1. Montlezun provided an extended account of his visit to Montpelier in his Voyage fait dans les années 1816 et 1817, (1:52–110), much of which was translated in Moffatt and Carrière’s “A Frenchman Visits Norfolk, Fredericksburg and Orange County,” 197–214. The following has been adapted and expanded from that translation: “About noon I arrived at President Madison’s. His home is not at all pretentious, nor in consonance with what the high position of the owner would lead one to expect. It can hardly be seen in the midst of the trees which surround it, but the interior is agreeably planned and decently furnished. The land around it is laid out in an English garden; the lawns stretch up to the house itself.

“Shortly after my arrival I had the honor of seeing Mr. Madison, to whom I presented some letters of introduction, thanks to which I was received with the most polished courtesy and invited to spend several days with him. Since the President does not speak French with ease, I had to express myself in his language. His son [stepson], who had just returned from Europe where he had been travelling, and not without profit, was with him; he speaks French very well and seems well educated. He is a young man of fine physique, with perfect manners; charm is stamped on his face. Mrs. Madison entered a little later; I had the honor of being presented to her. She is a handsome woman, although she has passed her prime. Her face possesses a certain air of nobleness; her bearing is gracious, and her manner of speech betokens gentleness. I had to converse in English with Mrs. Madison also.

“The President, although he is cold and reserved, is most polite and affable; he is still hale and hearty and enjoys perfect health. After a short conversation, I was shown to an apartment from which the view looks over a plain bounded by the Blue Mountains. These are secondary heights, at an elevation of 1500 feet above sea level […].

“The President’s estate is five thousand acres. His house, plain on the outside, has only one floor; it is made of brick, decorated with a gallery, and surmounted by a pediment supported by four columns forming a portico. Its contours are softened by pleasant lawns bordering on woods laid out in park-like vistas at unequal distances, which agreeably varies the perspective.

“Mr. Madison is sixty-three years old; years of thought and work have imparted an air of severity to his countenance, but when he can free himself for a moment from the cares which are attached to the painful honor of being the head of a republican government, his brow loses its wrinkles, his face brightens. It shines with all the fire of intelligence and with a restrained gaiety, and one is surprised to discover in the conversation of the great statesman and wise executive as much sprightliness as solidity.

“I had not yet seen the portrait of Louis XVIII in the president’s drawing room; I was delighted to see it this morning [17 September] in the dining room. It is the one engraved after the design of Isabey.

“In this same room there is a full-length portrait of Confucius, executed in China. The artist’s name is written at the base in Chinese characters; it is a drawing done in the common style of design in that country.

“The drawing room is adorned with a portrait of Washington, and his bust in marble, smaller than life. It also contains: the portrait of Jefferson; the bust of John Paul Jones; various portraits of president Madison and his wife; the miniature of Mr. Todd, aged twenty-three, stepson of Mr. Madison; busts of Homer and Socrates; various engravings and sketches of Niagara Falls; a pretty engraving of Raphael’s famous ‘la belle Jardinière’; an engraving of Prud’hon, in the antique style representing ‘L’Amour enchainé’; the death of Montgomery; the Battle of Bunker Hill, near Boston, in 1775; the bust of Barlow, ambassador to France during the usurpation. It is in marble, a little less hard than life; the bust of Mr. Evan [Erving], ambassador to Spain; the wax portrait of Mrs. Madison, mère, very life-like; the ivory portrait of the first wife of the usurper [i.e., Josephine de Beauharnais whom Napoleon divorced in 1809].

“The hall contains various pictures, such as a Descent from the Cross; Charles II of England; the charming group of Venus and Psyche, in the antique style, lightly veiled; a picture of shepherds and flocks, after the Dutch school; a bas-relief, in marble, depicting Mrs. Madison; a landscape by Téniers, and several others.

“The President’s house is pleasantly situated on a height, whence the view extends, towards the west, over a very fine country bounded by the chain of the Blue Mountains. Today’s superb weather allows one to enjoy all the richness of a vista, all the freshness and variety of a landscape which is quite new to one who has crossed the low country which stretches from the coast of Virginia up to a distance of three miles east of this residence […].

“At present, the grazing lands around the house are of small extent, but they are going to be considerably enlarged. A part of the forest is to be cut down, its edge thus to be pushed back more than a mile. This vast space around the house will then form a single green carpet.

“At two o’clock, several ladies and gentlemen arrived by carriage and on horseback. Mrs. Madison, mother of the President, came down to meet them. She is eighty-six years old and enjoys perfect health; her memory is good; she is still a very active woman and busies herself with the various activities of her sex, as in the days of her youth. Mrs. Madison was born in Virginia; she was delicate and a semi-invalid until her seventieth year. At that age, ordinarily the span of life, her health improved. She bore twelve children, of whom only two are still living. I chatted with her about the War for Independence and General Cornwallis. ‘He caused a great deal of fear,’ she told me […].

“After a good dinner, and when the ladies had retired, I spoke at length with the President, who is highly educated; and as we came to speak of the social state and savage life, he told something worthy of note; that one daily sees whites abandoning their settlements in the United States and willingly embracing the life of a savage, without there being a single example of any who had done this returning to the earlier customs of civilized life; whilst it is unheard of for a savage who lived for some time in an ordered society not to return to his people and resume his original way of life.

“On this subject, Mr. Madison told me that when he was with Lafayette at a council negotiating an Indian treaty [see PJM description begins William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (1st ser., vols. 1–10, Chicago, 1962–77; vols. 11–17, Charlottesville, Va., 1977–91). description ends 8:116–21], the marquis persuaded a savage to entrust him with his son to take to Europe. He did take the young man, aged about twelve or thirteen, there. In Paris he had him carefully raised. After several years, when his education was finished, the young Indian returned to America. Mr. Madison told me he saw him; he was a fine little fellow, stylishly dressed, graceful in manners, skilled in music, singing, and dancing, in short, an accomplished young man.

“He had hardly been three weeks in this country when he returned to his people, where he cast off his European clothing, armed himself in the Indian manner and reassumed the dress of a savage.

“This is not the only example. I related to the President that a child from New Holland, a native, was taken by the English to London, where he received a liberal education. Returned to his country, and even before the ship had disembarked, when he saw he was within reach of the coast, he stripped naked, jumped into the water, swam ashore, and fled into the depths of the forest.

“The president concluded, with some reason, from these facts and many similar ones, that mankind has a natural disposition to the savage state, which is manifested most commonly in the lower classes, among those without personal ties or property in a social state. It happens frequently, he said, that common laborers, who had settled on the frontiers, left their new dwellings after a short time and changed their lives to become shepherds caring for large flocks over vast areas, and after following this new occupation for a few months, cross into Indian country, mix with the savages, adapt to their habits, adopt their manners, dress in their style, follow their hunts, and identify totally with the people they have joined. Perhaps they derive some advantage from being different in race, language, and color. No doubt they are irresistibly seduced by the complete liberty, the loosening of ties, obligations, and duties, the absence or responsibilities and cares that characterize the savage state.

“Among Indians land is held in common; there is no property except family objects. On this point alone, there are differences: an Indian owns livestock, jewels, chattels, etc; what they are very partial to (if I may use this term) is to own black slaves; they obtain them from the states adjacent to their territory. I asked how they were treated. The president replied: ‘Very capriciously; they feed them well; but if they become even a little dissatisfied with them they administer whatever punishments are dictated by their strongly held feelings of revenge […].’

“Mr. Madison told me, at the table, a witticism of the celebrated Erskine. Dining with one of his friends who had some excellent Cape wine which he was miserly in dispensing, they served a small bottle which was quickly emptied. Mr. Erskine, suspecting that the ration would not be doubled, said jokingly to the host, ‘Well, sir, if we cannot double the Cape, we must get into port.’ Indeed, Sir, since we cannot double the Cape, we must return to port.

[18 September.] “Yesterday evening was passed in conversation and music. Mistress Dade and her sister Mistress Macon sang in turn and accompanied each other on the piano. We had tea, coffee etc., and the company retired early. This morning, these ladies and gentlemen left us after lunch […].

“I went today to one of the farms of the President to see a wheat thrashing machine; it is composed of two parts, one of which receives the sheaves fed into it by Negroes as fast as the stripping process allows, while the other, made up of large cog-wheels which turn the wooden cylinder which acts on the first machine, is driven by four horses. This machine turns out two hundred bushels a day.

“On the same farm, the merinos, the large-tailed rams of the Cape of Good Hope, and their cross-bred offspring with the old stock, make up numerous flocks, the wool of which is highly prized and brings a good price […].

“Every year when Congress meets, one may see the chiefs of various Indian nations arrive at Washington. They come by foot to the frontiers, where the government furnishes them with horses and vehicles to bring them to the capital. They receive clothes for their presentation to the President. The women come with them; they love to dress up. They paint themselves black and blue and are exceedingly fond of fabrics, jewels, ribbons, etc., with which to embellish themselves. Some of them are very pretty.

[19 September.] “From Mrs. Madison I learned of the details about the Indian chiefs who went to Washington in some number three years ago to conclude a treaty [see PJM-PS description begins Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (10 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1984–). description ends 5:175–86]; she received from them presents of pelts, such as skins of fox, buffalo etc., and other objects.

“Their women were highly adorned in dress; these Indians love to dance in public, and often went to the president’s mansion to indulge in this pleasure. They have many crude instruments which they play while dancing. Some play Castilian-style castanets. The warriors carry tomahawks or war clubs.

“Their dance has various characteristics: sometimes it resembles military movements and evolutions, all accompanied by song.

“They are immensely proud, although while partaking of sumptuous meals with the president, they affected to be surprised by nothing; but their gluttony was remarkable. They greet with a slight nod of the head and touch of the hand.

“There are orators among them. When presented to the president, they made long speeches which interpreters translated.

“They have unusual names; one warrior was called Sans Oreille, to indicate that he was indifferent to prayers, to pleading etc., and that he followed his own purposes despite everything.

“The wife of the principal chief was small, sunburnt, but very pretty and gracious, with very vivacious eyes.

“Among the women was a widow courted by four chiefs but she was unwilling to heed any of them without the permission of her father. By this she meant the president of the United States.

“One day jealousy led to a terrible quarrel among the chiefs; it very nearly had fatal results.

“‘Nam fuit antè Helenum C[…] terterrima belli Causa! Horace.’ [Even before Helen of Troy c[…] were an abominable cause of war!] They went regularly to plays in Washington; and they took infinite pleasure in doing so.

“Their women were most interested in obtaining anything relating to their personal adornment, particularly gauze, tulle, artificial flowers, ribbons, jewels etc. They appeared to be quite familiar with the arts of coquetry […].

[23 September]. “Several ladies and young girls of the neighborhood who were visiting the president left this morning after lunch. Shortly afterwards it began to rain; Sunday passed with its usual drabness. After the very warm weather, we experienced some chill and humidity; a fire in the drawing room made us very comfortable. Reading, dining, conversation, and even chess (despite the customary sanctity of the day) chased the boredom away until we retired to deceptive dreams.

“In my daily conversations with Mr. Madison, I discovered in him further enlightenment and extensive knowledge: with much modesty. Mr. Madison has a quick and accurate mind, infinite wisdom, an excellent conversational tone, never self-assertive (he is not a young man), appearing to credit greater knowledge to those to whom he is talking than to himself.

“No-one is better informed about the policies of various powers and of events no matter how small or wherever they might be that have bearing on close relations with Europe.

“Work comes easily to him; he reads and writes for most of the day, and often for part of the night.

“When in company he perks up, his face beams, he enjoys a witticism, talks happily with a simplicity that does him credit, which is noteworthy in the high position in which his talents have placed him.

“No-one is more courteous or solicitous towards those to whom he has offered his hospitality.

“His wife, whom I have already mentioned, is sweetness, civility, and goodness incarnate. One could not be in more agreeable company displaying tactfulness and allowing their guests the ease and freedom that they would enjoy in their own homes.

“Mr. Todd, her son, is a man who was never young, mature already at twenty-two or twenty-three, his knowledge, his self-possession, his sound judgment surprising at an age when men usually have so little. He has travelled with profit in France, in England and in Russia. To these advantages he adds a fine appearance, distinguished manners, and infinite charm. It is easy to see that he has kept good company in our European capitals.

“I found a fine edition of Bernadine de Saint-Pierre, some of which I reread with pleasure, but I am hard put to say whether I was more disgusted or revolted in reading the dedicatory letter of Mme. Bernadine de Sainte-Pierre to the duchess d’Angoulème, where she styles her husband as the ‘interprète sublime de la providence!!’

“‘Risum teneatis amici!’ [Can you help but laugh friends!]

“This morning I passed the time in reading a canto of Jérusalem délivrée, translation by Brun, Paris edition [see PJM-PS description begins Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (10 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1984–). description ends 3:370] […].

[25 September.] “In this country there are many cases of longevity among the [slaves]. Recently I saw a Negro, ninety-five years of age, engaged in splitting wood; he belonged to President Madison. There are Negro women who have more than twenty children. It is here that the planters of the Carolinas and Georgia come to purchase slaves. Today they are very dear; the ordinary price of a full-grown man is from seven to eight hundred dollars. There are more than three hundred on Mr. Madison’s estate, and many more than that at Monticello with Mr. Jefferson. They are divided among numerous farms on these properties. Some of these farms are very pretty, built of wood, clean and commodious […].

“After dinner I took my leave of Mr. Madison, his wife and Mr. Todd, her son, and I took their four-horse carriage to Orange Court House […].”

2. Barthélémy Sernin du Moulin, baron de Montlezun-Labarthette (1762–1839?), was a French army officer who fought in the American Revolution with Lafayette and went into exile in London during the French Revolution. In 1816 he spent five months in the United States, during which time he visited Jefferson, JM, and James Monroe in their Virginia homes (Looney et al., Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, 10:403 n.).