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 MARGARET B. SMITH.
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 | The writings of James Madison, |  |
TO MARGARET B. SMITH.[116]
I have received, my dear Madam, your very
friendly, and I must add, very flattering letter; in
marking the early relations between Mr.
Jefferson and myself, and involving some anecdote
concerning him that may have a place in a manuscript
volume you are preparing as a legacy for your
son.
I was a stranger to Mr. Jefferson till the year 1776,
when he took his seat in the first Legislature under
the constitution of Virginia then newly formed; being
at the time myself a member of that Body, and
for the first time a member of any public Body.
The acquaintance then made with him was very
slight; the distance between our ages being considerable,
and other distances much more so. During
part of the time whilst he was Governour of the
State, a service to which he was called not long
after, I had a seat in the Council associated with
a friendship was formed, which was for life, and
which was never interrupted in the slightest degree
for a single moment.
Among the occasions which made us immediate
companions was the trip in 1791, to the borders of
Canada to which you refer. According to an understanding
between us, the observations in our way
through the Northern part of N. York, and the
newly settled entirety of Vermont, to be noted
by him, were of a miscellaneous cast, and were
in part at least noted on the Birch bark of which
you speak. The few observations devolving on
me, related chiefly to agricultural and economic
objects. On recurring to them, I find the only
interest they contain is in the comparison they
may afford of the infant state with the present
growth of the settlements through which we passed,
and I am sorry that my memory does not suggest
any particular anecdote to which yours must have
alluded. The scenes & subjects which had occurred
during the session of Congress which had
just terminated at our departure from New York,
entered of course into our itinerary conversations.
In one of those scenes, a dinner party at which
we were both present, I recollect an incident now
tho' not perhaps adverted to then, which as it is
characteristic of Mr. Jefferson, I will substitute
for a more exact compliance with your request.
The new Constitution of the U. States having just
been put into operation, forms of Government
especially at a convivial board, and the question
being started as to the best mode of providing the
Executive chief, it was among other opinions,
boldly advanced that a hereditary designation was
preferable to any elective process that could be
devised. At the close of an eloquent effusion against
the agitations and animosities of a popular choice
and in behalf of birth, as on the whole, affording
even a better chance for a suitable head of the
Government, Mr. Jefferson, with a smile remarked
that he had heard of a university somewhere in
which the Professorship of Mathematics was hereditary.
The reply, received with acclamation, was
a coup de grace to the Anti-Republican Heretic.
Whilst your affection is preparing, from other
sources, an instructive bequest for your son, I must
be allowed to congratulate him on the precious inheritance
he will enjoy in the examples on which his
filial feelings will most delight to dwell.
Mrs. Madison failed to obtain the two points she
intended for you; but will renew her efforts to fulfil
her promise. The only drawing of our House is
that by Dr Thornton, and is without the wings now
making part of it.
Be pleased, my dear Madam, to express to Mr.
Smith the particular esteem I have ever entertained
for the lights of his mind, and the purity of his
principles; and to accept for him, & yourself my
cordial salutations. Mrs. Madison who has lately
been seriously ill, but is now recovering, desires
joins me in wishing for the entire circle of your
family, every happiness.
Copy of the original among the family papers of the late J. Henley
Smith, Esq., of Washington. On the same subject Madison wrote
to Henry St. George Tuckner, April 30, 1830, giving the same information
and adding:
"Mr. Jefferson's letters to me amount to hundreds. But they have
not been looked into for a long time, with the exception of a few
of latter dates. As he kept copies of all his letters throughout the
period, the originals of those to me exist of course elsewhere.
"My eye fell on the inclosed paper. It is already in obscurity, and
may soon be in oblivion. The Ceracchi named was an artist celebrated
for his genius, & was thought a rival in embryo to Canova & doomed
to the guillotine as the author or patron, guilty or suspected, of the
infernal machine for destroying Bonaparte. I knew him well, having
been a lodger in the same house with him, and much teased by his
eager hopes on wch I constantly threw cold water, of obtaining the
aid of Congress for his grand project. Having failed in this chance,
he was advised by me & others to make the experiment of subscriptions,
with the most auspicious names heading the list, and considering the
general influence of Washington and the particular influence of Hamilton
on the corps of speculators then suddenly enriched by the funding
system, the prospect was encouraging. But just as the circular
address was about to be despatched, it was put into his head that the
scheme, was merely to get rid of his importunities, and being of the
genus irritabile, suddenly went off in anger and disgust, leaving behind
him heavy drafts on Genl. W. Mr. Jefferson &c. &c. for the busts &c.
he had presented to them. His drafts were not the effect of avarice,
but of his wants, all his resources having been exhausted in the tedious
pursuit of his object. He was an enthusiastic worshipper of Liberty
and Fame, and his whole soul was bent on securing the latter by
rearing a monument to the Former, which he considered as personified
in the American Republic. Attempts were made to engage him for a
statue of Genl. W. but he wd. not stoop to that."—Mad. Mss. The
enclosure was Ceracchi's circular concerning his proposed monument.
A photograph of his bust of Madison is the frontispiece of this edition
of his writings.
| The writings of James Madison, | |