From James Madison to David Hoffman, May 1821
To David Hoffman
Montpelleir May. 1821.
J Madison presents his respects to Mr Hoffman,1 with thanks for the copy of his “Syllabus.”2
It has not been convenient for him to bestow on it the critical attention necessary, if he were better qualified, to remark defects, if there be any, or to do justice to its merits. To the view he has taken of the plan, it appears to embrace the subject in its due extent and to designate and arrange the particular topics in a manner well adapted to a highly instructive course of Law Lectures.
FC (DLC). In Dolley Madison’s hand; verso marked by JM “Hoffman May 1821.”
1. David Hoffman (1784–1854) was a lawyer and professor of law at the University of Maryland, 1816–36 (Eugene Fauntleroy Cordell, University of Maryland, 1807–1907 … With Biographical Sketches … of Its Founders, Benefactors, Regents, Faculty, and Alumni [2 vols.; New York, 1907], 1:344–48).
2. David Hoffman, Syllabus of a Course of Lectures on Law: Proposed to Be Delivered in the University of Maryland; Addressed to the Students of Law in the United States (Baltimore, 1821; Shoemaker 5608).