the United States, in rela
tion to the war existing in Europe. As the legislature is the
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. V. 549
only competent and constitutional organ of the will of the
nation, that is, of its disposition, its duty, and its interest, in
relation to a commencement of war, in like mariner as the
president and senate jointly, not the president alone, are in rela
tion to peace, after war has been commenced, I will not dissem
ble my wish that a language less exposed to criticism had been
preferred; but taking the expressions, in the sense of the writer
himself, as analogous to the language which might be proper
on the reception of a public minister or any similar occasion, it
is evident that his construction can derive no succour even from
this source.
If the proclamation, then, does not require the construction
which this writer has taken the liberty of putting on it, I leave
it to be decided whether the following considerations do not
forbid us to suppose that the president could have intended, by
that act, to embrace and prejudge the legislative question,
whether there was, or was not, under the circumstances of the
case, a cause of war in the article of guaranty.
It lias been shown that such an intention would have usurped
a prerogative not vested in the executive, and even confessedly
vested in another department.
In exercising the constitutional power of deciding a question
of war, the legislature ought to be as free to decide, according
to its own sense of the public good, on one side as on the other
side. Had the proclamation prejudged the question on either side
and proclaimed its decision to the world, the legislature, instead
of being as free as it ought, might be thrown under the dilemma
of either sacrificing its judgment to that of the executive, or,
by opposing the executive judgment, of producing a relation
between the two departments extremely delicate among our
selves, and of the worst influence on the national character and
interests abroad. A variance of this nature, it will readily be
perceived, would be very different from a want of conformity
to the mere recommendations of the executive in the measures
adopted by the legislature.
It does not appear that such a proclamation could have even
pleaded any call, from either of the parties at war with France,
650 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
for an explanation of the light in which the guaranty was
viewed. Whilst, indeed, no positive indication whatever was
given of hostile purposes, it is not conceived that any power
could have decently made such an application, or if it had, that
a proclamation would have been either a satisfactory or an
honorable answer. It could not have been satisfactory, if
serious apprehensions were entertained, because it would not
have proceeded from that authority which alone could defini
tively pronounce the will of the United States on the subject.
It would not have been honorable, because a private diplomatic
answer only is due to a private diplomatic application; and to
have done so much more would have marked a pusillanimity
and want of dignity in the executive magistrate.
But whether the executive was or was not applied to, or
whatever weight be allowed to that circumstance, it ought
never to be presumed, that the executive would so abruptly, so
publicly, and so solemnly, proceed to disclaim a sense of the
contract, which the other party might consider and wish to sup
port by discussion, as its true and reasonable import. It is
asked, indeed, in a tone that sufficiently displays the spirit in
which the writer construes both the Proclamation and the
treaty, "Did the executive stand in need of the logic of a for-
" eign agent to enlighten it as to the duties or the interests of
" the nation ; or was it bound to ask his consent to a step which
" appeared to itself consistent with the former, and conducive
" to the latter? The sense of treaties was to be learnt from the
" treaties themselves." Had he consulted his Vattel, instead
of his animosity to France, he would have discovered that how
ever humiliating it might be to wait for a foreign logic, to as
sist the interpretation of an act depending on the national au
thority alone, yet in the case of a treaty, which is as much the
treaty of a foreign nation, as it is ours; and in which foreign
duties and rights are as much involved as ours, the sense of the
treaty, though to be learnt from the treaty itself, is to be equally
learned by both parties to it. Neither of them can have a right
more than the other, to say what a particular article means;
and where there is equality without a judge, consultation is as
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. V. 651
consistent with dignity as it is conducive to harmony and
friendship; let Vattel, however, be heard on the subject.
"The third general maxim, or principle, on the subject of in
" terpretation [of Treaties] is: that neither the one nor the other
" of the interested or contracting powers has a right to interpret
" the act or treaty at its pleasure. For if you are at liberty to
" give my promise what sense you please, you will have the
" power of obliging me to do whatever you have a mind, con-
" trary to my intention, and beyond my real engagement: and
" reciprocally, If I am alloiced to explain my promises as 1
" please, I may render them vain and illusive, by giving them a
" sense quite different from that in which they were presented to
11 you, and in which you must have taken them in accepting them."
Vat., B. II, c. vii, § 265.
The writer ought to have been particularly sensible of the
improbability that a precipitate and ex parte decision of the
question arising under the guaranty, could have been intended
by the proclamation. He had but just gone through his under
taking, to prove that the article of guaranty like the rest of the
treaty is defensive, not.offensive. He had examined his books
and retailed his quotations, to shew that the criterion between
the two kinds of war is the circumstance of priority in the at
tack. He could not therefore but know, that according to his
own principles, the question whether the United States were
under an obligation or not to take part in the war, was a ques
tion of fact whether the first attack was made by France or her
enemies. And to decide a question of fact, as well as of prin
ciple, without waiting for such representations and proofs, as the
absent and interested party might have to produce, would have
been a proceeding contrary to the ordinary maxims of justice, and
requiring circumstances of a very peculiar nature, to warrant it
towards any nation. Towards a nation which could verify her
claim to more than bare justice by our own reiterated and for
mal acknowledgments, and which must in her present singular
and interesting situation have a peculiar sensibility to markd
of our friendship or alienation, the impropriety of such a prv
652 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
ceeding would be infinitely increased, and in the same propor
tion the improbability of its having taken place.
There are reasons of another sort which would have been a
bar to such a proceeding. It would have been as impolitic as
it would have been unfair and unkind.
If France meant not to insist on the guaranty, the measure,
without giving any present advantage, would have deprived the
United States of a future claim which may be of importance to
their safety. It would have inspired France with jealousies of
a secret bias in this country toward some of her enemies, which
might have left in her breast a spirit of contempt and revenge
of which the effects might be felt in various ways. It must in
particular have tended to inspire her with a disinclination to
feed our commerce with those important advantages which it
already enjoys, and those more important ones, which it anx
iously contemplates. The nation that consumes more of the
fruits of our soil than any other nation in the world, and sup
plies the only foreign raw material of extensive use in the Uni
ted States, would not be unnecessarily provoked by those who
understand the public interest, and make it their study, as it is
their interest to advance it.
I am aware that the commonplace remark will be interposed,
that, "commercial privileges are not worth having, when not
" secured by mutual interest; and never worth purchasing be-
" cause they will grow of themselves out of a mutual interest."
Prudent men, who do not suffer their reason to be misled by
their prejudices, will view the subject in a juster light. They
will reflect, that if commercial privileges are not worth pur
chasing, they are worth having without purchase; that in the
commerce of a great nation, there are valuable privileges which
may be granted or not granted, or granted either to this or that
country, without any sensible influence on the interest of the
nation itself; that the friendly or unfriendly disposition of a
country, is always an article of moment in the calculations of a
comprehensive interest; that some sacrifices of interest will be
made to other motives, by nations as well as by individuals,
1793. HELVIDIUS, NO. V.
though not with the same frequency, or in the same proportions;
that more of a disinterested conduct or of a conduct founded on
liberal views of interest, prevails in some nations than in others;
that as far as can be seen of the influence of the revolution on
the genius and the policy of France, particularly with regard
to the United States, everything is to be hoped by the latter
on this subject, which one country can reasonably hope from
another. In this point of view a greater error could not have
been committed than in a step, that might have turned the pres
ent disposition of France to open her commerce to us as far as
a liberal calculation of her interest would permit, and her
friendship towards us, and confidence in our friendship towards
her, could prompt, into a disposition to shut it as closely against
us as the united motives of interest, of distrust, and of ill-will,
could urge her.
On the supposition that France might intend to claim the
guaranty, a hasty and harsh refusal before we were asked, on
a ground that accused her of being the aggressor in the war
against every power in the catalogue of her enemies, and in a
crisis when all her sensibility must be alive towards the United
States, would have given every possible irritation to a disap
pointment which every motive that one nation could feel towards
another and towards itself, required to be alleviated by all the
circumspection and delicacy that could be applied to the occa
sion.
The silence of the Executive since the accession of Spain and
Portugal to the war against France throws great light on the
present discussion. Had the proclamation been issued in the
sense, and for the purposes ascribed to it, that is to say, as a
declaration of neutrality, another would have followed, on that
event. If it was the right and duty of the Government, that is,
the President, to manifest to Great Britain and Holland, and
to the American merchants and citizens, his sense, his disposition,
and his views on the question, whether the United States ivere
under the circumstances of the case, bound or not, to execute tJ/e
clause of guaranty, and not to leave it uncertain whether the E.r-
ecutive did or did not believe a state of neutrality, to be consist-
654 WORKS OF MADISON. 1793.
ent with our treaties, the duty as well as the right prescribed a
similar manifestation to all the parties concerned after* Spain
and Portugal had joined the other maritime enemies of France.
The opinion of the Executive with respect to a consistency or
inconsistency of neutrality with treaties in the latter case, could
not be inferred from the proclamation in the former, because
the circumstances might be different. Taking the proclamation
in its proper sense, as reminding all concerned, that as the Uni
ted States were at peace, (that state not being affected by for
eign wars, and only to be changed by the legislative authority
of the country,) the laws of peace were still obligatory and would
be enforced, and the inference is so obvious and so applicable
to all other cases whatever circumstances may distinguish them,
that another proclamation would be unnecessary. Here is a
new aspect of the whole subject, admonishing us in the most
striking manner at once of the danger of the prerogative con
tended for, and the absurdity of the distinctions and arguments
employed in its favour. It would be as impossible in practice,
as it is in theory, to separate the power of judging and conclu
ding that the obligations of a treaty do not impose war from
that of judging and concluding that the obligations do impose
war. In certain cases, silence would proclaim the latter con
clusion, as intelligibly as words could do the former. The
writer indeed has himself abandoned the distinction in his Tilth
paper, by declaring expressly that the object of the proclama
tion would have been defeated " by leaving it uncertain whether
" the Executive did or did not believe a state of neutrality to
" be consistent with our treaties."
HELVTDTTTS
* The writer is betrayed into an acknowledgment of this in his 7th No., where
he applies his reasoning to Spain as well as to Great Britain and Holland. He
had forgotten that Spain was not included in the proclamation.
INDEX
TO
LETTERS CONTAINED IN VOL, I,
B.
PAGE.
To WILLIAM BRADFORD, JR.
9 November, 1772 ... 5
28 April, 1773- - - 7
6 September, " - - - 9
20 January, 1774- - - 10
1 April, " - - - 13
Uuly, " - - - 15
20 January, 1775 - 17
To JOHN BROWN.
23 August, 1785 - - - 177
E.
To GEORGE EVE.
2 January, 1789 - - - 446
F.
To MARQUIS FAYETTE.
20 March, 1785- - - 136
J.
To THOMAS JEFFERSON.
11 February, 1 83 - - - 62
10 March, 1 84 - - - 68
25 April, ... 77
15 May, - 80
3 July, - 86
20 August, ... 90
7 September, 99
15 September, - - - 101
11 October, - - - 102
17 October, - - - 104
9 January, 1 85 - - - 122
27 April, - - - 145
20 August, - - - 173
3 October, - - - 195
15 November, ... 202
22 January, 1 86 - - - 211
18 March, ... 224
12 May, - - - 230
12 August, - - - 242
4 December, ... 259
15 February, 1787 - - - 272
1788
To THOMAS JEFFERSON.
19 March, 1787
23 April, « ,
15 May, "
6 June, "
18 July,
6 September, " •
24 October, "
9 December, "
19 February,
22 April, "
24 July,
10 August,
23 August,
21 September,
8 October,
17 October,
8 December,
12 December,
29 March,
9 May,
23 May,
27 May,
13 June,
30 June,
24 January,
4 February,
14 February,
8 March,
1 May,
12 May,
23 June,
27 June,
10 July,
13 July,
4 August,
8 August,
12 June,
12 April,
8 May,
27 May,
13 June,
1789-
1790-
1791-
1792
1793
PAGE.
• 284
• 319
• 328
• 330
• 333
• 337
• 343
• 362
• 376
• 387
• 404
• 407
• 410
• 417
• 420
• 421
• 441
• 446
457
465
470
471
475
479
501
503
507
511
534
535
537
537
538
539
540
541
560
576
578
579
580
656
INDEX TO LETTERS IN VOL. I.
To THOMAS JEFFERSON.
1793
17 June,
19 June,
29 June,
18 July,
22 July,
30 July,
5 August,
11 August,
20 August,
22 August,
27 August,
2 September,
To HENRY LEE.
13 April, 1790-
18 December, 1791 -
29 January, 1792 -
12 February, " -
28 March, " -
15 April, " -
To RICHARD HENRY LEE.
25 December, 1784 -
7 July, 1785 -
FROM R. H. LEE and W. GRAYSON
to the Legislature of Vir
ginia -----
M.
To JAMES MADISON, SENIOR.
23 July, 1770 -
9 October, 1771 -
27 June, 1776-
March, 1777-
23 January, 1778 -
6 March, " -
8 December, 1779 -
20 March, 1780 -
1 August, 1781 -
12 February, 1782 -
30 March " -
1 January, 1783 -
12 February, " -
27 May, " -
5 June, " -
5 June, 1784 -
27 November, " -
1 November, 1786 -
16 November, " -
24 November, " -
12 December, " -
25 February, 1787 -
1 April, " -
27 May, « - - -
28 July, " -
4 September, " -
30 September, " -
AGE.
PAGE.
To JAMES MADISON, SENIOR.
583
20 June, 1788 -
- 400
584
27 July, " -
- 406
585
5 July, 1789 -
- 485
585
23 January, 1791 -
- 527
586
13 February, " -
- 529
588
To REV. THOMAS MARTIN.
590
30 September, 1769 -
1
591
To PHILIP MAZZEI.
593
7 July, 1781 -
- 44
594
10 December, 1788 -
- 444
595
To JAMES MONROE.
596
November, 1784 -
- 107
14 November, " -
- 108
27 November, " -
- 109
4 December, " -
- 112
515
17 December, " -
- 114
543
24 December, " -
- 114
547
8 January, 1785 -
- 120
547
21 March, " -
- 141
551
12 April, " -
- 143
553
28 April, « -
- 152
29 May, " -
- 153
117
21 June, " -
- 155
157
7 August, " -
- 169
9 December, " -
- 203
24 December, " -
- 208
499
30 December, " -
- 210
22 January, 1786 -
- 221
19 March, " -
- 228
9 April, " -
- 229
4
13 May, " -
- 237
4
4 June, " -
- 238
21
21 June, " -
- 231)
28
15 August, " -
- 248
30
17 August, " -
- 248
31
11 September, " -
- 249
32
5 October, " -
- 250
34
30 October, " -
- 251
50
21 December, " -
- 266
58
19 April, 1787 -
- 315
59
13 May, 1789 -
- 469
61
9 August, " -
- 489
61
17 April, ' 1790 -
- 517
64
1 June, " -
- 519
65
17 June, " -
- 520
81
4 July, « -
- 521
112
24 July, " -
- 522
254
15 September, 1793 -
- 601
257
29 October, " -
- 605
257
265
P.
280
To EDMUND PENDLETON.
286
3 October, 1780 -
- 34
329
10 October, " -
- 35
335
14 November, " -
- 37
336
21 November, " -
- 38
341
5 December, " -
- 39
INDEX TO LETTERS IN VOL. I.
657
To EDMUND PENDLETON.
December, 1780 -
23 January, 1781 -
February, " -
18 September, " -
2 October, " -
9 October, " -
16 October, " -
27 November, " -
11 December, " -
25 December, " -
9 January, 1787 -
24 February, " -
22 April, « -
27 May " -
20 September, " -
28 October " -
21 February, 1788 -
3 March, " -
20 October, " -
8 April, 1789 -
19 April, " -
17 May, " -
21 June, " -
15 July, " -
14 September, " -
23 September, " -
4 April. 1790 -
13 April, " -
-2 May, « -
22 June, " -
2 January, 1791 -
13 February, " -
15 December, " -
21 January, 1792 -
21 February, " -
25 March,
9 April,
16 November,
6 December,
10 December,
23 February, 1793-
To ROBERT PLEASANTS.
30 October, 1791 -
B.
To EDMUND RANDOLPH.
1 May, 1781 -
10 March, 1784 -
10 March, 1785 -
26 July, " -
10 April,
23 November,
1 March,
12 April,
10 May,
31 May,
17 June,
VOL. I.
1788-
tt
1789-
PAGE.
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 51
- 52
- 52
- 54
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 269
- 278
- 316
- 328
- 340
- 358
- 381
- 382
- 428
- 461
- 464
- 470
- 477
- 487
- 491
- 492
- 514
- 517
- 518
- 520
-. 523
- 528
- 543
- 545
- 548
- 549
- 552
- 571
- 572
- 573
- 574
- 542
43
66
135
159
385
438
450
463
467
473
476
42
1787
To EDMUND RANDOLPH.
24 June, 1789 -
15 July, " -
21 August, " -
14 March, 1790 -
21 March, " -
30 March, " -
19 May, " -
13 September, 1792 -
To BENJAMIN RUSH.
7 March, 1790 -
T.
TO G. L. TURBERVILLE.
2 November, 1788 -
W.
To GEORGE WASHINGTON.
29 April, 1783 -
2 July, 1784 -
1 January, 1785 -
11 November, " -
9 December, " -
1 November, 1786 -
8 November, " -
7 December, " -
24 December,
21 February,
18 March, " -
16 April, " -
14 October, " -
18 November, " -
20 November, " -
7 December, " -
14 December, " -
26 December, " -
14 January, 1788 -
25 January, " -
28 January, " -
1 February, " -
8 February, " -
11 February, " -
15 February, " -
20 February, " -
3 March, " -
10 April, " -
4 June, " -
13 June, " -
18 June, " -
23 June,
25 June,
27 June,
21 July,
15 August,
24 August,
14 September,
21 October,
5 November,
PAGE.
- 479
- 488
- 490
- 511
- 512
- 513
- 518
- 569
- 509
- 433
64
85
119
199
205
252
253
263
267
276
281
287
342
360
361
362
367
368
369
370
372
373
374
375
376
379
383
384
398
399
400
401
401
402
403
409
412
416
429
436
658
INDEX TO LETTERS IN VOL. I.
To GEORGE WASHINGTON.
2 December, 1788 -
14 January, 1789 -
5 March,
8 March,
19 March,
26 March,
t* m
PAGE.
PAGE.
To GEORGE WASHINGTON.
439
6 April, " -
- 461
448
20 November, " -
- 494
451
5 December, " -
- 496
452
4 January, 1790 -
- 500
453
21 June, 1792 -
- 563
454
24 October, 1793 -
- 602
01-
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