701From James Madison to Edward Livingston, [17] April 1824 (Madison Papers)
I have been retarded in thanking you for the copy of your Speech on the subject of internal improvement, by a necessary absence from home, and by successive occurrences since my return. I now beg you to accept that debt to your kindness. I have read your observations with a due perception of the ability which pervades & the eloquence which adorns them, and I must add not without the pleasure...
702James Madison to George Tucker, 13 June 1835 (Madison Papers)
The box containing the bound newspapers has come safe to hand; one of the volumes in an improved state. I hope my request did not hurry their return before you had done with them. Should it have so happened they are not beyond your reach. I find that I have more reason for apology than you had, for the delay in returning Sullivan’s libel on Mr. Jefferson which you left with me. It was put into...
703James Madison to Jesse Waln, 26 July 1831 (Madison Papers)
I have duly recd. your letter of the 22d. with the papers it refers to. Being restrained by a general rule which I have been obliged to adopt from the interposition it requests, I can only observe that it could not be needed as an addition to the names & testimonies which I find you possess. I return the papers as desired, with an offer of my friendly respects & good wishes FC (DLC) .
704From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 8 February 1825 (Madison Papers)
The letters from Mr. Cabell are herein returned. I just see that he has succeeded in defeating the project for removing the College from Williamsburg. I hope your concurrence in what I said of Mr. Barbour will not divert your thoughts from others. It is possible that the drudgery of his profession, the uncertainty of a Judicial appointment acceptable to him, and some attractions at the...
705From James Madison to Benjamin Bell, 22 April 1823 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your letter of Mar: 22. I am very sorry that any difficulties shd. have arisen in the case of the land sold to you by Mrs. Willis & myself. All that I had learnt relating to it, had left me under the impression, that no interfering claims existed that could invalidate our conveyance: and I trust that such will be found to be the case. You will of course take the proper steps for...
706James Madison to John A. G. Davis, 29 September 1829 (Madison Papers)
Yours of Augst. 21. came duly to hand, but I have delayed troubling you with the answer, till you should be released from your co-operating task in preparing Mr. Jefferson’s works for the press. This I understand has now taken place. I thank you, Sir, in the name of the Rector pro–tem as well as my own, for your obliging offer of service in the discharge of our official duties. That of...
707From James Madison to Thomas Cooper, 5 January 1823 (Madison Papers)
I have received the “Report” on the state of the South Carolina College, covered by your favor of December 21. I have read it with very sincere pleasure as the harbinger of days happy for yourself, as well as prosperous for the Institution. You are not, I perceive, without an adversary of the same family which raised its cries against you elsewhere. The triumphs of education under your...
708James Madison to Bernard Peyton, 27 May 1834 (Madison Papers)
I have just recd. your letter informing me of the sale of my two Hds. Tobaco Some little delay has occured with those that are to follow owing to the difficulty of getting it in order for the Hds The quality of a part of which, may be superior to that lately sold, the price of which is certainly not to be complained of. It was not my intention to place in Bank to the credit of Mr E. Coles more...
709From James Madison to Peter Minor, 18 January 1822 (letter not found) (Madison Papers)
¶ To Peter Minor. Letter not found. 18 January 1822 . Described as a two-page autograph letter, signed and franked by JM, in American Book-Prices Current (1905), 11:589.
710From James Madison to William Tapscott, 29 July 1826 (Madison Papers)
Your last letter expressed so much concern for the failure in paying for the land purchased by you and Mr. Bell, and so much anxiety to make [ illegible ] for it, that I have been in constant hopes of hearing from you satisfactorily on the subject. Being wholly disappointed, I am at length obliged by pressing circumstances to renew my earnest application for the discharge of what is due. It is...
711James Madison to Peyton Grymes and Others, June 1834 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. friends & fellow Citizens your letter of inviting me on behalf of a portion of the Republican Citi[zens] of this district, to a public dinner, to be given to John M. Patton its Representative in the Congress of the U.S Gratified as I should be in meeting so many of my neighbors & friends, among them, the able & highly respected Representative of the District, the opportunity is...
712From James Madison to Charles D. Coxe, 7 November 1820 (Madison Papers)
I recd. yesterday only your letter of Ocr. 20. postmarked Philada. Nov. 4. It would give me pleasure to render you any service in which I might be justified by my recollections. But the attention required by other objects during my official period, with the subsequent lapse of time, will well account for my not being now able to throw any light on the circumstances to which you refer. Nor with...
713James Madison to William Cabell Rives, 20 December 1828 (Madison Papers)
The last mail brought me your favor of the 17th. accompanied by a copy of the last Southern Review, for which I thank you. The disproportion of polemic politics which distinguishes it, tho’ derogating from the literary character of such works, might, if conducted with ability & good temper, be pardoned, at a moment and on topics peculiarly interesting. I have looked very hastily over the...
714James Madison to John H. Lee, 24 March 1832 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of the 24th. Ult. was duly recd. a few days ago; and I have since recd. a letter from Docr. Hawes informing me that he had deposited the remittance of $1650. with wch. he was so good as to take charge in the Farmers B. Bank at Fredbg. I need not say how thankful Mrs. W. & myself are for this addition proof of your obliging attention, and intentions. I beg you to be assured Sir, of...
715James Madison to Lawrence T. Dade, 23 June 1829 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your letter of yesterday, on the subject of your application for an office becoming vacant at Washington. I need not assure you Sir that I have always entertained a very sincere esteem for your character, with the best wishes for your welfare, nor remark that I well know of the repeated proofs you have recd. of the public favor & confidence. But I could not comply with the request...
716James Madison to John W. Maury, 29 April 1833 (Madison Papers)
The mail has just brought us information, in one case under your own hand and name, that you have safely reached the land of your birth. I welcome you to it; and hope at an early day to welcome you at my own domicil, where I shall be able to express all the feelings awakened by your unexpected and gratifying visit. Meantime accept from Mrs. M. and myself all our best wishes. Copy in the...
717From James Madison to Henry Peter Brougham, 5 January 1828 (Madison Papers)
Your letter of Ocr. 20. on the subject of Professor Long having met with delays, I had not the honor of receiving it, till a few days ago. The great respect due to the wishes on the part of the London university, and the disposition felt here to accomodate the views of Mr. Long, create much reluctance at holding him to engagements at variance with both. On the other hand the great importance...
718James Madison to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, 23 October 1830 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. yours of the 18th. post marked 20th. inclosing the Bill of Nickline & Johnson. I am afraid the authority over us, will think the acct. very heavy one. The papers shewing the precise situation of the sterling fund, being I believe in the hands of the last Chairman of the Faculty or the Secretary of the Board of Visitors, I must ask the favor of you, to have a draft in the adapted...
719From James Madison to Henry Wheaton, 10 August 1826 (Madison Papers)
I received some days ago your favor of July 26: and the “Life of Mr. Pinkney” referred to, is now also come to hand: I return without delay, my thanks for the work, well assured that it will be found to merit them. I am not surprized that your known occupations did not permit you to mingle with the biographical topics, more of the historical notice of the period which you had once intended. I...
720From James Madison to Asher Robbins, 8 August 1818 (Madison Papers)
I have received your letter of July the 17th. and thank you for your friendly Criticism on the passage in the address to the Agricultural Society of Albemarle relating to the Theory of Tull. Many Years had elapsed Since I read the Work of Tull, and I was of course guided by my recollection only aided by the references of others to it which had occasionally fallen in my way. I was very ready...
721James Madison to Charles J. Ingersoll, 25 June 1831 (Madison Papers)
I have received your friendly letter of the 18th. inst. The few lines which answered your former one of the 21st Jany last, were written in haste & in bad health: but they expressed, though without the attention in some respects due to the occasion, a dissent from the views of the President, as to a Bank of the U. S. and a substitute for it; to which I cannot but adhere. The objections to the...
722James Madison to Arthur S. Brockenbrough, 24 December 1828 (Madison Papers)
I have recd yrs. of 22. If Majr Spotsd. persists in his passion of resigning, & the right to object to it shd. be waived the first object will be to appt. a Successor; by the Procr. with the approvl. of Ex. Come. This failing, the mode of providg. for this case not beg. prescribed by the enacts., must be assumed it may be in the recess of ye. Board of Visitors, by the Exve. Come. on their...
723James Madison to Benjamin King, 28 May 1836 (Madison Papers)
I have just recd. your letter. Having entire confidence in the judgement & accuracy of Col. Miller, with respect to your services in the battle of Bladensburg, I could not, if my impressions were less in accordance than they are with his statement, withhold my good wishes that you may be successful in obtaining an enlargement of your means for a comfortable subsistence—These wishes cannot but...
724From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 28 September 1819 (Madison Papers)
I received yesterday yours of the 23d. inclosing the draft of a report from the Visitors, in which I see no occasion for addition or alteration; but much for regret at the deficiency of our resources. The subject is presented however to the Legislature, with the most inviting aspect for their attention and assistance. I shall endeavour to be with you about saturday, and Mrs. Madison will have...
725James Madison to Gabriel Moore, 31 March 1832 (Madison Papers)
I recd. in due time your letter inclosing one from your brother on the subject of the "Loyal Company" & wd have given an early answer had I possessed the information asked for. During the life of my Father his connection with that company was never an object of my attention & since his death his interest in it has been entirely left to my brother Wm. Madison, the only acting Executor who has...
726James Madison to Thomas S. Grimke, 27 June 1829 (Madison Papers)
J. M. presents his respects to Mr Grimke with acknowledgments for the Copy just recd. of his able & persuasive Address at the Dedication of a Building for Religious uses. FC (DLC) .
727Minutes of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, 14 July 1827 (Madison Papers)
The Rector still confined. The board met, present the same members as yesterday. The Proctor’s report on the state of the Library was received, & read. The rest of the day was taken up in attending on the examination. MS ( ViU : Special Collections).
728James Madison to Robert B. Randolph, 30 April 1833 (Madison Papers)
I have recd your letter of the 24th. inst. inclosing your Commission as Lieutenant in the Navy of the U.S. I advert with pleasure to the gallant services rendered to your Country under that appointment; But as the relation in which I stood to the Commission expired with the official character in which it was issued, it seems most proper that it should be replaced in the hands to which it...
729From James Madison to an Unidentified Correspondent, 23 April 1817 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 23 April 1817, Montpelier. Described as a one-page autograph letter, signed, in Stan. V. Henkels Catalogue No. 873 (20–21 Feb. 1902), item 204.
730From James Madison to James Breckinridge, 8 January 1828 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. yours of Decr. 23. The difficulty I fear will be as great as the importance of providing as [ sic ] successor to Mr. Long. You know his anxiety to secure the appointment given him in the London university; to which is to be added the necessity he states of his returning to England on other accounts, at the expiration of his stipulated term; so that there is no chance of his...
731From James Madison to Bernard Peyton, 29 March 1826 (Madison Papers)
Waggoner Aleck will deliver 2 Hhs Tobo which will be followed by others as fast as they can be made ready. The quality of the Tobo. is considered as good, tho’ a little pinched in its size by dry weather. This is less the case with a part of the crop. I leave to your own judgmt. as heretofore the times of sale requesting only, at the instance of my 2 Overseers, that the prices, may be...
732James Madison to Gulian C. Verplanck, 20 January 1834 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. the Copy of your Introductory Lecture before the "Mechanics’ Institute" of the City of New York; and I tender my thanks for the pleasure afforded by the instructive & impressive views it presents of a subject in itself so interesting. With great & cordial esteem RC (NN : T. H. Morrell Collection); FC (NjP) .
733From James Madison to Henry Carroll, 11 March 1818 (Madison Papers)
I recd. in due time yours of the 5th. and took occasion in a letter to the President, tho’ in deviation from my general wish, to express my favorable sentiments towards you, and my respect for the worth & wishes of your father. I am persuaded however that the personal dispositions of the President, are a better resource, than any thing I could say; if he shd. find himself at liberty to indulge...
734James Madison to P. Mortimer Fitzwilliams, 5 January 1836 (Madison Papers)
I have received Sir your letter of Decr. 27th. requesting autograph names to repair the loss of a collection you had made for a gentleman of distinguished standing in the British Parliament. On recurring to my files, I find they have been so far exhausted by applications of a like sort, that I can promise from them no aid for your purpose. With respect FC (DLC) . Addressed to Fitzwilliams in "...
735From James Madison to Nicholas Biddle, 2 May 1825 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. the letter with which you favored me on the 26th. Ult. In the application made in that to which it is an answer, I was misled by what I understood to be occasionally done by Banks possessing affluent funds, and apprehending neither ultimate loss, nor an early pressure. Of the System adopted by the Bank of the U.S. as explained by you, I can not speak but with entire approbation;...
736James Madison to William H. Winder [Jr.], 15 September 1834 (Madison Papers)
I am sensible of the delay in acknowledging your letter of and regret it. But apart from the crippled condition of my health, which almost forbids the use of the pen, I could not forget that I was to speak of occurrences after a lapse of 20 years, & at an age in its 84th year; circumstances so readily and for the most part, justly referred to, as impairing the confidence due to recollections &...
737James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 18 March 1831 (Madison Papers)
I inclose an extract of a letter from Mr. John Randolph on the subject of a Mr. Richardson, and a letter from the latter. You will observe the request of Mr. Randolph that the object of Mr. Richardson might be eventually communicated for the University at N. York. I have made the communication to William & Mary; and as it is quite uncertain whether it will be of avail there, it is proper that...
738From James Madison to John Quincy Adams, 14 May 1821 (Madison Papers)
I have received the Copy of your Report on weights and measures, which you were so good as to inclose to me. Not knowing how long it may be before I shall be able to give it a due perusal, I tender at once my best thanks, anticipating as I certainly do, both pleasure and instruction from your execution of the important task committed to you. Be pleased, Sir, to accept a repetition of my high...
739From James Madison to James Monroe, 13 August 1823 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your favor of the inclosing papers from the war office. The path I am endeavouring to trace is so dark & tortuous and the official lights left by the Ex-functionary behind him so scanty, that I find it difficult to do justice to the subject. It may be of some use perhaps to understand precisely in what cases usage may have sanctioned “letters of appointment,” instead of regular...
740From James Madison to Thomas Todd, 13 August 1820 (Madison Papers)
I have just been favored with yours of July 26: & thank you much for your kind attention to the subject of the Legislative Journals of Virga. The copy borrowed from Mr. Littell to whom you will be so good as to make my acknowlegements, shall be carefully preserved & returned; as shall be your fragment for 1788 ; if desired. I have myself a part of the Journal for 1777 viz from May 5. to May...
741From James Madison to Joseph Ficklin, 28 August 1823 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your letter of the 9th. inst: my recollections of a conversation with Mr. Graves is so faint, that I cannot speak of it with precision. It must have been very transient & of a very general nature. He certainly misunderstood me: if he inferred an intention to decide on the merits of the financial measures in Kentucky, with which then I was as I am now too little acquainted to be...
742James Madison to Littleton Dennis Teackle, 28 January 1830 (Madison Papers)
I have duly recd. with your letter of the 20th. a copy of the "Report on a State’s Bank." Not venturing to pronounce on the merits of a plan, wch. is to be tested by a fuller experience than can yet be consulted, I can only express my acknowledgements, for the communication, and my wishes, that if adopted, the patriotic views, of its authors, may be accomplished With esteem & friendly respects...
743James Madison to John P. Kennedy, 22 November 1833 (Madison Papers)
J. Madison with his respects to Mr. Kennedy thanks him for the copy of his Address before the "American Institute" He could not but read with much pleasure so able a discussion of an interesting subject, presented with all the attraction which elegance of language could give it. RC (Peabody Institute); FC (DLC) .
744From James Madison to Cumberland D. Williams, [ca. 22] February 1820 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your favour of Jany. 29. accompanied by the Pamphlet on the subject of a circulating medium. I have not found it expedient to bestow on the plan proposed the attention necessary to trace the bearings & operation of new arrangements ingeniously combined on a subject which, in its most simple forms, has produced much discussion among political Economists. It cannot be doubted that a...
745James Madison to Robley Dunglison, 23 February 1829 (Madison Papers)
I have just recd. yours of the 19th. I cannot regard the anonymous charge in the newspaper to which it refers as an omen of successful misrepresentations concerning the state of things at the University. What is published seems to carry on the face of it an antidote to its purpose. The fever in question, whatever be its cause, is well understood to have no respect of places as ordinarily...
746James Madison to Jonathan Elliot, 7 July 1830 (Madison Papers)
I have recd your letter of June 29. The two vols. it refers to preceded it some days. Being obliged at my age, to economise my intellectual employments of every sort; I have only been able to glance over the selections appended to the last vol: They appear to be of a class which must add to the value of a work such as that of which they make a part of the Notes of Judge Yates, however, just...
747James Madison to William Allen, 14 January 1831 (Madison Papers)
I did not receive yours of the 11th. in time to answer it by the last Mail. From the general prospect in Europe I should infer that the price of flour would not be likely to decline. But as you have the same information generally that I have, and occasionly fresher & better opportunities of learning the state of the Markets every where which influences the price with us, I wish you to consult...
748James Madison to Walter Jones, 9 September 1828 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. the answer you have been so good as to prepare to the Bill in Chancy. which makes me a party. I know not that in a sound construction there is any part of the answer not reconciliable with the state of facts; but that you may the better judge, I take the liberty of submitting the following Statement; being conscious of the perfect fairness of my intentions throughout, and anxious...
749James Madison to William C. Rives, 25 October 1835 (Madison Papers)
This will be handed to you by Richard Chapman a son of Reynolds Chapman who married one of my neices. He will communicate the hope of his father and his own, that he may obtain a birth in the Military school at West-point. My esteem and regard for the Father, and good wishes for the son, will apologize for my saying that his success could not but be agreeable to me, if the way for it be...
750From James Madison to George Graham, 5 April 1827 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. yours of Mar. 31. inclosing the Rept. of the Come on the Charges agst. you, & a letter from Mr. Tiffin. I thank you for the communication. But I must say at the same time that it was a very unnecessary proof of the groundlessness of the Charges. I had never admitted a doubt that they would recoil on the author. The public attention was lately drawn to the origin of the...