1251James Madison to Edward Coles, 29 August 1834 (Madison Papers)
I have received, my dear Sir, your favor of the 17th. The motives to it are as precious to me, as its object is controvertible. You have certainly presented your views of the subject with great skill and great force. But you have not sufficiently adverted to the position I have assumed, and which has been accorded or rather assigned to me by others, of being withdrawn from party agitations, by...
1252From James Madison to Elbridge Gerry, 21 June 1811 (Madison Papers)
I thank you for your polite communication of the Speech to your Legislature. The solid & seasonable truths so emphatically inculcated in it, can not fail to do much good. The noise & anger which it is exciting, prove that the faction is deeply stung by the exposure of its guilt, and will increase the public indignation, by rousing a more diffusive attention to the subject. The delay of Mr....
1253From James Madison to John Smith, 26 May 1807 (Madison Papers)
Mr. Purviance will put into your charge several packages and letters for the Ministers of the United States and others in France, which you will please to deliver into the hands of Mr. Aaron Vail, our Consul at L’Orient, upon your arrival at that place, together with the enclosed letter to him. I am &c DNA : RG 59—DL—Domestic Letters.
1254From James Madison to Edmund Randolph, 12 November 1782 (second) (Madison Papers)
RC ( LC : Madison Papers). Cover addressed to “The honble Edmd. Randolph favd. by Dr. Tucker who will deliver it himself if he can—if not by the hand of Col: Monroe.” This cover was docketed by Randolph, “Novr. 12. 1782 J Madison.” On the fragment of a second cover there appears, certainly not in Tucker’s and seemingly not in Monroe’s hand, “[Ho]nble Edmund Randolph Esqr. Richmond.” Resolved...
1255From James Madison to James Monroe, 25 November 1806 (Madison Papers)
In the month of September last, the French ship of War L’Impetueux of 74 guns, being disabled by a gale of wind, and making for an asylum, was fired upon and afterwards burnt by the British ship Melampus and two others, on the coast of North Carolina, within the limits of our jurisdiction. The inclosed communication from the Navy Department, which had instituted an enquiry through Capt....
1256From James Madison to an Unidentified Correspondent, 21 October 1815 (Madison Papers)
¶ To an Unidentified Correspondent. Letter not found. 21 October 1815. Offered for sale by Charles F. Heartman, Catalogue No. 233, Important Washingtoniana and Rare Americana (1932), item 299, and described as a two-page autograph letter, signed, written at Washington, “referring to financial matters and mentioning Mrs. Washington.”
1257To George Washington from James Madison, 1 November 1786 (Washington Papers)
I have been here too short a time as yet to have collected fully the politics of the Session. In general appearances 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 Missisippi is but imperfectly known. I find that its influence on the federal spirit will not be less than was apprehended. The...
1258From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 12 August 1824 (Madison Papers)
The bearer Mr. E. Tayloe, son of Col: Tayloe of Washington is desirous of making a respectful call at Monticello, and I can not refuse to his motive, the gratification of a line presenting him to you. He is at present a resident at Fredericksburg, reading Law with his kinsman Mr Lomax; and appears to be quite estimable & amiable. Mr T. is so good as to take charge of the 4 last volumes of Las...
1259From James Madison to David Montagu Erskine, 1 August 1808 (Madison Papers)
I have the Honor to submit to Your Attention a Copy of a Letter of June 4th: of the current Year from William Reeves, stiling himself an Officer in the Naval Service of His Brittannic Majesty, and acting as Prize Master to a Spanish Vessel captured by the British Frigate Hebe, to Governor Claiborne of the Orleans Territory. I cannot doubt, Sir, that this fresh Instance of insulting Address...
1260From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 15 August 1807 (Madison Papers)
The gentleman who brings the inclosed letters recommending him for a public Agency at Martinique, had thoughts of proceeding to Monticello. He declines it in consequence of his conversation with me on the subject. I have apprized him, that it was not thought proper to give a formal commission in such a case without some formal or positive sanction from the French Govt. He readily enters into...
1261From James Madison to James Monroe, 14 December 1794 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 14 December 1794, Philadelphia. Introduces Robert S. Van Rensselaer. RC offered for sale by Leonard & Co., Auctioneers, Catalogue of a Valuable Private Library, Including … Rare Autograph Letters (Boston, 9 May 1866), p. 15, item 7.
1262From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 8 December 1801 (Madison Papers)
I have the honor to transmit herewith two copies of the second census (except for the State of Tennessee, which is not yet received) and to notice the following deviations from the law under which it was taken, affecting the uniformity of some of the returns. The return for the counties of Dutchess, Ulster & Orange in the District of New York was not recd. at this office until the 21st. of...
1263From James Madison to Levett Harris, 26 June 1804 (Madison Papers)
Your letter, enclosing the application you made to Count Worontzow, respecting the crew of the Frigate Philadelphia, and his answer have come to hand. Some acknowledgment for this prompt and liberal interposition, and the friendly assurances with which it has been accompanied being due to the occasion, I enclose a letter to this effect which you will be pleased to convey to Count Worontzow....
1264To Thomas Jefferson from James Madison, 13 December 1795 (Jefferson Papers)
I received yesterday your favor covering a letter to Monsr. Liancourt which I have put into the hands of Noailles who will attend to the delivery of it. I inclose a copy of the P’s speech . The Senate have answered it, as was to be expected. You will see the first fruits of their open doors in the debates it produced. The answer of the House of Reps. will be reported tomorrow. It has been...
1265From James Madison to Zebulon Hollingsworth, 26 October 1804 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
26 October 1804, Department of State. “I will thank you to transmit to me, as soon as you can make it convenient, a statement comprizing the result of the investigations on the subject of a complaint of the British Minister, which you are requested to make in conjunction with the Collector of Baltimore, by my letter of the 28th. of August last . The intimation that you would lay the evidence...
1266From James Madison to Christopher Gore, 6 April 1803 (Madison Papers)
Within a few days past the Secretary of the Treasury received information of the failure of Messrs. Bird, Savage & Bird, and yesterday Mr. Kings letter on that subject came to hand. As this event will have embarrassed our pecuniary arrangements and render a prompt supply necessary, the Secretary of the Treasury has consented to direct you to hold the sum of $17,887 50/100 of former remittances...
1267From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 23 April 1810 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 16th. has been recd. It is not improbable that there will be an early occasion to send for public purposes, a ship to G. B. & France; & that Norfolk will be the port of Departure. I recommend therefore that your plow be lodged there as soon as may be, with the proper instructions to your Agent. It may not be amiss to include in them a discretion to forward the plow to any other...
1268James Madison to Elliott Cresson, 23 April 1829 (Madison Papers)
With the examples before me, and as a token of the esteem and good wishes I feel for Elliott Cresson, I take pleasure in complying with his request, by the following sample of my handwriting-"Liberty & Learning, both best supported, when leaning, each on the other.[] RC (General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library); FC (DLC) .
1269From James Madison to [Nicholas Lewis?], 25 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
In a letter of March 15. from Mr. Jefferson I am requested to communicate to you the result of his application for leave to make a visit to America. The application was made long ago, but never decided on under the old Congress, nor taken up under the present Government till a few days ago. His wish is now complied with and notice that he has leave of absence will be forwith transmitted...
1270From James Madison to John Rutherfoord, 29 May 1827 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of the 25th. has been duly recd: and partaking as I do in the kind service rendered in the transaction committed to you, I beg you to accept my share of the acknowledgments. I unite with Mrs. Madison in returning the affectionate expressions from Mrs. Rutherfoo[r]d & yourself; which we shall be happy in repeating at Montpr. whenever you exchange the Atmosphere of Richd. for the...
1271Expense Account as Delegate in Congress, [20 December] 1780 (Madison Papers)
MS (Virginia State Library). In this instance, unlike on 25 September ( q.v. ) when JM forwarded an expense account to the Virginia Auditors of Public Accounts, he either wrote no covering letter to them or it has been lost. The statement given below covers the quarter from 20 September to 20 December 1780 and is taken from a double-size master sheet on which Madison recorded his debits and...
1272From James Madison to Isaac Hite, 15 December 1804 (Madison Papers)
I recd. by Mr. Rogers your favor of the 6th. Having not yet settled with the Butchers, from whom I have recd. in broken sums nearly the whole of their dbts., I cannot in the present haste ascertain the precise amount to be placed agst. the advan⟨c⟩e to Kincade. As there will be nearly a balance in that case, I return you the two former notes, which may hereafter if expedient be turned into a...
1273From James Madison to William C. C. Claiborne, 31 October 1803 (Madison Papers)
You will find herewith a copy of the late Treaty with France ceding Louisiana to the United States which has been duly ratified and the ratifications exchanged; and two Commissions, one authorizing yourself and General Wilkinson jointly or seperately to receive possession, the other vesting in you alone the power necessary for the immediate Government of the ceded territory. Copies of the act...
1274From James Madison to John Cotton Smith, 1 April 1806 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
§ To John Cotton Smith. 1 April 1806, Department of State. “The enclosed memorial of Messrs. Nicklin & Griffith and others respecting the intervention of Genl. Armstrong in their claim in the case of the New Jersey, the documents received with it, the extract of the Genl’s. letter of the 26 Novr. last, also enclosed, together with a copy of a letter of the 25 August to him from this...
1275James Madison to George W. Spotswood, November 1833 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your letter of the 11th and am glad to learn that you find the change made in your location, an agreeable one. I hope it will prove a profitable one also. It is a proof of your good feelings that you mix with the luxuries which you share, so much sympathy with the distresses which you witness in others in their transit from one hard fate to another. I am sorry I can give you no...
1276From James Madison to James Monroe, [ca. 10 November] 1800 (Madison Papers)
Mr. Erwin proposing to set out in the morning without my again seeing him, I think proper to add to the few lines with which he is already charged, that our interview closed without any allusion to the secondary object of the election. If I had not expected, as intimated by you, that he would bring on the subject, it would no doubt have dropt from me. As it is possible he may draw some...
1277From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 7 July 1809 (Madison Papers)
The inclosed letter from Mr. S. came under cover to me. It was brought by the vessel lately arrived at Phila. from Dunkirk. It appears that he had not left Paris, for Petersbg: nor meant to do so, untill he shd. hear further from the U. S; as he has probably explained to you. Mr. Coles had rea[c]hed Paris; but in the absence of the French Court, nothing could be said very interesting on the...
1278Bill Providing Funds for a James River Canal, [18 December] 1784 (Madison Papers)
The distance between Norfolk and Louisville, at the Falls of the Ohio, is about 525 miles; but in the 1780s the question was not how remote the extremes of Virginia were from each other, but whether these distant points even belonged in the same empire. In tidewater Virginia there was much feeling that navigable rivers from the foothills of the Alleghenies would draw western produce to eastern...
1279From James Madison to Edward Thornton, 12 July 1801 (Madison Papers)
I have been duly honoured with your letter of the 6th instant. Mine of the 12th of June made you acquainted that orders had issued for the immediate departure of the British prize brought into the port of Philadelphia by a Spanish armed Ship; and that the circumstances of the latter would be enquired into particularly as a guide to any farther steps that might be requisite. Information has...
1280From James Madison to Alexander Hamilton, 9 June 1788 (Madison Papers)
The Heat of the weather &c. has laid me up with a bilious attack: I am not able therefore to say more than a few words. No material indications have taken place since my last. The chance at present seems to be in our favor. But it is possible things may take another turn. Oswald of Phila. came here on saturday; and has closet interviews with the leaders of the Opposition. Yours Affely. RC (...
1281From James Madison to Joseph Wheaton, 6 July 1820 (Madison Papers)
I have just recd. your letter of the 1st. instant. Your wish that your descendants shd. possess a just & favorable view of their ancestor is natural & commendable. There are others whose knowlege of your character & public services being more special may enable them to do more justice to your object than I can do. What I can say with truth & with pleasure is that in originally favoring your...
1282James Madison to Alexander Garrett, 21 November 1828 (Madison Papers)
Do me the favor to forward, for the Report to be made to the Literary Board, the annual contribution of the Bursar With great respect Draft (DLC) . The following draft for A. S. Brockenbrough, November 21, 1828, is subjoined.
1283From James Madison to Joel Barlow, 11 August 1812 (Madison Papers)
As I write on short notice and in cypher, I must be very brief. The conduct of the F. Govt. explained in yours of May. 12. on the subject of the decre⟨e⟩ of April ⟨18⟩11 will be an everlasting reproach to it . It is the more shameful as, departing from the declar⟨a⟩tion to general armstrong of which the enforcement of the non importation was the effect the revoking decre⟨e⟩ assumes this as the...
1284From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 17 March 1803 (Madison Papers)
In the inclosed Intelligencer you will find the letter from Pichon to the Govr. of Louisiana. Having been written without reference to its publication, it is less carefully fitted than Yrujo’s for the contemplated impression; and in connection with that presents some points for sophistical comments, which are made rather more, than less salient by the reflections of the Editor. The letter will...
1285From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 26 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
I am just in possession of your favor of the 24 inst: & thank you for the pamphlet which I shall look over without delay. Mr. Dorhman has this moment handed me a letter to Mazzei which will give him the change of prospect as to the balance of the debt. I really believe D’s misfortune to have been great & real. Mazzei must rest contented with his ultimate security in the land which I consider...
1286From James Madison to the Senate, 23 January 1817 (Madison Papers)
I transmit to the Senate a report of the Acting Secretary of War, in compliance with their resolution of the 8th instant. RC and enclosures ( DNA : RG 46, Legislative Proceedings, President’s Messages, 14A–E6). RC in John Payne Todd’s hand, signed by JM . JM enclosed a report from George Graham (see Graham to JM , 21 Jan. 1817 ), providing “the amount of money paid by the government of the...
1287From James Madison to Simon Theus, 13 February 1806 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
§ To Simon Theus. 13 February 1806, Department of State. “I request you will be pleased to purchase and ship to the care of the Collector of the Customs at Norfolk twentyfive barrels of the whitest & finest rice. As it is intended for the Bey of Tunis, I must beg the favor of you to be particular in the choice, & take care that the Casks be strong and in good order. On receiving an account of...
1288From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 15 March 1792 (Madison Papers)
The last letter recd. from you was that of Feby. 1. Since my answer to that the state of the roads & rivers has been such as to render the conveyance of letters very tedious if not uncertain, and hence to produce the interval between that date & the present. I now inclose 5 Nos. of the National Gazette which continue the intelligence throughout the period of my silence. You will find noticed...
1289From James Madison to Daniel Parker, 12 September 1813 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
12 September 1813, Montpelier. “J. Madison requests the favor of Mr. Parker, to seal & deliver the inclosed, if the Gentlemen to whom it is addressed should be in Washington; if they are not to forward it to the post office at Fredg. to await their call. To put Mr. P. in full possession of the case, The letter & Memorial referred to are inclosed.” RC ( PHi : Daniel Parker Papers). 1 p. The...
1290James Madison to Henry A. S. Dearborn, 13 February 1833 (Madison Papers)
J. Madison has received the Copy of the Speech of Genl. Dearborn kindly forwarded by him. His ability has done ample justice to the subject as viewed by him, and his partiality much beyond justice to the deserts of his friend RC (DLC : Blair and Woodbury Autograph Collection); FC (DLC) .
1291From James Madison to Benjamin Joy, 6 May 1822 (Madison Papers)
Not having recd. an answer to the original I conclude it must have miscarried, and enclose a duplicate of it. Should I not hear from you in time I will forward your brother’s letter referred to the Scy of the Board of Commissioners, tho’ I should prefer doing so to your Agent, were I acquainted with his name, and sure that it would find him at Washington. Draft ( DLC ). See JM to Benjamin Joy,...
1292James Madison to Samuel P. Walker, Jr., 14 January 1830 (Madison Papers)
A rule which I have found it expedient to impose on myself not permitting me to comply with the request in your letter of the 10th. inst; I can only express the pleasure with which I observe the high testimony borne to your promising talents and worth; a pleasure which is enhanced by your relation to an illustrious patriot, in the public veneration for whose memory, my personal share is so...
1293James Madison to Jared Sparks, 13 March 1828 (Madison Papers)
I had the pleasure of receiving a few days ago, your favor of Feb. 27th. from Washington. It was quite unexpected, the Newspapers having announced, without any subsequent contradiction, your departure for Europe. Since my last to you, I have recd. a letter from Col. Storrow, in answer to an enquiring one, in which he informs me that the Packet you committed to him is still in his hands, adding...
1294Public Debt, [11 February] 1793 (Madison Papers)
The House passed a resolution on 21 November 1792 requesting the secretary of the treasury to report a plan for the reduction of the public debt. On 3 December Hamilton submitted his report, which the Committee of the Whole considered on 11 February 1793 ( Annals of Congress Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, 1789–1824 (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56). , 2d Cong., 2d...
1295From James Madison to Alexander J. Dallas, 12 January 1804 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
12 January 1804, Department of State. “I duly received both your letters [not found] respecting the Brig Friends. The President having given no direction for a remission of the penalties incurred, it follows that the law ought to take its course. I should have returned a particular answer to the first letter, had I been acquainted with the suspension and its consequences, which have...
1296From James Madison to Rufus King, 20 July 1802 (Madison Papers)
A case has lately been stated to the Treasury Department by one of the Northwestern Collectors of the Customs, which turns on a construction of the Treaty of 1794, between the United States and Great Britain, in relation to “portages or carrying places.” I inclose a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Comptroller, which conveys the sentiments of the President on that...
1297James Madison to [William Duer], 16 August 1828 (Madison Papers)
J. M. with his respects to Mr. Du[e]r, incloses with a corrected ad[s] the letter return, him[.] has left unchanged the [place] in the description; Yellow Birches sundry letters recd from that quarter, having that apparently as a post—mark on them. Draft (DLC) .
1298James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 22 June 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I inclose d an authentication of the blood of the our Merinos, as translated from the Original by M r Graham : also a state of the charges incident the to their passages &c. The half falling to your share, of course, may be left for any convenient occasion of being replaced. You need not trouble yourself to remit it hither. On the first publication of the dispatches by the J. Adams , so strong...
1299From James Madison to John Stephen, 10 July 1807 (Madison Papers)
In your letter of the 18th. Ultimo, you intimated that you had applied for a Habs. Corps: in behalf of Capt. Mouesan. Be so obliging as to make me acquainted with the result, & with any other circumstance r elating to his case subsequent to the date of your letter. I am &c: DNA : RG 59—DL—Domestic Letters.
1300From James Madison to John Hartwell Cocke, 26 March 1827 (Madison Papers)
I think it proper to inclose you a copy of my letter to Mr. Gallatin, not merely for your information, but that I may be favored, with any additions or alterations that may occur to you. You will perceive the difficulty of accomodating the resort to Mr. Gallatin to the shortness of time, the uncertainty of his success, and the proper reserve for the chance of success here. In alluding to the...