James Madison Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/04-03-02-0494

To James Madison from Edward Livingston, 13 March 1825

From Edward Livingston

Washington March 13. 1825

Sir

The kind and flattering attention you paid to my communication of the plan for the penal code of Louisiana1 induces me to offer for your acceptance a part of its execution.2 The four codes composing the system were destroyed by fire when ready for the press. This only is yet restored. The others shall be successively transmitted to you as they are printed.

The further I proceed in the undertaking, the more I become convinced of its extensive utility if properly performed, and the more anxious I feel to obtain not only the aid necessary to diminish the number of its imperfections but also the support, without which even a perfect system could not overcome the prejudice against innovation.

If therefore Sir, you should find the liesure and have the inclination to favor me with your general views on the utility of the plan or the character of its execution, I hope you will add the Obligation of making them public3

RC (DLC); draft (NjP: Edward Livingston Papers). RC closure and signature clipped; docketed by JM. Minor differences between the copies have not been noted.

1. See JM to Livingston, 10 July 1822, PJM-RS description begins David B. Mattern et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Retirement Series (3 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 2009–). description ends , 2:542-44.

2. Edward Livingston, Code of Procedure, for Giving Effect to the Penal Code of the State of Louisiana (New Orleans, 1825; Shoemaker description begins Richard H. Shoemaker, comp., A Checklist of American Imprints for 1820–1829 (11 vols.; New York, 1964–72). description ends 21251).

3. Here the RC ends; draft adds “I have the honor.”

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    Madison Papers
    Title
    To James Madison from Edward Livingston, 13 March 1825
    Author
    Livingston, Edward
    Recipient
    Madison, James
    Date
    13 March 1825

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To James Madison from Edward Livingston, 13 March 1825,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/04-03-02-0494. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Retirement Series, vol. 3, 1 March 1823 – 24 February 1826, ed. David B. Mattern, J. C. A. Stagg, Mary Parke Johnson, and Katherine E. Harbury. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, pp. 491–492.]

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