To James Madison from James Monroe, 22 November 1799
From James Monroe
Albemarle Novr. 22. 1799.
Dear Sir
I was yesterday at Monticello when Mr. Jefferson informed me he proposed sitting out on the next (this) morning on a visit to you, to remain a day & return. Considering yr. present publick engagment, the business before the legislature & the part you will necessarily take in it, with his publick station, I was immediately impressed with an idea the trip had better be declined & so observed. He said he had omitted writing you lately as he intended to visit you. I told him it wod. certainly compromit you both; as it wod. immediately appear throughout the continent. Under this consideration he declined the trip, in the persuasion an interview might be had, by yr. making me a visit, at my new house, to wh. I move tomorrow. There wod. be nothing extry. in yr. coming up to assist me in arrangments there, bringing Mrs. Madison with you, wh. I earnestly wish you to do next week. We will repay the debt hereafter with interest. Our house is unfinished in all respects, the yard in confusion, &ca, but you shall have a warm chamber & be made as comfortable as we can make you. Perhaps I have done wrong in interfering, and may have avoided one evil by prefering a worse one. This often happens where the intention is known to be good. But yet the present does not appear to me to be an example of that kind. I shod. have called on you in my return from Fredbg had I not been taken to Caroline by the sickness of my sisters family & passed thence thro’ Louisa; I am forc’d down again in abt. ten days when I shall see you if I do not sooner. I enclose you the pamphlet I promised wh. contains some just views of the subject on wh. it treats.1 I enclose also a letter recd. sometime since from F. Brooke on a subject in wh. he is interested. There wod. be cause for regret if Mr. Stuart from Staunton & Mr. Brooke shod. be opposed, in the event contemplated, as they are very deserving men, well qualified for the place in question.2 With Mrs. M.’s & my best respects to Mrs. Madison believe me yr. friend & servant
Jas. Monroe
RC (DLC). Addressed by Monroe to JM at Orange. Enclosures not found, but see n. 1.
1. The pamphlet Monroe enclosed was possibly St. George Tucker’s Letter to a Member of Congress; Respecting the Alien and Sedition Laws (n.p., 1799; 36457). JM’s copy is in the Madison Collection, Rare Book Division, Library of Congress.
2. Alexander Stuart and Francis T. Brooke were vying for a place on the Virginia Privy Council. Stuart was elected a council member on 12 Dec. 1799 ( , 9:62).