To James Madison from Jacob Willard, 12 June 1815
From Jacob Willard
Marblehead Mass. June 12th 1815
Sir,
I take the liberty of enclosing to Your Excellency a sketch of the part I took in a late Legislative Debate, in this Commonwealth, on a subject, which I apprehend has undergone a discussion, in an other form, at the Capitol.1 I allude to the late provision of Congress for rece[i]ving any State Corps that might be raised into the National Service.2 I have been induced to trouble Your Excellency with this communication, in the hope of obtaining the Sentiments of One, on the constitutionality of raising independent State Troops, who from the very considerable part born in framing the National Compact, & the great experience in Administering the Government under it, must be the best qualified to give that important Instrument its legitimate construction.
I pray Your Excellency will have the goodness to pardon this intrusion, from one ardently desiring the Health & Happiness of a Chief Magistrate so justly, so highly, & so universally respected; And permit me the honor of subscribing myself, Your Excellency’s most obedient, & most humble Servant,
Jacob Willard
RC and enclosure (DLC). Cover sheet docketed by JM. For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosed undated manuscript copy of Willard’s speech in the Massachusetts legislature “on the Resolve for raising a state army, as connected with the project for a new-england convention” (6 pp.) contested the assertion on which the proposal was founded—that the federal government had not provided for the defense of Massachusetts—by reminding his fellow legislators of Gov. Caleb Strong’s refusal to detach militia for federal service as requested (for the incident, see 4:541 n. 1). Willard argued further that raising a state army would violate the U.S. Constitution by depriving the president of command of the country’s armed forces, that it would moreover be impossible to accomplish in a timely manner, and that it would be prohibitively expensive. He denounced the scheme of demanding that the Massachusetts state government be given control of the federal taxes collected within the state (for the plan, see William Eustis to JM, ca. 2 Feb. 1815, 8:549–50 and n. 2), and advised the legislature to cooperate with the federal government’s defense measures.
2. For the act, see ibid., 8:437–38 n. 1.