The writings of James Madison, comprising his public papers and his private correspondence, including numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed. |
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TO J. Q. ADAMS.
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 | The writings of James Madison, |  |
TO J. Q. ADAMS.[136]
Dear Sir,—I recd. two days ago your favor of
I am glad to find that your personal interviews
with Mr. Bentham afforded an entertainment which
may have been some recompence for the trouble
which I contributed to give you in relation to him.[137]
The celebrity which this Philosophic politician has
acquired abroad as well as in his own Country,
does not permit one to doubt the extent of his
capacity or of his researches; and there is still less
room to question the philanthropy which adorns
his character. It is unfortunate that he has not
added to his merits a style and manner of conveying
his ideas which would do more justice to their
however I greatly overrate or he greatly
underrates the task in which he has been so anxious
to employ his intellectual labors and treasures,
for the reformation of our Code of laws, especially
in the advanced age at which the work was to be
commenced. And I own that I find some difficulty
in reconciling the confidence he feels in the adequacy
of his powers not only for a digest of our
Statutes into a concise and clear system, but a
reduction of our unwritten to a text law,
with that penetrating and accurate judgment
for which he has the reputation. The disinterestedness
and friendly zeal, nevertheless, which
dictated the offer of his services to our Country
are entitled to its acknowledgments, and no one
can join in them with more cordiality than
myself.
I have looked over & return the letters from
Govr. Plumer and his son. The work conceived
by the latter, and the manner in which he has
presented an outline of it, indicate talents which
merit cultivation & encouragement. The best answer
I can give to your communication on the subject
of his wish for a copy of the Journal of the
Convention, is to state the circumstance, that at
the close of the Convention, the question having
arisen what was to be done with the Journal & the
other papers, and it being suggested that they
ought to be either destroyed or deposited in the
Custody of the Presidt. it was determined that
orders of the National Legislature. Whether a
publication of them ought to be promoted, as having
a useful tendency, you will probably be better
able to decide, on a perusal of the document than
one who cannot take the same abstract view of the
subject.[138]
I cannot be insensible to the terms in which you
refer to the official relations which have subsisted
between us, but must disclaim the obligations which
you consider as lying on your side. The results
of what took place on mine prove that I only avoided
the demerit of a different course. Be pleased Sir
to accept assurances of my continued esteem and of
my friendly respects.
Jeremy Bentham sent a long letter of forty-one pages to Madison,
October 30, 1811, offering to draw up "a complete body of law; in
one word, a pannomian, or as much of it as the life and health of a
man, whose age wanted little of four and sixty, might allow of" for
the United States or for any of the states. This letter was not answered
till Adams went to London as minister, when Madison gave
him a reply to deliver to Bentham dated May 8, 1816, in which he
politely expressed doubt of the feasibility of the scheme. In the
course of the letter he said: "With respect to the unwritten law, it
may not be improper to observe, that the extent of it has been not
a little abridged, in this Country, by successive events. A certain
portion of it was dropped by our emigrant forefathers as contrary
to their principles, or inapplicable to their new situation. The Colonial
Statutes had a further effect in amending and diminishing the mass.
The revolution from Colonies to Independent States, capped off other
portions. And the changes which have been constantly going on
since this last event, have everywhere made, and are daily making
further reductions." Under date of June, 1817, Bentham wrote a
circular letter to the Governor of each of the states enclosing a copy
of his letter of Oct. 30, 1811, to Madison. All the correspondence was
published in London in 1817, under the title, Papers Relative to Codification
and Public Instruction: Including Correspondence with the Russian
Emperor, and Divers Constituted Authorities in the American United
States.
| The writings of James Madison, | |