From James Madison to Samuel Latham Mitchill, 22 July 1806
To Samuel Latham Mitchill
Washington July 22. 1806
Dear Sir
I offer you my particular thanks for your two favors of the 17th. As it appears by the decision of the Court that our testimony could not have been taken under the Subpœnas if we had obeyed them, and as it ought to be presumed to have been so understood both by the Counsel for the dfts & by ourselves, these considerations will doubtless enter the view of the case taken by the candid & intelligent. It remains to be seen whether our depositions will now be called for, for the use of the Court. If they should, they will be freely given. If they should not, further light may be thrown by that circumstance on the policy which has prevailed.
I hand you herewith a few documents from which you may perhaps extract a few items for your benevolent lucubrations on the subject of malignant fevers &c.1 With the highest esteem I remain Dr. S. yr. friend & servt.
James Madison
Will you be so obliging as to return the documents after making the use of them you wish. But you need not be in the least hurry to do it.
RC (offered for sale in Sotheby’s Fine Printed and Manuscript Americana, New York, N.Y., 22 May 1990, item 61). Docketed by Mitchill.
1. JM probably referred to the Medical Repository, of which Mitchill was a founding editor. It began publication in 1797 as the first medical journal of American origin, focusing in particular on febrile, contagious, and epidemic diseases, and maintaining a robust review section. Articles penned by Mitchill were frequently to be found in its pages, and he continued his editorial work with the journal until 1821 (Richard J. Kahn and Patricia G. Kahn, “The Medical Repository—The First U.S. Medical Journal (1797–1824),” New England Journal of Medicine 337 [1997]: 1926–30).