1First Inaugural Address, [4 March] 1809 (Madison Papers)
Unwilling to depart from examples, of the most revered authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, to express the profound impression made on me, by the call of my Country to the station, to the duties of which I am about to pledge myself, by the most solemn of sanctions. So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceeding from the deliberate and tranquil suffrage of a free and...
2From James Madison to John Quincy Adams, 6 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
J. Madison presents his compts. to Mr. Adams & asks the favor of a call on him at his house this morning for a few minutes, as he may be passing to the Capitol Hill. As J. M. may happen at the moment to be at the President’s House, it may perhaps be as well for Mr. Adams to take that in his way. RC ( MHi : Adams Papers). Docketed by Adams, who noted: “Same day—recd.” JM nominated Adams to be...
3From James Madison to Caesar A. Rodney, 6 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
J. Madison requests the favor of Mr. Rodney to meet at his house tomorrow at 11 o. c. the other members of the Administration for the purpose of a consultation. Printed copy (Goodspeed Catalogue No. 369 [1943], item 1126).
4From James Madison to the Senate, 6 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
To the Senate of the United States. I nominate Robert Smith now Secretary of the Navy to be Secretary of State. William Eustis of Massachusetts to be Secretary of War. John Quincey Adams of Massachusetts to be Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of St. Petersburg. Thomas Sumpter Junr. of South Carolina to be Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of Rio Jeneiro. Henry Hill of New York to be...
5From James Madison to William Eustis, 7 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
The enclosed commission will inform you that I have taken the liberty to nominate you to fill the Office of Secretary of War, vacated by the resignation of General Dearborn, and that the Senate have compleated the appointment. I transmit the Commission with a hope that I shall have the pleasure of learning that your Country will have the benefit of your services in that important station. I...
6Executive Pardon, [7 March] 1809 (Madison Papers)
James Madison , President of the United States of America To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting — Whereas it has been made to appear to me that a certain Negro lad, named Nathan , was, at a Circuit Court of the United States , for the county of Washington in the District of Columbia, holden in December last, duly convicted of a burglary by him committed in the house of Francis...
7From James Madison to Robert R. Livingston, 13 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Altho’ I have been very tardy in acknowledging your favors of Jany. 17 & 24th. and the very valuable present from Mrs. E. Livingston, I am not the less sensible of them. I pray you to tender her in my behalf, my sincerest thanks for such a token of her kindness. The cloth has been highly admired both for the manufacture, of which she has the merit, and for the material which affords a specimen...
8From James Madison to James Leander Cathcart, 13 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 13 March 1809. Acknowledged in Cathcart to JM, 12 May 1809 . Orders wines.
9From James Madison to Elbridge Gerry, 14 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have been obliged as you will note to avail myself of your indulgence in answering your favor the 20th. Ult. I have looked over attentively your observations at the Cambridge Meeting, and tho’ I do not enter into the aptitude of all your observations, I perceive in them a very interesting view of our public affairs. On the question whether a publication of them would be useful, I am...
10From James Madison to John Armstrong, 14 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 14 March 1809. Offered for sale in Charles Hamilton Catalogue No. 80 (5 Sept. 1974), item 275, which describes the one-page letter as a request that Armstrong obtain French permission to import merino sheep, noting that the letter reads in part: “The value of this breed to our Country is now generally understood, and acquisitions of specimens are acceptable services to the...
11From James Madison to the Chairman of the Republican Meeting of Elbert County, Georgia, 15 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Your letter of the 10 of Feby. addressed to the President of the U. S. inclosing the proceedings of the Meeting of Citizens of Elbert County, having arrived after the expiration of the term of my predecessor, it devolves on me to acknowledge the receipt of it. And I can not do this without expressing the satisfaction afforded by resolutions breathing sentiments of so much patriotism, at a...
12From James Madison to the Chairman of the Republican Society of Hancock County, Massachusetts, 15 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have recd the resolutions of the 23d. of Feby. conveyed thro’ you, by the meeting of inhabitants from the Towns of Eden, Trenton, & Mount Desert, in the County of Hancock in the State of Massachts. The determination expressed by the Meeting to maintain the authority of the laws and the national rights, becomes Citizens who know their duty & love their Country. In referring the embarrassments...
13From James Madison to Napoleon, [15 March] 1809 (Madison Papers)
To our Great and Good Friend His Imperial and Royal Majesty the Emperor of the French, King of Italy and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. I have received your Imperial and Royal Majesty’s Letter of the 7th February 1806 announcing the marriage of your much loved son the Prince Eugêne Napolêon with the Princess Augustê Amêlie of Bavaria which was celebrated at Munich on the 14th of...
14From James Madison to the Chairman and Secretary of the Republican Meeting of Washington County, Maryland, 17 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have duly received your Letter of the 6th Inst: conveying the resolutions of a portion of my fellow Citizens of Washington County in the State of Maryland. Whilst I return my thanks for their kind expressions of confidence and regard; I feel much satisfaction in observing the patriotic spirit breathed by their resolutions unanimously adopted. The situation of our Country justly awakens the...
15From James Madison to Napoleon, [17 March] 1809 (Madison Papers)
To our Great and Good Friend His Imperial and Royal Majesty the Emperor of the French, King of Italy and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. I have just received your Imperial Majesty’s letter of the 29th of March 1807, communicating the intelligence that the Princess Eugêne Napoleon Vice Queen of Italy, was happily delivered on the 14th of that Month of a Princess who had received...
16From James Madison to William Pinkney, 17 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
You will learn by the communications from the Dept. of State, that the discussions of Congs. on our foreign relations had an issue less operative than was at one time looked for. The aversion to war, the inconveniences produced by or charged on the embargo, the hope of favorable changes in Europe, the dread of civil convulsions in the East, and the policy of permitting the discontented to be...
17From James Madison to the Chairman and Secretary of the Republican Committee of Salem County, New Jersey, 18 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
The proceedings of “the Repubn. Delegates of the several Townships of the County of Salem[”] in N. Jersey, on the 3d. inst: transmitted by you, have been duly recd. It is highly agreeable to find in these proceedings our national embarrassments traced to their true source, in the injustice & aggressions of foreign powers; and equally so to see the measures for counteracting them so entirely...
18From James Madison to the Chairman of the Republican Committee of Essex County, New Jersey, 18 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. the address conveyed thro’ you, from “The Republican Citizens of the County of Essex in the State of New Jersey” with equal sensibility to the friendly motives which suggested it, and to the patriotic sentiments which it expresses. Persuaded that the true interests of our Country, not less than the precepts of Religion & humanity, make it the duty of those entrusted with public...
19From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 19 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Altho’ I feel reluctance in trespassing for a moment on the repose to which you have just retired, I can not well avoid inclosing a letter from Mr. La Trobe which he wishes may be seen by you before it be decided on, because he thinks you have already acquiesc’d in the reasonableness of its object: and which I wish you to see, because I am so raw on the whole subject, as to need any...
20From James Madison to James Maury, ca. 19 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. Ca. 19 March 1809. Acknowledged in Maury to JM, 3 May 1809 . Mentions a small sum owed to Maury for a shipment of cheese.
21James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 19 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Altho’ I feel reluctance in trespassing for a moment on the repose to which you have just retired, I can not well avoid enclosing a letter from M r La Trobe which he wishes may be seen by you before it be decided on, because he thinks you have already acquiesc’d in the reasonableness of of its object: and which I wish you to see, because I am so raw on the whole subject, as to need any...
22From James Madison to the Chairman of the Republican Committee of Talbot County, Maryland, 21 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have recd your letter of the 14. inst. conveying an address, from the “Democratic Republican Citizens of Talbot County Maryland,” and through you return them my thanks for the favorable sentiments which they have expressed of the principles & purposes by which my public life has been & will be governed. The solicitude which they manifest for the preservation of peace, well becomes virtuous...
23From James Madison to the Secretary of the Republican Meeting of Kent County, Maryland, 21 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your letter of the 16th. inst: inclosing the proceedings of “The Democratic Citizens of Kent County[”] on the 4th. instant. I am greatly obliged by the kind expressions towards me which have a place in those proceedings; and the more so as the value of them is enhanced by the patriotic spirit which characterizes the Meeting. In preferring peace, tho’ prepared for a suspension of...
24From James Madison to the Chairman of the Republican Meeting of Litchfield, Connecticut, 22 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
The Resolutions transmitted through you, as unanimously adopted by a meeting of “The Republicans of the Town of Litchfield” have been duly received. The conduct, as unexampled as unprovoked, by which the Belligerent Powers, have trampled on the rights of neutral nations, and in some instances added peculiar insults to the injuries done to the US. naturally excite the feelings which these...
25From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 27 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Altho’ the letter from Mr. Brown was probably intended for you, I could not hesitate in carrying it into effect; and finding that the Bill on the Navy Dept. will be paid, I inclose, in order to avoid the delay of a week, the sum drawn for in Bank notes. I send them to you rather than directly to Mrs. T. first because I do not know what the direct address ought to be, & 2dly. because it is...
26James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 27 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Altho’ the letter from M r Brown was probably intended for you, I could not hesitate in carrying it into effect; and finding that the Bill on the Navy Dep t will be paid, I inclose, in order to avoid the delay of a week, the sum drawn for in Bank notes. I send them to you rather than directly to M rs T. first because I do not know what the direct address ought to be, & 2 dly because it is...
27From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 28 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have yours of the 24. The enquiry as to Franzoni will be made as soon as an oppy. offers. F. Page had been appd. before your letter was recd. & his Commission forwarded. We have letters from Erving to Jany. 28. He was at Cadiz, intending it appears to adhere to the Junta Suprema, till the drama should close, and then leave Spain, by way of Gibralter, Tangier, or England, if no other course...
28James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 28 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I have yours of the 24 . The enquiry as to Franzoni will be made as soon as an opp y offers. F. Page had been app d before your letter was rec d , & his Comission forwarded. We have letters from Erving to Jan y
29From James Madison to Benjamin Rush, 30 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have been prevented from acknowledging, as soon as I could have wished, your kind favor of the 13th. inst. Under the circumstances my fellow Citizens have thought proper to place me, it is particularly grateful to me, to enjoy the good wishes of the most enlightened and virtuous among them: and above all of those whose long and personal acquaintance gives peculiar value to their favorable...
30Landscape Account for the Executive Mansion, 31 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
List of Trees & Shrubs for the Presidents Garden. Where to be procured Large trees for Single trees & in lines Tulip tree. Saml. Davidson. Willow leaved Oak Elm. Beech. Ash. S. Davidson Horse Chesnut. Holt Walnut (English) Hepburn Sugar Maple Billey Sycamore (English[)] Larch. Weeping Willow