121To James Madison from Thomas Underwood, 20 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
Yours I recd. for which I thank you and am happy to hear that the Members of your honorable body agree so well in Political matters. I wish very much to know your oppinion of the public debt, that bears so hard on us whether it can be discharged in any short time without having recourse to direct taxes—and how the general oppinion runs respecting the Certificates due to the officers and...
122From James Madison to Samuel Johnston, 21 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
I lost no time in handing to the President the address inclosed in your favor of the 22 of May, and have postponed an acknowledgment of the latter in expectation of being able at the same time to cover the President’s answer. This has been and continues to be delayed by a very serious indisposition. We hope that he is not in much danger, but are by no means without our fears also. His disorder...
123From James Madison to Henry Lee, 21 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
It was fortunate that a duplicate of your letter to Mr. Jefferson went so soon from Alexandria. The copy in My hands did not find a conveyance fit to be trusted for a very long time—it cannot have reached him yet. I was determined to await a secure opportunity, and the intermission of the French Packet left such an one extremely rare. I was compelled at last to put it into the hands of a...
124From James Madison to Edmund Pendleton, 21 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
The last favor for which I am to thank you is of June 9th. For some time past I have been obliged to content myself with inclosing you the Newspapers. In general they give, tho’ frequently erroneous and sometimes perverted, yet on the whole, fuller accounts of what is going forward than could be put into a letter. The papers now covered contain a sketch of a very interesting discussion which...
125From James Madison to William Short, 21 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
Mr. George James of Virginia is recommended to me by a friend as of integrity and worth, and on that ground I take the liberty of introducing him to you. He is not sure that his objects in visiting Europe will carry him to Paris, but the possibility of such an event interests him in the means of becoming known to you, and I lend my aid for the purpose the more readily, as it affords an...
126To James Madison from James McHenry, 21 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
I was very happy to learn that you had dismissed the first reported bill for the collection of the revenue. In this State and perhaps in some of the others, the Laws were too much in favor of the officers at the expence of the revenue. Here, where the imports are so very considerable, instead of a naval officer and collector constituted to be checks upon each other, the whole power was lodged...
127From James Madison to James Maury, 21 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 21 June 1789. Acknowledged in Maury to JM, 13 Feb. 1790 (DLC). Introduces George James.
128Removal Power of the President, [22 June] 1789 (Madison Papers)
The bill establishing a department of foreign affairs was still being debated in the Committee of the Whole. On 19 June the motion to strike out the clause, “to be removable from office by the President,” was defeated. The objection arose, however, that this clause had the appearance of being a grant of power by the legislature. To avoid this difficulty, Benson moved that whenever the...
129From James Madison to Samuel Johnston, 22 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 22 June 1789. Acknowledged in Johnston to JM, 8 July 1789 . Encloses President Washington’s reply to the address from North Carolina. Recommends the publication of both the address and the reply.
130From James Madison to Tench Coxe, 24 June 1789 (Madison Papers)
Accept my acknowledgments for your favor of the 18th. instant. The printed remarks inclosed in it are already I find in the Gazettes here. It is much to be wished that the discon[ten]ted part of our fellow Citizens could be reconciled to the Government they have opposed, and by means as little as possible unacceptable to those who approve the Constitution in its present form. The amendments...