31To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 8 February 1786 (Madison Papers)
My last letters have been of the 1st. & 20th. of Sep. and the 28th. of Oct. yours unacknoleged, are of Aug. 20. Oct. 3. & Nov. 15. I take this the first safe opportunity of inclosing you the bills of lading for your books, & two others for your name sake of Williamsburgh & for the attorney which I will pray you to forward. I thank you for the communication of the remonstrance against the...
32To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 9 February 1786 (Madison Papers)
In my letter of yesterday I forgot to inclose one I have received on the subject of a debt due to mr Paradise, and I wish the present letter may reach the bearer of that in time to go by the same conveiance. The inclosed from Doctor Bancroft will explain itself. I add my solicitations to his, not to ask any thing to be done for mr Paradise inconsistent with the justice due to others, but that...
33To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 25 April 1786 (Madison Papers)
Some of the objects of the joint commissions with which we were honoured by Congress called me to this place about six weeks ago. Tomorrow I set out on my return to Paris. With this nation nothing is done; and it is now decided that they intend to do nothing with us. The king is against a change of measures; his ministers are against it, some from principle, others from attachment to their...
34To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 16 December 1786 (Madison Papers)
After a very long silence, I am at length able to write to you. An unlucky dislocation of my right wrist has disabled me from using my pen for three months. I now begin to use it a little, but with great pain; so that this letter must be taken up at such intervals as the state of my hand will permit, & will probably be the work of some days. Tho’ the joint seems to be well set, the swelling...
35To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 30 January 1787 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of the 16th. of Dec. since which I have received yours of Nov. 25. & Dec. 4. which afforded me, as your letters always do, a treat on matters public, individual & oeconomical. I am impatient to learn your sentiments on the late troubles in the Eastern states. So far as I have yet seen, they do not appear to threaten serious consequences. Those states have suffered by the...
36To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 7 February 1787 (Madison Papers)
I leave the inclosed open for your perusal & that of your Collegues & others to whom you may chuse to shew it; only taking care that neither copies nor extracts be taken. Be so good, when you are done with it, as to stick a wafer in it and forward it to the Governor. I am with sincere esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt P. S. I do not know whether you are acquainted with young Bannister who...
37To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 20 June 1787 (Madison Papers)
I wrote you last on the 30th. of Jan. with a postscript of Feb. 5. Having set out the last day of that month to try the waters of Aix, and been journeying since till the 10th. inst. I have been unable to continue my correspondence with you. In the mean time I have received your several favors of Feb. 15. Mar. 18. 19. & Apr. 23. The last arrived here about the 25th. of May, while those of Mar....
38To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 2 August 1787 (Madison Papers)
My last was of June 20. Your’s received since that date are May 15. and June 6. In mine I acknoleged the receipt of the Paccan nuts which came sealed up. I have reason to believe those in the box are arrived at Lorient. By the Mary capt Howland lately sailed from Havre to N. York I shipped three boxes of books one marked I.M. for yourself, one marked B.F. for Doctr. Franklin, & one marked W.H....
39To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 15 August 1787 (Madison Papers)
A gentleman going from hence by Lorient to Boston furnishes me an opportunity of recommending to your care the inclosed letters which I could not get ready for the last packet. Pray inform me in your next whether letters directed to your foreign ministers or franked by them are free of postage. That they ought to be so, is acknoleged substantially by the resolution of Congress allowing us to...
40To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 17 September 1787 (Madison Papers)
My last to you were of Aug. 2. & 15. Since that I have sent to Havre to be forwarded to you by the present packet 3. boxes marked I.M. G.W. and A.D. The two last are for mr. Wythe in Williamsburgh, and mr. Alexr. Donald merchant in Richmond. The first contains the books for yourself which shall be noted at the close of my letter, together with the following for mr. Rittenhouse; viz. la Chymie...
41To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 8 October 1787 (Madison Papers)
The bearer hereof the count de Moustier, successor to Monsr. de la Luzerne, would from his office need no letter of introduction to you or to any body. Yet I take the liberty of recommending him to you to shorten those formal approaches which the same office would otherwise expose him to in making your acquaintance. He is a great enemy to formality, etiquette, ostentation & luxury. He goes...
42To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 20 December 1787 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of Oct. 8. by the Count de Moustier. Yours of July 18. Sep. 6. & Oct. 24. have been successively received, yesterday, the day before & three or four days before that. I have only had time to read the letters, the printed papers communicated with them, however interesting, being obliged to lie over till I finish my dispatches for the packet, which dispatches must go from...
43To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 6 February 1788 (Madison Papers)
I wrote you last on the 20th. of December since which your’s of the same day and of the 9th. have come to hand. The apples & cranberries you were so kind as to send at the same time were all spoiled when they arrived at Havre, so that probably those articles will not keep during the passage. The box of plants is arrived at the Custom house here, but I shall probably not receive them till after...
44To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 8 March 1788 (Madison Papers)
The bearer of this letter is mr. Francis Adrian Van der Kemp one of the late victims of patriotism in Holland. Having determined to remove himself & his family to America, his friend the Baron de Capellen, another of those expatriated worthies, has asked of me to give letters of introduction to Mr. Van der Kemp, recommending him for his extraordinary zeal in the cause of liberty, his talents,...
45To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 1 May 1788 (Madison Papers)
The bearer hereof, Monsieur de Warville, is already known to you by his writings, some of which I have heretofore sent you, & particularly his work sur la France et les etats unis. I am happy to be able to present him to you in person, assured that you will find him in all his dispositions equally estimable as for his genius. I nee[d] only to ask your acquaintance for him. That will dispo[se]...
46To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 3 May 1788 (Madison Papers)
Mine of Feb. 6. acknoleged the receipt of yours of Dec. 9. and 20. Since that, those of Feb. 19. & 20. are come to hand. The present will be delivered you by mr. Warville, whom you will find truly estimable, & a great enthusiast for liberty. His writings will have shewn you this. For public news I must refer you to my letter to mr. Jay. Those I wrote to him from Amsterdam will have informed...
47To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 25 May 1788 (Madison Papers)
The inclosed letter for mr. Jay being of a private nature, I have thought it better to put it under your cover lest it might be opened by some of his clerks in the case of his absence. But I inclose a press copy of it for yourself, as you will perceive the subject of it referred to you as well as to him. I ask your aid in it so far as you think right, and to have done what you think right. If...
48To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 31 July 1788 (Madison Papers)
My last letters to you were of the 3d & 25. of May. Yours from Orange, of Apr. 22. came to hand on the 10th. inst. My letter to mr. Jay containing all the public news that is well authenticated, I will not repeat it here, but add some details in the smaller way which you may be glad to know. The disgrace of the Marquis de la Fayette which at any other period of their history would have had the...
49To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 4 August 1788 (Madison Papers)
The bearer hereof, mr. Dobbyns, a native of Ireland, having it in contemplation to dispose of his estate in that country, & to remove with his tenants to America, I have advised him, before he carries the measure into entire execution, to go thither himself, to fix on the part of the country which from climate, soil, & other circumstances would best suit his views, and even to provide a place...
50To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 18 November 1788 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of the 31st. of July: since which I have received yours of July 24. Aug. 10. & 23. The first part of this long silence in me was occasioned by a knoledge that you were absent from N. York; the latter part, by a want of opportunity, which has been longer than usual: mr. Shippen being just arrived here, and to set out tomorrow for London, I avail myself of that channel of...
51To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 12 January 1789 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of the 18th. of Nov. since which I have received yours of Sep. 21. and Oct. 8. with the pamphlet on the Mohiccon language, for which receive my thanks. I endeavor to collect all the vocabularies I can of the American Indians, as of those of Asia, persuaded that if they ever had a common parentage it will appear in their languages. I was pleased to see the vote of Congress of...
52To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 15 March 1789 (Madison Papers)
I wrote you last on the 12th. of Jan. since which I have received your’s of Octob. 17. Dec. 8. & 12. That of Oct. 17. came to hand only Feb. 23. How it happened to be four months on the way, I cannot tell, as I never knew by what hand it came. Looking over my letter of Jan. 12th. I remark an error of the word ‘probable’ instead of ‘improbable,’ which doubtless however you had been able to...
53To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 11 May 1789 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of the 15th. of March. I am now in hourly expectation of recieving my leave of absence. The delay of it a little longer will endanger the throwing my return into the winter, the very idea of which is horror itself to me. I am in hopes this is the last letter I shall have the pleasure of writing you before my departure. The madness of the king of England has gone off, but...
54To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 18 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of May 11. Yours of Mar. 29. came to hand ten days ago: and about two days ago I received a cover of your hand writing, under which was a N. York paper of May 4. & a letter from mr. Page to Mazzei. There being no letter from you makes me hope there is one on the way which will inform me of my Congé. I have never received mr. Jay’s answer to my public letter of Nov. 19. which...
55To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 22 July 1789 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of the 18th. of June. Within a day or two after, yours of May 9. came to hand. In the rest of Europe nothing remarkeable has happened; but in France such events as will be for ever memorable in history. To begin where my last left them, the king took on himself to decide the great question of voting by persons or by orders, by a declaration made at a Seance royale on the...
56To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 29 July 1789 (Madison Papers)
I wrote you on the 22d. Since that I have received yours of the 23d. of May. The president’s title as proposed by the Senate was the most superlatively ridiculous thing I ever heard of. It is a proof the more of the justice of the character given by Doctr. Franklin of my friend [:] always an honest man often a great one but sometimes absolutely mad . I wish he could have been here during the...
57To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 28 August 1789 (Madison Papers)
My last to you was of July 29. Since that I have received yours of May 27. June 13. & 30. The tranquillity of the city has not been disturbed since my last. Dissensions between the French & Swiss guards occasioned some private combats in which five or six were killed. These dissensions are made up. The want of bread for some days past has greatly endangered the peace of the city. Some get a...
58To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 6 September 1789 (Madison Papers)
I sit down to write to you without knowing by what occasion I shall send my letter. I do it because a subject comes into my head which I would wish to develope a little more than is practicable in the hurry of the moment of making up general dispatches. The question Whether one generation of men has a right to bind another, seems never to have been started either on this or our side of the...
59To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 17 September 1789 (Madison Papers)
I have sent to Havre the following packages, with directions to send them by the first vessel to New York to your address. TI. No. 29. A box of books. These were packed before I took a list of them, therefore I cannot inform you of it’s contents. I believe the whole are for you; tho’ should it be otherwise the person’s name will always be found written on or in the book. TI. No. 33. TI. No....
60To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 9 January 1790 (Madison Papers)
I wrote the inclosed letter to you a little before I left Paris, & having no occasion to send it, I brought it with me. I mentioned it to you when I had the happiness of possessing you at Monticello, but still forgot to give it to you. After so long lying by me, and further turning the subject in my mind, I find no occasion to alter my mind. I hazard it therefore to your consideration. I...
61To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 14 February 1790 (Madison Papers)
I received your favor of Jan. 24. the day before yesterday; the President’s of the 21st. was 16 days getting to my hands. I write him by this occasion my acceptance, and shall endeavor to subdue the reluctance I have to that office which has increased so as to oppress me extremely. The President pressed my coming on immediately, and I have only said to him in general that circumstances,...
62To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, [ca. 30 March] 1790 (Madison Papers)
I forgot to take your final opinion last night as to the mode of conveying official communications from the states through the channel of the President to the two federal houses . Whether it will be best to do it 1. by message from the presidt. through mr. Lear? 2. by do. through Th: J. appearing personally? 3 by do. through do. by way of letter? Be so good as to say what you think. I must be...
63To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 20 September 1790 (Madison Papers)
Your servant now returns with many thanks for the aid of him & your horses. I was disappointed in meeting my family here: however I am told they will arrive today. I wished to have seen mr. Randolph, before the departure of your servant, to know if he had found a horse for me; because if he has not, I should determine to accept the offer of yours. I drove him about eight miles in the Phaeton,...
64To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 23 September 1790 (Madison Papers)
Mr. Randolph arrived last night without having been able to get me a horse, or even to hear of one which he could approve of. Presuming you had made up your mind as to parting with yours, I take the liberty of sending for him. I should not hesitate to take him at your own price but that I apprehend you think him of less than his real value, and therefore propose that you should have him...
65To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, [1 January] 1791 (Madison Papers)
I intended to have called last night & left with you the inclosed draught of a lre. to Otto but it was so cold I could not give up my hack. I recieved yours soon after I came home. Of the two constructions I observe you lean more to the 2d. and I more to the 1st. on account of the consequences to which the 2d may be pursued. My first idea was to write this lre. to Otto and previously...
66To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 10 January 1791 (Madison Papers)
Will you be so good as to let me know how much I am in your debt for travelling expences & the horse. My monstrous bill of freight rendered the question useless till now. I send you a moment’s amusement at my expence in the Connecticut paper. I suppose it is from some schoolmaster who does not like that the mysteries of his art should become useless. RC ( DLC ). Addressed by Jefferson....
67To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 12 January 1791 (Madison Papers)
It being impossible to entertain a doubt that the horse I bought of you was fairly sold, & fairly bought, that his disorder was of the instant, & might have happened years after as well as when it did, so as to exonerate you as is justly established, from all responsibility, I should as soon think of filching the sum from your pocket, as of permitting the loss to be yours. I therefore send you...
68To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 13 March 1791 (Madison Papers)
What say you to taking a wade into the country at noon? It will be pleasant above head at least. The party to finish by dining here. Information that Colo. Beckwith is coming to be an inmate with you, & I presume not a desireable one, encourages me to make a proposition, which I did not venture as long as you had your agreeable Congressional society about you, that is, to come & take a bed and...
69To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 9 May 1791 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of the 1st. came to hand on the 3d. Mr. Freneau has not followed it: I suppose therefore he has changed his mind back again, for which I am really sorry. I have now before me a huge bundle of letters, the only business between me & my departure. I think I can be through them by the end of the week, in which case I will be with you by Tuesday or Wednesday, if nothing new comes in to...
70To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 21 June 1791 (Madison Papers)
I arrived here on Sunday evening. Yesterday I sent your note to Lieper who immediately called & paid the 200 Dollars, which I have exchanged for a post note & now inclose. I mentioned to the Atty. Gen. that I had a note on him, & afterwards sent it to him, saying nothing as to time. I inclose you also a post note for 35. Dollars to make up my deficit of expences (25.94 D.) to pay mr. Elsworth...
71To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 28 June 1791 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 23d. has been duly recieved. The parcel from the taylor will probably come safely by the stage. With respect to the edition of Hamilton More’s book I took pains to satisfy myself of the best edition when I was in a better situation than I now am, to do it with success. The result was that the 6th. edn. was the last published under the examination of the author, & that the...
72To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 6 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
I have duly recieved your favours of June 27. & July 1. The last came only this morning. I now return Colo. Smith’s map with my acknolegements for the pamphlet & sight of the map. I inclose you a 60. Dollar bill, & beg the favor of you to remit 30. Dollars with the inclosed letter to Prince, also, as I see Maple sugar, grained , advertised for sale at New York in boxes of 400 lb. each, if they...
73To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 10 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
Your indisposition at the date of your last, and hearing nothing from you since, make me fear it has continued. The object of the present is merely to know how you do, & from another hand, if you are not well enough. We have little new but what you will see in the public papers. You see there the swarm of anti-publicolas. The disavowal by a Printer only does not appear to satisfy. We have no...
74To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 21 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
Your favors of July 10. & 13. have been duly recieved and I now return the pamphlet inclosed in the latter, with thanks for the perusal. The author has the appearance of knowing better what has past in England than in America. As to the latter to be sure he has been ignorant enough. I am sincerely sorry that Freneau has declined coming here. Tho’ the printing business be sufficiently full...
75To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 24 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 21st. came to hand yesterday. I will keep my eye on the advertisements for Halifax. The time of my journey to Virginia is rendered doubtful by the incertainty whether the President goes there or not. It is rather thought he will not. If so, I shall go later & stay a shorter time. I presume I may set out about the beginning of September, & shall hope your company going & coming....
76To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
I inclose you the pamphlet desired in your’s of July 24. Also the one on Weights & measures recieved through you, of which having another copy, be pleased to keep it. In turning over some papers I came across my journal through France, & Italy, and fancied you might be willing to acquire of that country a knowlege at second hand which you refuse to acquire at the first. It is written in the...
77To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 28 July 1791 (Madison Papers)
I this moment recieve yours of the 26th. The sugar of which you inclose a sample would by no means answer my purpose, which was to send it to Monticello, in order, by a proof of it’s quality, to recommend attention to the tree to my neighbors. In my letter of yesterday I forgot to tell you there is a brig here to sail for Halif[a]x in 10. days. She is under repair, & therefore may possibly...
78To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 3 August 1791 (Madison Papers)
Your favours of July 31. & Aug. 1. are recieved, but not that of the 30th. which was trusted to a private hand. Having discovered on Friday evening only that I had not inclosed Coxe’s pamphlet, I sent it off immediately to the post office. However I suppose it did not leave this place till the post of Monday nor get to your hands till Tuesday evening. Colo. Lee is here still, & gives me hopes...
79To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 18 August 1791 (Madison Papers)
I have just now recieved your favor of the 16th. and tho late at night I scribble a line that it may go by the morning’s post. I inclose you two letters which have been awaiting you here several days. Also a copy of the census which I had made out for you. What is in red ink is conjectural, the rest from the real returns. The return of Virginia is come in this day, seven hundred & forty odd...
80To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 26 August 1791 (Madison Papers)
Will you come and sit an hour before dinner to-day? also take soup with me tomorrow? Since writing the above the President has been here, & left L’Enfant’s plan, with a wish that you & I would examine it together immediately, as to certain matters, & let him know the result. As the plan is very large, will you walk up & examine it here? RC ( DLC ). Addressed by Jefferson. Dated only “1792” in...