301From James Madison to James Monroe, 10 November 1800 (Madison Papers)
I recd. yours of the 6th. inst. by Mr. Erwin, whom I have found to justify the recommendations he brought me. He appears to be intelligent well informed, sound in his principles and agreeable in his manners. He has not as yet touched on the subject to which you allude, & I have not been led to start a conversation on it. At the desire of Mr. Jefferson I return the inclosed letters which you...
302From James Madison to James Monroe, 20 August 1800 (Madison Papers)
I recd. your favor by the last mail and return the inclosures without repeating the remarks made to you heretofore. I have noted a trifling variation or two in the letter to G. S. which may perhaps the better guard it agst. misconstructions of any sort. The person contemp⟨lated⟩ for your Overseer has not yet come up nor been heard from. His brother however has written to him, and it is...
303From James Madison to James Monroe, 19 October 1797 (Madison Papers)
I have recd yours of the 15th. and according to its request inclose back the pamphlet to Mr. Jefferson. I have looked over attentively the parts of it which regard you. It does not seem to me to present any ground on which you could resume the controversy with Col. H. with an appearance either of obligation or propriety. All the points deserving attention which grew out of the course of the...
304From James Madison to James Monroe, 27 August 1800 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 27 August 1800. Acknowledged in Monroe to JM, 9 Sept. 1800 . Informs Monroe that JM has hired Richard McGee as overseer for Monroe’s Albemarle County farm.
305From James Madison to James Monroe, [ca. 27 December] 1800 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your favor of the 16th. It has not removed the inquietude prevailing in this quarter as to the precise issue of the Election. There are reports from different quarters which seem to be positive that a difference of several votes has taken place between the two Repub: Candidates; but I can not trace in them either authenticity or particularity eno. to entitle them to confidence....
306From James Madison to James Monroe, 5 February 1798 (Madison Papers)
The calls of my carpenters & the fineness of the weather have induced me to hurry my waggon up for the nails. It will receive the few articles which you have been so good as to offer from the superfluities of your stock; and which circumstances will permit me now to lay in: towit 2 table cloths for a dining room of abt. 18 feet; 2. 3 or 4. as may be convenient, for a more limited scale, 4...
307From James Madison to James Monroe, 20 July 1799 (Madison Papers)
Your favor of came safe by the last Mail. I had not forgotten my accession to your assumpsit, tho’ the discharge of it will fall on me at a moment peculiarly mal apropos, and is not I fear alleviated by a hope that the sacrifice will answer the benevolent purpose which led to it. I shall be glad to know the precise time at which the payment will be called for, that I may be prepared for it. If...
308From James Madison to Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, 28 May 1798 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 28 May 1798. Acknowledged in Muhlenberg to JM, 17 June 1798 . Discusses Barbara Peters’s claim to a house formerly held in trust by John Todd, Jr. JM had earlier enclosed to Jefferson a letter to Muhlenberg (not found)—“related to a case of humanity”—that was probably on the same subject ( JM to Jefferson, 15 Apr. 1798 ).
309From James Madison to Samuel Stanhope Smith, 25 August 1799 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 25 August 1799. Acknowledged in Smith to JM, 3 Sept. and 28 Nov. 1799 . Inquires on behalf of a friend about the expenses of a Princeton education.
310From James Madison to William Steward, 11 October 1798 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
11 October 1798. “Please to let the Bearer Mr. L. Whitten have a saddle for which I will pay you.” RC (owned by Charles M. Storey, Boston, Mass., 1961). Written on a small slip of paper. Addressed to “Mr. Steward / Orange Ct. House.” William Steward was an Orange County saddler ( Vi : Francis Taylor Diary, 23 May 1797). L. Whitten was a local carpenter whose skill in laying floors was employed...
311From James Madison to Francis Taylor, 17 September 1797 (Madison Papers)
In compliance with my promise I have written the inclosed letter to the Secretary of the Treasury. You will observe that it has not so much of an exclusive & specific reference to the office of Collector as of a general one to that line of appointments. This mode of recommendation was preferred for two reasons; the one, because it has been usual to promote to vacancies, the officers next in...
312From James Madison to Hubbard Taylor, 27 March 1797 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 27 March 1797. Acknowledged in Taylor to JM, 1 May 1797 (DLC). Discusses Kentucky lands of Mary Coles Payne.
313From James Madison to John Taylor, ca. 1 April 1799 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. Ca. 1 April 1799. Mentioned in John Taylor to Creed Taylor, 10 Apr. 1799 (ViU: Creed Taylor Papers). JM agrees to be a candidate for the Virginia General Assembly. It may have been in this letter that JM requested Taylor to ask Edmund Pendleton to return the letters JM wrote him from Congress (see John Taylor to JM, 4 Mar. 1799 , and n. 1; and Edmund Pendleton to JM, 12 May...
314From James Madison to Oliver Wolcott, 17 September 1797 (Madison Papers)
The death of Major Lindsay the Collector at Norfolk requiring a new appointment to be made within your branch of the administration, Mr. Francis Taylor of that place, wishes to present himself to the attention of the Executive; and I am requested to join my voucher to that of others, in his favor. Altho’ related to him by a kindred not very remote, I have the pleasure of a slight personal...
315From James Madison to James Wood, 12 April 1799 (Madison Papers)
Capt: Henry Bell of this neighbourhood wishing his pretensions to be taken into view by the Executive in filling the office of Superintendant of the State Arsenals I take the liberty of stating that he enjoys the reputation of having served meritoriously in the war of our Revolution, that he is esteemed a man of strict integrity & honor, and that he may be confided in for a faithful discharge...
316Virginia Resolutions, 21 December 1798 (Madison Papers)
JM’s writing of the Virginia Resolutions should be seen in the light of a long series of actions JM undertook to stop the progress of what he considered to be the wrongful interpretation of the Constitution he had done so much to create and have adopted. In JM’s mind, the abuse of the “necessary and proper” clause in the Constitution had led to the expansion of federal government power well...
317Foreign Influence, [23 January] 1799 (Madison Papers)
The public attention has been much employed for some time, on the danger of foreign influence, and of divisions between the government and the people. The jealousy which has been awakened on these subjects, has however, been exclusively directed towards one foreign nation. To be honorable to our character, and adequate to our safety, it ought to be pointed to every quarter where danger lurks,...
318Account with George Watson, [23 January] 1800 (Madison Papers)
Decr 1th Col James Madison Dr 5 Club in Wine porter 3—2 6 do – do 3—5 7 do – do 3—9 9 pearel Barley 1—6 10 To 2 Dinners for Ladys 6—0 One Botle porter
319Political Reflections, [23 February] 1799 (Madison Papers)
There was never a time when it was more requisite for the public to be truly acquainted with foreign transactions than at the present; nor one at which this information was more difficult. With every thing that regards the French Republic, it is of peculiar importance that it should be accurately and fully understood, because that is the Foreign Power, with which our relations have become more...
320Toasts for an American Dinner, [4 July] 1798 (Madison Papers)
1. The people. May every arm be raised agst Foreign invaders, & every voice agst domestic Usurpers. 2. The Union. May it find an everlasting Cement in the spirit of the Revolution, & the sacredness of the Constitution. 3. The Constitution. May its Authors be its protectors, & its disorganizers its victims. 4. The P. & V. P. may the former never feel the passions of J. A. nor the latter be...
321Death of George Washington, [18 December] 1799 (Madison Papers)
Mr. Madison addressed the speaker as follows: Death has robbed our country of its most distinguished ornament, and the world of one of its greatest benefactors. George Washington, the Hero of Liberty, the father of his Country, and the friend of man is no more. The General Assembly of his native state were ever the first to render him, living, the honors due to his virtues. They will not be...
322Motion on the Virginia Resolutions of 1798, [23 December] 1799 (Madison Papers)
Mr. Madison moved, that the committee of the whole should be discharged from further proceedings upon certain answers from several of the states, relative to the communications made by the Virginia legislature at their last session; and that the same should be referred to a special committee of seven. Richmond Va. Argus , 27 Dec. 1799. The House appointed a committee made up of JM, John...
323The Report of 1800, [7 January] 1800 (Madison Papers)
When JM yielded to the entreaties of Virginia Republicans to stand as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly in the spring of 1799, it was for the immediate purpose of combating the influence of Patrick Henry, who, it was feared, if left unopposed, would succeed in overcoming Virginia’s “resistance to monarchical measures.” But Henry’s death in June 1799 removed the chief obstacle to...
324Edmund Randolph’s Notes on the Common Law, [ca. September] 1799 (Madison Papers)
Among the materials JM drew on for his Report of 1800 were some notes written by Edmund Randolph for a projected essay on the question of whether there was a federal common law of crimes. Although the editors have found no evidence that JM commented on this paper to anyone, its presence in JM’s papers points to its use by the author of the report. The idea that the entire body of English...
325Note on the Virginia Resolutions, 10 January, and the Address of the General Assembly to the People of the Commonwealth … (Madison Papers)
Few editors and scholars would question that the drafting of the Virginia Resolutions was JM’s most important contribution to the proceedings of the 1798–99 session of the Virginia General Assembly. Earlier generations of editors have maintained, however, that JM was responsible not only for the resolutions of 21 December 1798 but also for three resolutions criticizing the foreign policy of...
326Affidavit on Kentucky Lands, [25 September] 1799 (Madison Papers)
The separate answer of James Madison to the bill of complaint exhibited against him and Nelly Madison in the court of quarter Session for Jefferson county in the state Kentucky by William Croghan Complnt. This defendant saving every benefit of excepting to the manifold errors and imperfections in the complainants bill contained for answer thereto sayeth—That he was jointly interested with the...
327Notes on an American Dinner, [ca. 4 July?] 1798 (Madison Papers)
Among the celebrations of the last anniversary of the birthday of our National independance, which have found their way to the press, it wd. be surprizing that the following shd. have so long been kept back, if true patriotism, were not often as much distinguished by its modesty as by its merit. Havg. lately recd from a person present an exact acct. of the festive transaction I hope it will be...
328Election of James Monroe, [6 December] 1799 (Madison Papers)
Debate commenced over a motion made by JM on 5 December nominating James Monroe for the office of governor of Virginia. Richard Bland Lee (Fairfax County) proposed postponing the motion until the following Monday, while George Keith Taylor (Prince George County) urged an investigation into the character and “political motives” of Monroe. Taylor claimed that Monroe’s mission to France had been...
329Estimate of Virginia Government Expenses and Resources, ca. 14 December 1799 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
Ca. 14 December 1799. Lists the estimated expenses of the state government for the year 30 Sept. 1799 to 1 Oct. 1800, totaling $444,660.00, and the “Resources to meet this estimate,” in the amount of $481,496.96. Followed by the committee’s explanation of several items, which concludes “that the taxes as they now stand, will be sufficient to defray the public exigencies.” Ms ( Vi : House of...