121To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 21 February 1813 (Madison Papers)
On the occasion of your separation from mr Robert Smith, I recollect your mentioning in one of your letters to me that among the circumstances which afflicted you, was the impression it might make on his connections in this quarter, for whom you entertained so much friendship & esteem. It was soon discernable that on one of them whom I had the most frequent opportunities of seeing, no other...
122Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 21 May 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
The inclosed letter from Whit was unquestionably intended for you. the subject, the address both of title and place prove it, and the mistake of the name only shews the writer to be a very uninquisitive statesman. Doct r Waterhouse’s letter too was intended for your eye; and altho’ the immediate object fails by previous appointment, yet he seems to entertain further wishes. I inclose too the...
123Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 9 October 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved last night yours of the 6 th & now return mr Dupont’s letter. at a time when I had a hope that Virginia would establish an University I asked of mr Dupont & D r Priestly to give me their ideas on the best division of the useful sciences into Professorships: the latter did it concisely; but Dupont wrote an elaborate treatise on education which I still possess. after I saw that...
124Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 8 December 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I found among my papers the inclosed survey of La Fayette’s lands adjacent to N. Orleans . whether it be the legal survey or not I do not know. if it is, it gives a prospect of something considerable after the 600. yards laid off round the ramparts. I inclose it to you as it may possibly be of use. with me it can be of none. I inclose you also a piece in MS. from Dupont on the subject of our...
125Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 22 May 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
It is my duty to write to you on the subject of the Note you were so kind as to endorse for me at the bank of the US. and I do it willingly altho’ painfully. notwithstanding a fixed determination to take care that at the termination of my duties at Washington my pecuniary matters should at least be square, & my confidence that they would be so, I found, by an estimate made in December last,...
126To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 8 December 1810 (Madison Papers)
I found among my papers the inclosed survey of La Fayette’s lands adjacent to N. Orleans. Whether it be the legal survey or not I do not know. If it is, it gives a prospect of something considerable after the 600. yards laid off round the ramparts. I inclose it to you as it may possibly be of use. With me it can be of none. I inclose you also a piece in MS. from Dupont on the subject of our...
127To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 19 April 1809 (Madison Papers)
I have to acknolege your favor of the 9th. and to thank you for the political information it contained. Reading the newspapers but little & that little but as the romance of the day, a word of truth now & then comes like the drop of water on the tongue of Dives. If the British ministry are changing their policy towards us, it is because their nation, or rather the city of London which is the...
128Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 13 October 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
It seems as if we should never find men for our public agencies with mind enough to rise above the little motives of pride & jealousy, & to do their duties in harmony, as the good of their country, & their own happiness would require. poor Warden , I find, has been thought an object of jealousy to Crawford , and the scenes of D r Franklin and mr Adams , D r Franklin & Lee , D r
129Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 15 October 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
I thank you for the information of your letter of the 10 th . it gives at length a fixed character to our prospects. the war undertaken, on both sides, to settle the questions of impressment & the Orders of Council, when now that these are done away by events, is now declared by Great Britain to have changed it’s object, and to have become a war of Conquest, to be waged until she conquers from...
130To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 10 March 1814 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of Feb. 7. was duly recieved. That which it gave me reason to expect from mr. G. did not come till the 4th. inst. He mentioned in it that a state of things existed which probably would oblige him to make a solemn appeal to the public, and he asked my testimony to certain specific facts which he stated. These related solely to charges against him as a Burrite, and to his agency in...
131To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 3 July 1811 (Madison Papers)
I have seen with very great concern the late Address of mr. Smith to the public. He has been very ill advised both personally and publicly. As far as I can judge from what I hear, the impression made is entirely unfavorable to him. Every man’s own understanding readily answers all the facts and insinuations, one only excepted, and for that they look for explanations without any doubt that they...
132To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 13 July 1813 (Madison Papers)
I was so unlucky as to write you a long letter of business, when, as I learned soon afterwards, you were too ill to be troubled with any matter of business. My comfort has been in the confidence that care would of course be taken not to disturb you with letters. My hope in writing the present is of a pleasanter kind, the flattering one that you are entirely recovered. If the prayers of...
133Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 13 May 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I thank you for my your promised attention to my portion of the Merinos, and if there be any expences of transportation E t c & you will be so good as to advance my portion of them with yours & notify the amount it shall be promptly remitted. What shall we do with them? I have been so disgusted with the scandalous extortions lately practised in the sale of these animals, & with the ascription...
134To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 29 June 1812 (Madison Papers)
I duly recieved your favor of the 22d. covering the declaration of war. It is entirely popular here, the only opinion being that it should have been issued the moment the season admitted the militia to enter Canada. The federalists indeed are open mouthed against the declaration. But they are poor devils here, not worthy of notice. A barrel of tar to each state South of the Patomac will keep...
135Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 19 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I have to acknolege your favor of the 9 th and to thank you for the political information it contained. reading the newspapers but little & that little but as the romance of the day, a word of truth now & then comes like the drop of water on the tongue of Dives . if the British ministry are changing their policy towards us, it is because their nation, or rather the city of London which is the...
136Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 17 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
On opening my letters from France in the moment of my departure from Washington , I found from their signatures that they were all from literary characters except one from mr Short , which mentioned in the outset that it was private, & that his public communications were in the letter to the Secretary of State , which I sent you. I find however on reading his letter to me (which I did not do...
137To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 13 July 1810 (Madison Papers)
I return you mr. Bassette’s letter & think you may safely tell him we possess no Dutch accounts of Virginia. We have De Laët; but it is a folio volume of Latin, & I have no doubt a good translation will sell well. I have not examined De Bry’s collection to see if that contains any Dutch account. That is in 3. folio volumes of Latin, and certainly will not take off one single reader from mr....
138To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 13 October 1814 (Madison Papers)
It seems if we should never find men for our public agencies with mind enough to rise above the little motives of pride & jealousy, & to do their duties in harmony, as the good of their country, & their own happiness would require. Poor Warden, I find, has been thought an object of jealousy to Crawford, and the scenes of Dr. Franklin and mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin & Lee, Dr. Franklin and Izard...
139To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 15 October 1814 (Madison Papers)
I thank you for the information of your letter of the 10th. It gives at length a fixed character to our prospects. The war undertaken, on both sides, to settle the questions of impressment & the Orders of Council, now that these are done away by events, is declared by Great Britain to have changed it’s object, and to have become a war of Conquest, to be waged until she conquers from us our...
140Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Since my letter of yesterday I have recieved yours of the 27 th & 28 th and in the former the 500.D. for mrs Trist . the bronze time piece mentioned will run a fortnight, but I found it better to wind it up once a week, as during the 2 d week the greater expansion of the spring occasioned her to lose time. with respect to newspapers , none can now come to Washington for me. of those which,...
141Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 16 June 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I inclose you three letters from detained seamen which came to hand by the last post. your favor of the 12 th was recieved at the same time. the intelligence by the Pacific gives me great anxiety. when I consider the tenor of the new order of council & the official exposition of it by the Lords of trade to the London American merchants (in the inclosed paper) and compare it with the engagement...
142To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 21 June 1813 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of the 6th. has been recieved, and I will beg leave to add a few supplementary observations on the subject of my former letter. I am not a judge of the best forms which may be given to the gunboat; and indeed I suppose they should be of various forms suited to the varied circumstances to which they would be applied. Among these no doubt Commodore Barney’s would find their place....
143Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 29 June 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
I duly recieved your favor of the 29 th 22 d covering the declaration of war. it is entirely popular here, the only opinion being that it should have been issued the moment the season admitted the militia to enter Canada . the federalists indeed are open mouthed against the declaration . but they are poor devils here, not worthy of notice. a barrel of tar to each state South of the Patomac...
144Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 31 December 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
It is long since I have had occasion to address a line to you, and the present is an irksome one. with all the discouragements I can oppose to those who wish to make me the channel of their wishes for office, some will force themselves on me. I inclose you the letters of several merely to be placed on the file of candidates & to stand on their own ground, for I do not know one of them...
145Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 6 June 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
I have taken the liberty of drawing the attention of the Secretary at War to a small depot of military stores at N. London , and leave the letter open for your perusal. be so good as to seal it before delivery. I really thought that Gen l Dearborne had removed them to Lynchburg , undoubtedly a safer and more convenient deposit. Our county is the only one I have heard of which has required a...
146To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 24 April 1811 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 19th. is recieved. I have carefully examined my letter files from July 1808. to this day, & find among them no such Anonymous letter as you mention. Indeed the strong impression on my memory is that I never recieved an Anonymous letter from England, or from any other country than our own. Certain newspapers are taking a turn which gives me uneasiness. Before I was aware of it, I...
147Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 25 May 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I inclose you a letter the extract of a letter from Gov r Tyler which will explain itself, and I do it on the same principle on which I have sometimes done the same thing before, that whenever you are called on to select, you may have under consideration all those who may properly be thought of & the grounds of their pretensions. from what I can learn Griffin cannot stand it long, and really...
148Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 7 December 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The inclosed letter is from Father Richard , the Director of a school at Detroit ; & being on a subject in which the departments both of the Treasury & War are concerned, I take the liberty of inclosing it to yourself as the center which may unite these two agencies. the transactions which it alludes to took place in the months of Dec. & Jan. preceding my retirement from office, & as I think...
149To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 27 April 1809 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 24th. came to hand last night. The correspondence between mr. Smith & mr. Erskine had been recieved three days before. I sincerely congratulate you on the change it has produced in our situation. It is the source of very general joy here, & could it have arrived one month sooner would have had important effects not only on the elections of other states, but of this also, from...
150Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 23 March 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I duly recieved your favor of the 12 th and with it the pamphlet on the causes and conduct of the war, which I now return. I have read it with great pleasure, but with irresistable desire that it should be published. the reasons in favor of this are so strong, and those against it are so easily gotten over, that there appears to me no balance between them. 1. we need it in Europe . they have...
151Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 24 September 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
It is very long since I troubled you with a letter, which has proceeded from discretion, & not want of inclination, because I have really had nothing to write which ought to have occupied your time. but in the late events at Washington I have felt so much for you that I cannot withold the expression of my sympathies. for altho’ every reasonable man must be sensible that all you can do is to...
152Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 15 August 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
I congratulate you on your release from the corvée of a session of Congress , and on the pleasure of revisiting your own fields & friends: and I hope your fields have been more fortunate than ours which have been wet but once since the 14 th of April , and present an aspect never seen since the year 1755. when we lost so many people by famine. but the present drought is only partial; that was...
153Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 17 August 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved your’s of yesterday by mr Coles . my journey to Bedford has been delayed by sickness among my laboring people. no new case having arisen for some time, I am in hopes it is at an end. still no particular object fixing my departure to any precise time, it lies over for convenience, and should I fix a time before we have the pleasure of seeing yourself & mrs Madison here I shall...
154To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 7 April 1811 (Madison Papers)
Your favors of Mar. 18. and Apr. 1. have been duly recieved. The extract from Armstrong’s letter of July 28. 08. which you desire is in these words. ‘My poor friend Warden writes to you, & asks from you the appointment of Consul for this place. I could not promise to do more than send his letter. He is an honest and amiable man, with as much Greek & Latin, & chemistry & theology, as would do...
155To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 8 February 1813 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of the 27th. Ult. has been duly recieved. You have had a long holiday from my intrusions. In truth I have had nothing to write about; and your time should not be consumed by letters about nothing. The inclosed paper however makes it a duty to give you the trouble of reading it. You know the handwriting and the faith due to it. Our intimacy with the writer leaves no doubt about his...
156To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 26 November 1809 (Madison Papers)
Your letter of the 6th. was recieved from our post office on the 24th. after my return from Bedford. I now re-inclose the letters of Mr. Short & Romanzoff, and with them a letter from Armstrong for your perusal, as there may be some matters in it not otherwise communicated. The infatuation of the British government & nation is beyond every thing immaginable. A thousand circumstances announce...
157Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 27 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Yours of the 24 th came to hand last night. the correspondence between mr Smith & mr Erskine had been recieved three days before. I sincerely congratulate you on the change it has produced in our situation. it is the source of very general joy here, & could it have arrived one month sooner would have had important effects not only on the elections of other states, but of this also, from which...
158To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 25 May 1810 (Madison Papers)
I inclose you the extract of a letter from Govr. Tyler which will explain itself, and I do it on the same principle on which I have sometimes done the same thing before, that whenever you are called on to select, you may have under consideration all those who may properly be thought of & the grounds of their pretensions. From what I can learn Griffin cannot stand it long, and really the state...
159To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 30 November 1809 (Madison Papers)
I recieved last night yours of the 27th. & rode this morning to Colo. Monroe’s. I found him preparing to set out tomorrow morning for Loudon, from whence he will not return till Christmas. I had an hour or two’s frank conversation with him. The catastrophe of poor Lewis served to lead us to the point intended. I reminded him that in the letter I wrote to him while in Europe proposing the...
160Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 13 July 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I return you mr Bassette’s letter & think you may safely tell him we possess no Dutch accounts of Virginia . we have De Laët ; but it is a folio volume of Latin, & I have no doubt a good translation will sell well. I have not examined De Bry’s collection to see if that contains any Dutch account. that is in 3. folio volumes of Latin, and certainly will not take off one single reader from mr...
161Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 26 November 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 6 th was recieved from our post office on the 24 th of after my return from Bedford . I now re-inclose the letters of M r Short & Romanzoff, and with them a letter from Armstrong for your perusal, as there may be some matters in it not otherwise communicated. the infatuation of the British government & nation is beyond every thing immaginable. a thousand circumstances...
162To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 30 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 19th. came to hand by the last post; but that allows us so little time that I could not answer by it’s return. I had not before heard of mr. Latrobe’s claim of Lenthall’s salary in addition to his own. That some of Lenthall’s duties must have fallen on him I have no doubt; but that he could have performed them all in addition to his own so as to entitle himself to his whole...
163Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 15 October 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
Tho late, I congratulate you on the revocation of the French decrees, & Congress still more; for without something new from the belligerents, I know not what ground they could have taken for their next move. Britain will revoke her orders of council, but continue their effect by new paper blockades, doing in detail what the orders did in the lump. the exclusive right to the sea by conquest is...
164Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 21 June 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
your favor of the 6 th has been recieved, and I will beg leave to add a few supplementory observations on the subject of my former letter. I am not a judge of the best forms which may be given to the gunboat; and indeed I suppose they should be of various forms suited to the varied circumstances to which they would be applied. among these no doubt Commodore Barney’s would find their place....
165Thomas Jefferson’s Memoranda to James Madison, [ca. 4–11 March 1809] (Jefferson Papers)
Memoranda for the President. Information having been recieved in October last that many intruders had settled on the lands of the Cherokees & Chickasaws; the letter from Gen l Dearborn to Col o Meigs was written to have them ordered off, & to inform them they would be removed by military force in the spring if still on the lands. these orders remain still to be given, & they should go to the...
166Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 16 July 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved yesterday from our friend Gov r Nicholas a letter stating that very advantageous offers had been made to his son at Baltimore (late a colonel in the army) which would induce him to go and fix himself at Leghorn , and that it would add very much to his prospects to be appointed Consul there, and counting on my knolege of the character of his son , he supposed my testimony of it to...
167Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 30 November 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved last night yours of the 27 th & rode this morning to Col o Monroe’s . I found him preparing to set out tomorrow morning for Loudon , from whence he will not return till Christmas. I had an hour or two’s frank conversation with him. the catastrophe of poor Lewis served to lead us to the point intended. I reminded him that in the letter I wrote to him while in Europe proposing the...
168Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 30 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Yours of the 19 th came to hand by the last post; but that allows us so little time that I could not answer by it’s return. I had not before heard of mr Latrobe’s claim of Lenthall’s salary in addition to his own. that some of Lenthall’s duties must have fallen on him I have no doubt; but that he could have performed them all in addition to his own so as to entitle himself to his whole salary,...
169Enclosure: Deed of John Freeman’s Indenture to James Madison, 19 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I hereby assign & convey to James Madison President of the Uni ted States the within named servant , John , otherwise called John Freeman during the remaining term of his service from the 11 th day of March last past when he was delivered to the said James for the consideration of two hundred and thirty one Dollars 81. cents . Witness m y hand