1From James Madison to Philip Mazzei, 8 October 1788 (Madison Papers)
I have been favored with several letters from you since the date of my last; but some of them having been recd. in Virginia I am not able now to acknowledge all of them by their respective dates. The date of the last was in May. You ask me why I agreed to the Constitution proposed by the Convention at Philada.? I answer, because I thought it safe to the liberties of the people, and the best...