Title: To James Madison from Samuel House, 18 May 1784
From: House, Samuel
To: Madison, James

18 May 1784. Mentioned in JM’s letter to House, 29 May 1784. Probably related the news of Nicholas Trist’s death.


Title: The General Assembly Session of May 1784 (Editorial Note)
From: General Assembly
To:

Editorial Note
The sword had been sheathed, so the problems faced by the Commonwealth of Virginia and her sister states in 1784 were no longer a life-and-death matter. As James Madison rode down to Richmond in May his thoughts must have been on the still-unsolved dilemma that had confronted Congress from almost the outset: finance. The cost of running the small bureaucracy that kept the Confederation operating was not great, but the debt accumulated through seven years of war was by 1784 standards staggering, totaling some £40 million, while the interest kept piling up with unpaid creditors both at home and abroad. Americans in Madison’s time regarded that national debt in the same manner as English politicians had looked upon theirs—a high-priority matter of both national honor and fiscal solvency. Most of the difficulties Madison and his fellow legislators faced came down to a single concern—money, or the lack of it.
Thus there had been little cheering when the end of the war was formally proclaimed, and if a German traveler’s observations are to be credited, the delegates were more concerned with talking about “horse-races, runaway negroes, yesterday’s play, [or] politics,” than with carrying on legislative business. Johann Schoepf’s view of Patrick Henry certainly rang true. “Among the orators here is a certain Mr. Henry who appears to have the greatest influence over the House” (Johann David Schoepf, Travels in the Confederation, 1783–1784, trans. Alfred J. Morrison [2 vols.; Philadelphia, 1911], II, 55, 56). Indeed, Henry was as powerful in 1784 as he had been in 1774—still a man to be reckoned with before any substantial changes could be wrought. From early conversations, JM was led to believe that one of his favored schemes—a revision of the Articles of Confederation “giving greater Powers to the fœderal government”—would have Henry’s support during this May session (Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., VII, 257). But if Henry made such a promise, he quickly forgot it.
What JM soon learned was that the peacetime power structure in Virginia was as jealous and static as in earlier days. Peace brought a shifting of attention to the lingering problems of prewar debts owed to British merchants which many Virginians were not eager to settle. Then there was the need to repeal wartime legislation. The revised code of Virginia’s statutes, which a committee headed by Jefferson had undertaken back in 1777–1779, was gathering dust. Great Britain had taken steps to choke the lucrative trade with her West Indian colonies. The states’ accounts with the Confederation desperately needed settlement.
On the other hand, there was some good news. Prices for corn and tobacco were rising, which meant that farmers could pay their taxes (at least part of them) without undue strain. Some of the northern states were quibbling over boundaries and resented the rapacity of their neighbors, but Virginia had no quarrels with North Carolina, and the Maryland legislature appeared disposed toward a settlement of grievances related to the maritime use of Chesapeake Bay. There was a small surplus in the state treasury, but state contributions to the federal government were not possible unless taxes were forthcoming. Various kinds of paper currency (including tobacco warehouse receipts) kept the economy from stagnating. Nobody was starving, and if tobacco prices kept rising, there were prospects for an unusually prosperous year ahead.
JM saw signs of coming trouble, however, and hoped to forestall some of it at the May 1784 session of the General Assembly. The Virginia cession of its vast western territory above the Ohio had given the entire Union a stake in its development. For the moment, Congress looked on the enormous wilderness as the solution for the debt problem, a majority of the delegates being disposed to sell the Northwest Territory to pay off wartime debts. Left unsettled were the irritating Spanish presence in the Mississippi Valley and the British garrisons still (because of unfinished business from the Treaty of Paris) holding western posts. The Spanish were inclined to block western expansion by closing the great central river to American shippers. The two European powers thought they were maintaining valid interests, but in asserting their power they also aided the cause of American nationality by demonstrating the weaknesses of a decentralized Confederation.
A weak Congress was powerless to force concessions from haughty diplomats from Madrid or London, but at Richmond the talk was tough. Patrick Henry said more than once that Virginia ought to make no concessions to British creditors until the frontier posts were properly in American hands. Between the British and Henry’s followers there stretched a tightrope on which JM, at the 1784 legislative sessions, was forced to dance.
Fortunately JM was never one to seek a showdown in a fight he was sure to lose. He wanted to answer Congress in the most positive terms when a flexibility in the Articles of Confederation was sought that would have given the national government a certain source of revenue. JM took to the hustings, he later recalled, because in the forum of the House of Delegates he would have an opportunity to bring about “a rescue of the Union, and the blessings of liberty staked on it, from an impending catastrophe.” He could also help restore public confidence in the fiscal soundness of the new nation (Madison, Papers [Gilpin ed.]Henry D. Gilpin, ed., The Papers of James
          Madison (3 vols.; Washington, 1840)., II, 693–94). Unquestionably the younger men in Virginia politics expected him to furnish leadership. “The Assembly … have formed great Hopes of Mr. Madison, and those who know him best think he will not disappoint their most sanguine Expectations,” William Short informed Jefferson (Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., VII, 257).
At the outset of the session, the prospects were not bleak. Henry told JM and others, during a coffee-house conversation, that he would work for a strengthening of the Confederation because “a bold Example set by Virginia would have Influence on the other States” (ibid., p. 257). As JM learned, Henry was capable of saying one thing and doing another. The battle grew hotter as the session progressed, with JM in the thick of it because of numerous assignments, including the chairmanship of the Commerce committee. But JM had learned a deftness that gave him a great advantage over intractable men. He knew the heat of battle, but JM was never burned badly because he knew when to let go of an overheated issue. By fending off measures to subsidize the Protestant Episcopal church, by keeping Kentuckians from feeling totally neglected, and by holding out hope that Congress and the British creditors might all get their money some day, he demonstrated remarkable skills as a legislator.
JM’s role during this session is readily apparent from the legislation preserved in his handwriting and printed in this volume. It is not a complete record, however, because the General Assembly files in the Virginia State Library are fragmentary. JM’s holographs need no justification, but probably many bills are missing which carried his ideas if not his whole construction. A clue to his unrecorded work is furnished by a ceremonial courtesy of that day: the House of Delegates expected a bill’s author to carry the passed measure forward to the Senate. Nevertheless the journal entry “Mr. Madison was ordered to carry the bill to the Senate” is not an infallible guide, for on a given occasion the drafter of legislation could be absent on other business or ill—in which case a designated committee member may simply have performed an assigned errand. Sometimes, committee chairmen filled this role. This was doubtless the case with some of the bills for which there exists no evidence of JM’s interest other than the fact that he took it to the Senate. Appendix A of this volume carries a full listing of legislation which JM introduced or carried to the Senate but did not draft.


Title: Resolutions to Strengthen Powers of Congress, 19 May 1784
From: House of Delegates
To:

Editorial Note
On 19 May a special Committee of the Whole House heard Henry Tazewell introduce seven resolutions, the first and last of which are those printed below. All seven dealt with subjects of confederation or state finance and lay within an area to which JM had devoted much attention as a delegate in Congress. Designed to strengthen the powers of Congress, they were closely attuned to his political philosophy, and each may have been in whole or in part the product of his mind. Of Tazewell’s resolutions, only the “3d:” has been found in Ms (Vi), and this is not in JM’s hand.

[19 May 1784]
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, That the alteration of the eighth of the articles of the confederation and perpetual union, proposed by the United States in Congress assembled, on the 18th of April 1783, ought to be acceded to by this State.
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, That the United States in Congress assembled, ought to be invested with power for the term of fifteen years, to prohibit any goods, wares or merchandize from being imported into or exported from any of the States, in vessels belonging to or navigated by the subjects of any power with whom these States shall not have formed treaties of commerce, and with a further power for the like term of fifteen years of prohibiting the subjects of any foreign State, Kingdom or Empire, unless authorised by treaty, from importing into the United States, any goods, wares or merchandize which are not the produce or manufacture of the dominions of the sovereign whose subjects they are: Provided, that to all acts of the United States in Congress assembled, in pursuance of the above powers, the assent of nine States be necessary.


Title: Report and Resolution on Accounts between Virginia and the United States, 28 May 1784
From: House of Delegates
To:

In the House of Delegates Friday the 28th of May 1784.
It appears from the enquiries of your Committee, that no progress has yet been made in the settlement of the said Accounts.
It appears from the representation of the said Commissioner that he arrived at this place in September last & has been since in readiness to receive & examine, both the Debits of the State & the demands of its Citizens against the United States, but that neither the former nor the latter have been presented to him for that purpose.
It appears from the representation of the Solicitor, who was instructed to prepare a state of the Debits of this CommonWealth against the United States—that he has executed the task, but has foreborne to present the Accounts for settlement—alledging principally as his reason therefor, that as the powers of the Commissioner were restrained to the Debits which are allowed by the existing Resolutions of Congress, he was apprehensive that a partial settlement disallowing so great a proportion of the expences for which Virginia expects reimbursement might detract from her future Claim of reimbursement.
It further appears to your Committee, that the non-settlement of the Accounts between the United States & individuals, within this State, so far as the Claims of the latter are authorized by Resolutions of Congress, has been owing to the provision made by Law for liquidating such Accounts in common with others, in a mode which makes the CommonWealth Debtor to such Individuals, and invests it with the Claims of the latter against the United States
Whereupon Resolved that it is the opinion of your Committee that the Solicitor be instructed to submit forthwith to the Commissioner aforesaid, all the Accounts & Claims whatever of this CommonWealth against the United States which he may be authorized by Resolutions of Congress to liquidate—that the said Solicitor support the same by the best proofs & Vouchers, which the cases may respectively admit, and that he prepare a statement under proper heads and descriptions, of all such Claims as are not yet allowed by Resolutions of Congress, and lay the same before the General Assembly at their next Session.


Title: From James Madison to Samuel House, 29 May 1784
From: Madison, James
To: House, Samuel

Dear Sir
Richmond May 29. 1784
I have just recd. your favor of the 18 inst: inclosing one from my amiable friend Mrs. Trist. I feel pathetically for her in case she should have proceeded down the river before the news of Mr. Trist’s death got to Fort Pitt. The situation in which she will find herself at the end of her voyage bereft of the object of her pursuit, and surrounded wholly by strangers whose very language will be unknown to her, must excite the deepest sympathy in all who are acquainted with her merit & sensibility. I make no doubt that the first advice of the melancholy event was forwarded by you to the place at which she was to embark, and therefore indulge some hope, that her voyage may have been prevented. Should it be otherwise my anxiety for her happiness & interest will excuse me in suggesting to your fraternal affection, the propriety of takeing an immediate passage for N. Orleans, not only for the purpose of soothing & supporting her under her misfortunes, but of securing to her the fruits of Mr. Trists labours and accompanying her return. The letter referred to in that of the 18th. has never come to hand. Let me hear from you on the receipt of this, that I may know through what channel & to what place, I may direct an answer to Mrs. Trists letter & in case you should in the mean time have an opportunity, assure her of my unalterable friendship & esteem. Present my affect. respects also to your worthy Mamma. I am Dear Sir Yrs. sincerely
J. Madison Jr.


Title: Resolution on the Revision of the Virginia Statutes, 29 May 1784
From: House of Delegates
To:

Editorial Note
Among the many reforms introduced during the exciting 1776 session of the Virginia House of Delegates was Jefferson’s plan for a thorough revision of the new state’s statutory code “corrected, in all it’s parts, with a single eye to reason, and the good of those for whose government it was framed” (Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., II, 307). JM was an Orange County delegate at that historic first meeting of the newly designated House of Delegates, but he was not involved in Jefferson’s plan to create a Committee of Revisors charged with the arduous assignment of a reformation of the Commonwealth’s laws. By an act of the General Assembly, the task was first assigned to Jefferson, Thomas Ludwell Lee, George Mason, Edmund Pendleton, and George Wythe (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, Oct. 1776, p. 41). For a variety of reasons, the committee membership shrank and the work went slowly. Jefferson was impatient with the delays, but the committee which finally undertook the work consisted of the thirty-three-year-old lawyer and two other attorneys—Pendleton and Wythe. By 1779, the revisors had prepared at least 130 bills, although some had meanwhile become law because of wartime expediency. The bulk of the committee’s report had been turned over to Speaker Benjamin Harrison on 18 June 1779, but consideration was postponed until the next meeting of the Assembly. It was not until 1785 that action was systematically taken upon the greater proportion of the bills (Mays, Edmund Pendleton, II, 138–43, 158–61, 373 n. 55; Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., II, 301–2, 306–665).

When JM returned to the General Assembly after an absence exceeding eight years he had pledged to Jefferson his personal exertions to end this inexcusable delay. Jefferson, the chief architect of the intended legal reform, was himself absent and soon would be in France. It remained for JM to construct the edifice as best he could. The present resolution represented the opening move. Disappointed that the Virginia Constitution of 1776 had never been submitted to the people for their acceptance or rejection, and that the movement for a new, popularly endorsed state constitution was finding only feeble support among the legislators, JM now proposed that the people might indirectly share in the process of bringing Virginia’s legal code in line with her republican aspirations. With Jefferson abroad, it became JM’s duty at the October 1785 session of the General Assembly to implement the revisors’ work. Considering the importance of the work, the time involved was not unusual.

In the House of Delegates Saturday the 29th. of May 1784.
Whereas in pursuance of an act entitled “An Act for the Revision of the Laws[”]—a Revisal of the Laws of this Commonwealth has been executed with great Labour and Care and reported to the General Assembly by the Committee appointed for the said Purpose; and whereas it is highly expedient that the said Revisal should as early as possible undergo the Consideration and if approved receive the Sanction of the Legislature And whereas it is necessary for that Purpose and for the Purpose of affording to the Citizens at large an Opportunity of examining and considering a Work which proposes such various and material Changes in our legal Code that the same should be printed and Copies thereof diffused throughout the Community.
Resolved that the Clerk of this House be empowered and directed to make out a complete sett of the Bills contained in the said Revisal, as originally reported, and after the same shall have been inspected and approved by the members of the Committee of Revisal or any two of them, to cause five hundred Copies thereof to be forthwith printed: That of the Copies when printed, one shall be delivered to each member of the General Assembly, of the Executive, of the General Court, of the Courts of Chancery, & Admiralty, to the Attorney General, and to each of the Delegates representing this State in Congress, and that the Residue of the said Copies be distributed throughout the several Counties, by the Executive, in such manner as they shall judge most conducive to the end proposed.
Resolved that the money necessary for carrying the preceeding Resolution into Effect be advanced by the Treasurer in Warrant from the Auditors out of the first unappropriated Money which shall come into his Hands.


Title: State Property and Poll Assessments for 1782, [ca. 31 May]
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
It is not possible to state with precision when JM prepared this document. The source of JM’s information is also uncertain. With minor variations the statistics in columns 3 through 7, and in columns 10 and 12 (counting from the left) are identical with those in Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia (ed. William Peden [Chapel Hill, N. C., 1955], p. 86). This would indicate that JM either was assembling data for his friend’s use, or that they both used the same source in preparing reports. JM may have wanted to have the information on hand for the May 1784 session of the House of Delegates, when taxation rates were certain to be reviewed. He would have found the statistics useful when he served on the drafting committees charged with adjusting the continental account (28 May) and with reporting the census (5 June).
Much of the data required had already been accumulated under provisions of a Virginia act “for ascertaining certain taxes and duties, and for establishing a permanent revenue,” which became effective on 5 January and was amended on 1 July 1782 (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, Oct. 1781, p. 74; Hening, StatutesWilliam Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at
          Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the
          Legislature, in the Year 1619 (13 vols.; Richmond and Philadelphia, 1819–23)., X, 501–17; XI, 66–71). This was exactly the sort of information that a conscientious committeeman would have sought, and presumably it was available at the office of the state auditors of public accounts, since the law ordered county clerks to transmit the required information to the auditors.
Tazewell on 5 June introduced a bill “to ascertain the quantity of land, the improvements thereon, and the number of people within this Commonwealth.” Thereafter it emerged from the legislative mill with “several amendments” and was signed into law on 30 June (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1784, pp. 37, 39, 46, 47, 60, 89; Hening, StatutesWilliam Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at
          Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the
          Legislature, in the Year 1619 (13 vols.; Richmond and Philadelphia, 1819–23)., XI, 415–17). If JM’s prime motive in collecting the data was for guidance while serving on this committee, then it is improbable that he prepared the present document before 19 May or after 4 June 1784.

[ca. 31 May 1784]

State of taxes under the Revenue law of Virginia from 68 of the Counties in 1782

Valuation of lands & lots
Amt. of taxes pd. on lands & lots
No. of Whites subject to poll tax
No. of Blacks total
No. of Horses
No. of Cattle

£6042401..2s.5d
£57,077..17.1¼
53282
211698
195439
609734

No. of Wheels taxed
value of taxable property exclusive of land & lots
Sum collected & to be. collected
Ordinaries licensed
Billiard Tables
No. of Whites & blacks not d[is]tinguished.

5126
£.173928..11s.6d
231,011.14.10¼
195
3
23,766


Title: Resolution for Schedule of Tax Rates on Documents, 2 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
JM was appointed on 18 May to serve on a House of Delegates committee charged with amending “the several acts of Assembly, for ascertaining certain taxes and duties, and for establishing a permanent revenue” (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1784, p. 9). Before this committee reported, JM laid his suggestions before the whole house on 2 June, and after some amendments the Committee of the Whole adopted the schedule. In the final stage of passage the purpose of the bill became more explicit, so that it was retitled a bill “to levy certain taxes in aid of the public revenue, and to apply the same in payment of the debts due to foreign creditors” (ibid., pp. 82, 88). JM considered this bill in the nature of a stamp act, so worded as to avoid the obnoxious phrase; he calculated it would raise £15,000 to £20,000 annually (JM to Jefferson, 3 July 1784). In legislative parlance, this bill was a rider meant to accompany an act suspending portions of the permanent revenue measure passed at the October 1782 session. The bill and its “ryder” were passed by the House on 29 June and sent to the Senate, where the rider was approved while the main measure was not. Thus the rider became law, but the bill to which it was intended to be attached remained in legislative limbo. JM must have had this sort of thing in mind when he observed that bills “at present are drawn in manner that must soon bring our laws and our Legislature into contempt among all orders of Citizens” (JM to Jefferson, 3 July 1784).

[ca. 2 June 1784]
Resolved that it is the opinion of this Committee that in aid of the funds already established for supplying the Public exigences, the following duties ought to be imposed, viz.

£.
S.
D.

To be paid by the party obtaining such writ, attachment or appeal, If taxed in bill of Costs
{
On each original writ or subpœna issued from the General Court or H. C. Chancery

 6

On each original citation from Court of Admiralty

 6

On each original writ, or subpœna in Chancery from any County Court

 3

On each attachment issued by any Justice of the peace against effects of persons about to abscond

 3

On each appeal to the Court of appeals

12

On each writ of Error, of supersedeas, & of certiorari from Gen: Court or, H. C. Chany

 6

On each appeal from any County Court

 6

To be paid by the obligor and taxed in the bill of Costs
{
On each appearance bond, recognizance of special entered bail or bail-piece returnable into the General Court
}
…
 3

On each appearance-bond, and recognizance of special entered bail returnable into any County Court
}
…
 3

To be paid by the party prevailing and taxed in bill of Costs
{
On each final judgment or decree in any Court concerning lands, slaves, or vessels

…
12

On each final judgment or decree in any Court for a determinate sum of money

1/8 perCent

On each final judgment or decree concerning any other property

 3

On each Deed recorded concerning any improved lot or lots in any City or incorporated town for each lot

12
..

On each Deed recorded concerning any unimproved lot or lots in such City or town for each lot

 6

On do. as to improved lots in any unincorporated town, for each lot. 6/-unimproved lots - 3/.

On each Deed recorded concerning other lands for each 100 acres

 3

On each other Deed recorded

 3

On each patent issued from the land office

On each probate of wills, or grant of administration where lands or slaves are concerned

 £1
..
..

On each probate or grant where no lands nor slaves are concerned

 6
..

On each exempli[fi]cation under the seal of any Court

 6

On each admission of Attorneys to practise in the superior Courts

£15
..
..

On each licence of attorneys to practise in County Courts

 £5
..
..

On each admission of Clerks to their Clerkships in any Court

£15
..
..

On each licence for keeping a ferry on tide water over Elizabeth, James, York, Rappahan: or Potowmk. rivers

£10
..
..

On each licence for keeping a ferry above tide water on sd. rivers, or over any other rivers

 £2
..
..


Title: To James Madison from James Madison, Sr., 4 June 1784
From: Madison, James, Sr.
To: Madison, James

June 4th. 1784
I wrote to you two days since, by Ralph Cowgill, since which I have got of Mr. Benjamin Winslow £144— & have sent it to Capt. S. Jones in Frederick by Mr. Hite—so that you must deduct that Sum in settling my Bond to him. & I desire you will pay the Treasurer out of the Money you sell my Tobo. for on Acct. of Mr. Winslow for the Taxes due from him as Collector £170 which will reimburse him the Money I got of him & will discharge the Ballance of my Taxes due for the last Payment. This method Mr. Winslow takes for a safe, as well as speedy, method of conveying the Money into the Treasury. He has likewise some Interest Warrants which he will transmit to you the first opportunity, perhaps next Week, to pay to the Treasurer with the Money, if you do not pay it in before you receive them; & if you should, as soon as convenient afterwards. I am Your Affectionate Fathr.
James Madison


Title: From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 5 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To: Madison, James, Sr.

Hond Sir
Richmond June 5th. 1784.
I have disposed of the tobacco entrusted to me for 40/. per Ct. but receive in hand no more than will be delivered by Mr. Craig. The residue will be paid before I leave this place. I inclose a draught on S. J. from Col: Harvey, for £200 for Which I have credited Mr. Anderson on his bond. Mr. Anderson could not pay the balance now, but expects to do it shortly. The draught & the remittance will I hope with such addition as you will be able to make, redeem your bond out of the hands of Mr. Jones. I have applied to Genl. Wood for Majr. Hite’s warrant. He promises to get it if possible, before Mr. Craig sets out. If he does it will be forwarded. I have laid Majr. Lee’s case before the House and it has been referred to the Committee of propositions. The mass of business before this Committee & my avocations from it to other Committees have delayed it hitherto. Having but a moment to write this I must refer to Mr. Craig for the news of the Session. The House of Delegates have agreed to postpone the June tax till Jany. It is not improbable that the Senate may require 1/2 to be collected at an earlier period. Mr. Winslow will probably be glad to be apprized of these circumstances. Remember me affecty. to the family & accept of the dutiful respects of your Son
J. Madison Jr.


Title: Bill Granting Congress Limited Power to Regulate Commerce, 5 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

[5 June 1784]
Whereas the United States in Congress assembled, more effectually to preserve the Commercial Interests thereof, ought to be invested with power for a limitted time, to prohibit the importation and exportation of Goods, Wares & Merchandizes to and from any of the United States in Vessels, not the property of the States, or the Subjects of a power who shall have formed a Commercial Treaty with the same
Be it enacted that the United States in Congress assembled, shall be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to prohibit in any manner they shall think proper, for any term not exceeding fifteen years, the importation & exportation of any Goods, Wares, or Merchandize to or from this State in Vessels belonging to or navigated by the Subjects of any power with whom the United States, shall not have formed Treaties of Commerce, and also for the like term to prohibit the Subjects of any foreign State, Kingdom or Empire, unless authorized by Treaty from importing into this State, Goods, Wares or Merchandize which are not the produce or manufacture of the Dominion of the Sovereign whose Subjects they are. Provided that to all Acts passed by the United States in Congress assembled, in pursuance of the above powers, the assent of nine States shall be necessary.
This act shall commence and be in force so soon as each and every State in the Union shall pass similar Acts, and as soon as the Governor of this Commonwealth shall be notified that each and every State in the Union have passed similar Acts, he shall & he is hereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring the Act in force.


Title: Editorial Note: Resolutions on Private Debts Owed to British Merchants
From:
To:

Among the leading public men of revolutionary Virginia JM’s rising eminence is the more noticeable because of his youth and the advantages attending it. As a man in his mid-twenties when the war began, unmarried and under no obligation to provide for a family, he had not been upon the scene long enough to become encumbered with the prewar debts that were the constant fret of almost all Virginia planters. Thus, upon his return from Congress to Montpelier at the age of thirty-two, he could regard the haunting British debt problem with more detachment than could numerous legislators whose personal interests were heavily involved. The tory James Parker may have overstated the case in 1774, when he equated a Virginian’s radicalism with the extent of his indebtedness to British merchants, contending that “‘the more a man is in debit, the greater patriot he is’” (Thad W. Tate, “The Coming of the Revolution in Virginia: Britain’s Challenge to Virginia’s Ruling Class, 1763–1776,” WMQWilliam and Mary Quarterly., 3d ser., XIX [1962], 336). Yet the £2 million Virginians owed to Scottish and English merchants certainly could have furnished a grievance and caused a portion of the resentment that pushed the colony from protests in 1769 to war in 1775. Actually, popular notions had inflated the size of the real debts, but still £2 million appeared to be a staggering load in 1775 “and represented approximately half of the total American private indebtedness” (Emory G. Evans, “Private Indebtedness and the Revolution in Virginia, 1776–1796,” WMQWilliam and Mary Quarterly., XXVIII [1971], 349–50). What debts JM’s father owed to British creditors apparently were never of sufficient weight to cause a conflict of interest. Living in the Piedmont, the senior Madison seems to have been a man of such ample means and moderate tastes that his cash crops and extensive blacksmith shop carried him along without outlays for extremely expensive imports. Thus, his instilled concepts of honor aside, JM was enabled to be a fairly detached student of the British debt problem that remained an emotional issue in Virginia politics until after ratification of the federal Constitution. The debt-collecting problem had been complicated by a number of legal roadblocks passed by the legislature that affected debts contracted prior to 1777. During the war the Assembly also had passed legislation which in effect legalized the repayment in depreciating paper currency of British debts contracted in terms of specie. An auxiliary problem was that of confiscated British property, which was seized under the same statute. The act also forbade recovery suits by British subjects (Hening, StatutesWilliam Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at
          Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the
          Legislature, in the Year 1619 (13 vols.; Richmond and Philadelphia, 1819–23)., IX, 377–80). Other acts suspended any postwar payment of accumulated interest, and all had the support of Patrick Henry (Jensen, The New Nation, pp. 279–80). There was an outside chance that the overhanging burden could somehow be relieved by further legislation; but much of that desideratum was dispelled when in 1783 the terms of the peace treaty with Great Britain, which recognized the validity of the claims of bona fide British creditors, became public knowledge. JM was serving in Congress when a resolution was passed in May 1783 calling “all demands for interest accruing during the war … highly inequitable and unjust” (JCCWorthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington,
        1904–37)., XXIV, 375; Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VII, 95, 96 n. 3). JM was aware that withholding interest was one thing, but that liquidating the debt was neither manly nor fair. Although the original state debt-repayment law had been repealed, Virginians were on unsteady ground as they contemplated the effect of the treaty, for the possibility of still owing £2 million sterling, plus interest for eight or more years, was a sword hanging by a frayed thread over the economic recovery of their state (Hening, StatutesWilliam Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at
          Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the
          Legislature, in the Year 1619 (13 vols.; Richmond and Philadelphia, 1819–23)., X, 227). The sentiment for settling the question as soon as possible was probably strongest in the trade centers and weakest in the rural areas (of which Virginia was mainly comprised), but resentment against Great Britain was potent everywhere, and to many Virginians it must have seemed common justice that the £272,588 (worth only about $15,000 in specie) paid into the state treasury under the law of 1777 be passed on to British rascals as all that they deserved. With the approach of the session of the General Assembly of May 1784, it was clear to all observers that the problem of the British debts could be deferred no longer. It was well known that John Tyler, John Taylor of Caroline, and other spirited delegates wished to strike for outright repudiation (Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., VII, 260). Such a blow would have accorded little with the views of George Mason, who a year before had written a friend that “We are very much alarm’d, in this Part of the Country, least the Assembly shou’d pass some Laws infringing the Articles of Peace, and thereby involve us in a fresh Quarrel with Great Britain” (Rutland, Papers of George Mason, II, 769). Nor would it accord with those of JM, whose background, character, and experience in Congress dictated his position on the question. He had to oppose any plan that would negate the provisions of the treaty of peace. Accordingly, JM was fixed in his commitment and course, but prudence dictated that he move circumspectly, lest his political future in Virginia be jeopardized by an issue that, although already constitutionally settled, must be presented in forms acceptable to his constituents. How to force Virginia into line graciously was the real problem. A quick, friendly compromise was out of the question as the legislative in-fighting soon indicated. The opponents of repayment, led by the redoubtable Patrick Henry, brought up their own set of grievances, including the loss of slaves owned by Virginians to British forces and the destruction of private property by enemy raiders. A resolution was passed on 7 June calling for an inquiry into the enforcement of that section of the peace treaty (Art. VII) which charged Great Britain with releasing all prisoners “without causing any Destruction or carrying away any Negroes, or other Property of the American Inhabitants.” The tender point at issue was whether former slaves going under the British flag remained American property. General Washington had made a strong protest to Sir Guy Carleton in May 1783, whereafter, as JM informed Jefferson, Carleton “confessed that a number of Negroes had gone off with the Refugees since the arrival of the Treaty, and undertook to justify the permission by a palpable & scandalous misconstruction of the Treaty” (Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VII, 40). The British commander had added that a register of the blacks departing under British protection was being kept, so “that if the sending off the Negroes should hereafter be declared an Infraction of the Treaty, Compensation must be made by the Crown of Great Britain to the Owners” (Fitzpatrick, Writings of WashingtonJohn C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of
          George Washington, from the Original Sources, 1745–1799 (39 vols.; Washington,
        1931–44)., XXVI, 403–4). Whether JM wrote the offsetting resolution (Resolution A) offered on 7 June, after the anti-debt faction had won the first round, is problematical. Since it bears on the later document (Resolution B) in JM’s hand and the amendments that on 23 June he almost certainly offered to a third resolution (Resolution C), it is printed below in order to keep the whole controversy in perspective.


Title: Resolutions on Private Debts Owed to British Merchants, Resolution A, [7 June 1784]
From: Madison, James
To:

Resolution A
[7 June 1784]
Resolved, That so much of all and every act or acts of Assembly, now in force in this Commonwealth, as prevents a due compliance with the stipulations contained in the definitive treaty entered into between Great Britain and America, ought to be repealed.


Title: Resolutions on Private Debts Owed to British Merchants, Resolution B, [ca. 22–23 June 1784]
From: Madison, James
To:

Resolution B
[ca. 22–23 June 1784]
⟨J. M.’s propositions to the Gen. Assembly see Journal⟩
Whereas by the 4th. article of the Definitive Treaty of Peace ratified and proclaimed by the United States in Congress assembled on the 14th. day of Jany. last “it is agreed that Creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted:” And whereas it is the duty and determination of this Commonwealth, with a becoming reverence for the faith of Treaties, truly and honestly, to give to the said article, all the effect which circumstances, not within its controul, will possibly admit; And inasmuch as the debts due from the good people of this Commonwealth to the subjects of G. Britain were contracted under the prospect of gradual payments, and are justly computed to exceed the possibility of full payment at once, more especially, under the diminution of their property resulting from the devastations of the late war; and it is therefore conceived that the interest of the British Creditors themselves will be favored by fixing certain reasonable periods, at which divided payments shall be made:
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee, that the laws now in force relative to British debts, ought to be so varied & amended as to make the same recoverable in the proportions & at the periods following; that is to say, part thereof with interest of 5 Per Ct. from the date of the definitive Treaty of peace, on the  day of  another  on the  day of  another  on the  day of  and the remaining  on the  day of
And whereas it is further stipulated by art: 7th of the said Treaty, among other things, that “his Britannic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons and fleets from the said United States; and from every post place and harbour within the same, leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein, and shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds & papers, belonging to any of the said States, or their Citizens, which in the course of the war, may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper States and persons to whom they belong,” which stipulation was in the same words contained in the Provisional articles signed at Paris on the 30th. day of November 1782 by the Commissioners empowered on each part: and whereas posterior to the date of the said provisional articles, sundry negroes the property of Citizens of this Commonwealth were carried away from the City of New York whilst in possession of the British forces, and no restitution or satisfaction on that head, has been made, either before or since the Definitive Treaty of peace: And Whereas the good people of this Commonwealth have a clear right to expect that whilst, on one side, they are called upon by the U. S. in Congress Assembled to whom by the fœderal Constitution the powers of war & peace are exclusively delegated, to carry into effect the stipulations in favour of British Subjects, an equal observance of the stipulations in their own favour should, on the other side, be duly secured to them under the authority of the Confederacy;
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee, that the Delegates representing this State in Congress ought to be instructed to urge in Congress peremptory measures for obtaining from G. Britian satisfaction for the infringement of the article aforesaid; and in case of refusal or unreasonable delay of such satisfaction, to urge that the sanction of Congress be given to the just policy of retaining so much of the debts due from Citizens of this Commonwealth, to British subjects, as will fully repair the losses sustained from such infringement: and that to enable the said Delegates, to proceed herein with the greater precision & effect, the Executive ought to be requested to take immediate measures for obtaining & transmitting to them, all just claims of the Citizens of this Commonwealth under the said 7th. art: as aforesaid.


Title: Resolutions on Private Debts Owed to British Merchants, Resolution C, [23 June 1784]
From: Madison, James
To:

[23 June 1784]
Resolution C
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, That the delegates representing this State in Congress, be instructed to lay before that body, the subject matter of the preceding report and resolution, and to request from them a remonstrance to the British court complaining of the aforesaid infraction of the treaty of peace, and desiring a proper reparation for the injuries consequent thereupon; that the said delegates be instructed to inform Congress, that the General Assembly have no inclination to interfere with the power of making treaties with foreign nations, which the confederation hath wisely vested in Congress; but it is conceived that a just regard to the national honor and interest of the citizens of this Commonwealth, obliges the Assembly to withold their co-operation in the complete fulfilment of the said treaty, until the success of the aforesaid remonstrance is known, or Congress shall signify their sentiments touching the premises.


Title: Bill Restricting Foreign Vessels to Certain Virginia Ports, 8 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
Although in Tazewell’s hand, Edmund Randolph told Jefferson this bill (along with the Resolution for Schedule of Tax Rates on Documents, 2 June 1784) “originated from Madison” (Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., VII, 260–61). Tazewell was chairman of the committee appointed 28 May to draft a bill that would restrict foreign commerce so that smuggling could be better controlled and duties more readily collected. As JM reported to Jefferson on 3 July, a hot legislative battle followed the attempt to confine foreign commerce to the ports of Norfolk and Alexandria. On the surface, it seemed an unfair advantage for the merchants located near those two harbors, and local interests had to be accommodated between the time of the first debate and 17 June, when three more port cities were added, so that enough votes for passage could be won over. Even so, it was a close vote (64 to 58), and those arrayed against JM included Wilson Cary Nicholas, John Marshall, and John Taylor of Caroline. The wonder is that the bill passed at all, and without Patrick Henry’s support it would surely have lost. The House journal indicates JM carried the amended measure to the Senate. The act as passed is in Hening, StatutesWilliam Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at
          Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the
          Legislature, in the Year 1619 (13 vols.; Richmond and Philadelphia, 1819–23)., XI, 402–4. Passage touched off much controversy. Washington approved the bill and assured JM that with some slight changes the measure would “be productive of great good to this Country; without it, the Trade thereof I conceive will ever labor and languish” (Fitzpatrick, Writings of WashingtonJohn C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of
          George Washington, from the Original Sources, 1745–1799 (39 vols.; Washington,
        1931–44)., XXVIII, 336). But George Mason fumed when he read the act and wrote a protest which appeared as a broadside, probably late in 1786, when the General Assembly considered a revision of the law (DLC: printed broadside; Rutland, Papers of George Mason, II, 859–63). The act was revised by the General Assembly in both 1786 and 1787 and finally became a dead letter after the Federal Constitution went into effect and transferred control over foreign commerce to the national government.

[8 June 1784]
Whereas the Trade and Commerce carried on between the Citizens of this CommonWealth and forreign Merchants would be placed upon a more equal foundation, and expedition & dispatch thereby the better promoted if the Vessels of forreign Merchants trading to this State should be restricted to certain Ports and places within the same in lading and unlading—And the Revenue arising from Commerce would also thereby be more certainly collected.
Be it therefore enacted that the Ships and other Vessels trading from forreign parts to this CommonWealth which are the property of other than the Citizens of the same, shall enter, clear out, lade, and unlade at  and at no other Ports or places therein. And all ships & other Vessels trading to this CommonWealth from forriegn Parts owned by a Citizen or Citizens jointly with a foreigner or foreigners shall also be restricted to enter, clear out, lade and unlade at the said Ports or places and at none other. All duties payable upon Tonnage—and upon Goods Wares and Merchandize imported, into this State in such Ship or other Vessels shall be paid & accounted for by the Master or owner thereof to the naval officer or Collector at such of the aforesd. ports or places where such Ship or other Vessel shall enter & break bulk. And if the Master or owner of any such Ship or other Vessell shall enter clear out, lade or unlade or break bulk at any port or place within this commonwealth other than those aforementioned, the Master or owner of such Ship or other Vessel shall forfeit and pay double that duty on Tonnage and the Goods Wares and Merchandize by him imported which by Law he would be compelable to pay at any of the aforesd. Ports, which said double duties shall be paid by such Master or owner in forty eight Hours after his arrival at any other port or place. & for failure thereof he shall be subject to the like penalty as by Law the Citizens of this CommonWealth are now subject in case of failure to pay the duties required from them upon the importation of Goods Wares & Merchandize which said penalty shall be recovered & applied in like manner as the Penalty from Citizens in the case aforesd. is directed to be recovered and applied.
This Act shall commence and be in force from & after the  day of  and so much as all Acts of Assembly as comes within the perview of this Act shall be repealed.


Title: To James Madison from James Madison, Sr., 10 June 1784
From: Madison, James, Sr.
To: Madison, James

June 10th. 1784—9 O’Clock P. M.
Mr. Mordicai Barbour, by whom you will receive this, is just from Kentucky & informs us that one John Stanley & George Wilson has entered a Caveat against a Patent issuing for our 40 000 Acres of Land on Pant[h]er Creek & also part of Col. Mason’s, for not being surveyed according to the entry & has entered them with the Surveyor. Who is blameable for this piece of fatal misconduct I am not certain. I have not time to look into the Law, but am inform’d that all Caveats are to be tryed in the Western district & that there is no appeal allowed from that Court, if there is, perhaps it may be prudent to engage Mr. Randolph for the Company; but I expect you will receive fuller advice from some of the Partners.
I am inform’d there are many scandalous advantages taken by some persons who constantly attends the Offices to examine if the surveys are litterally made according to the entries, & that the entries are properly made. Mr. Harry Green inform’d me to day that my Surveys on Elk Horn are entered by two other persons & surveyed by one of them & a Caveat entered against it by another; their entries are later than mine which it seems was to begin at a S. E. corner of the adjacent entry which it seems had no corners but the cardinal Points, so that it is probable I may have a dispute abt. that, & perhaps lose the Land. I hope the legislators will take up the Matter this Session & put a Stop to such unreasonable practices.
I wish you would let me hear from you & inform me what you have done with my Tobo. & how many Hhds you have recd—some was lodged on the Road & I can’t learn what is done with it. Have you recd. the Money from Messrs. Anderson’s? If you have a safe hand send me the Money for Mr. Jones, or to Mr. Abram Maury at Fredg about £360. will be sufficient. I expect—he has recd. the £144 I got of Mr. Winslow, which you must make up £170 & pay it to the Treasurer for him. I observe in the Catalogue you left with me Burrows Reports. are mentioned 3 Vol. I am told there are 4 or 5 Vol. published. Would you have them all wrote for, or only 3 Volumes? The messenger is waiting so must conclude, Your Affectionate Father
James Madison
Fanny is gone to Fredk. with her Sister


Title: To James Madison from George Washington, 12 June 1784
From: Washington, George
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir,
Mount Vernon June 12th 1784
Can nothing be done in our Assembly for poor Paine? Mus[t] the merits, & Services of Common Sense continue to glide down the stream of time, unrewarded by this Country? His writings certainly have had a powerful effect on the public mind; ought they not then to meet an adequate return? He is poor! he is chagreened! and almost, if not altogether, in despair of relief.

New York it is true, not the least distressed, nor best able State in the Union, has done something for him. This kind of provision he prefers to an allowance from Congress—he has reasons for it, which to him are conclusive, and such I think, as would have weight with others. His view[s] are moderate—a decent independency is, I believe, all he aims at. Should he not obtain this? If you think so, I am sure you will not only move the matter, but give it your support. For me, it only remains to feel for his Situation, and to assure you of the sincere esteem & regard with which I have the honor to be Dr. Sir, Yr Most Obedt Hble Serv[t].
Go: Washington


Title: Resolution to Expedite Settlement of Simon Nathan’s Claims, 14 June 1784
From: House of Delegates
To:

In the House of Delegates Monday 14th. of June 1784
It appearing from the information of the Attorney General, that accident hath hitherto prevented the settlement of the dispute between the Commonwealth and Mr Simon Nathan, and that he agreed with the said Nathan to submit the same to arbitration, on a case to be stated and supported by Arguments on both sides in writing provided a due Sanction should be obtained for his so doing:
Resolved that the General Assembly are desirous that the dispute aforesaid may be adjusted with expedition: and that the Atto[r]ney General be authorized to submit it in such manner and to such persons as he shall approve, to be determined on principles of Law and equity; and that he make report to the General Assembly of his proceedings therein


Title: Resolution on the Pauly and Beaumarchais Claims, 14 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
On 27 May there was laid before the House of Delegates a petition of Lewis Abraham Pauly (1743–1828) (ViHi: Pauly Family Bible Records) and a letter from Governor Benjamin Harrison enclosing a memorial from Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Both petition and memorial contained claims against Virginia for military supplies purchased in behalf of the state during the late war (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1784, p. 24). Pauly’s claim rested on charges against the bankrupt J. Pierre Penet and associates. Beaumarchais’s were complicated by the fact that his former agent had engaged in a speculation that decreased the market value of the supplies delivered. These papers were committed for investigation and report to the standing Committee of Commerce. JM, as chairman of the committee, offered this resolution.

[14 June 1784]
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, That the claims of the said Lewis Abraham Pauley, and Mr. Beaumarchais against this State for military stores and clothing, furnished the same, ought to be referred to the executive for their settlement; and that they make report to the Legislature of such balances as shall appear to be due the said claimants.


Title: Amendments to Bill for Regulating Elections, [ca. 14 June] 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

[ca. 14 June 1784]
If any Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff shall directly or indirectly so interfere in the election of Senators or Delegates as to show partiality for any of the Candidates he shall forfeit and pay the sum of  to be recovered on bill, plaint or information in any Court of Record, one moiety to the use of the Informer and the other for the use of the Commonwealth, and more over be deprived of his right of voting for  years at any such Election thereafter.


Title: Notes for a Speech Favoring Revision of the Virginia Constitution of 1776, [14 or 21 June]
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
Certainly by 1783 JM saw flaws in the 1776 Virginia Constitution that confirmed his early disappointment with it. As has been noted, he thought the Council of State, on which he served, was “a grave of useful talents,” and the jealousy displayed by the House of Delegates toward the other branches of government could scarcely have escaped his attention. This constitution, essentially the work of George Mason, gave lip service to Montesquieu’s doctrine of a separation of powers while really leaving the main powers of government in the hands of the speaker of the House of Delegates and its most influential members. Jefferson prepared a draft in 1776 which, unlike the constitution adopted by the convention, would have given the governor more extensive powers, clarified the duties and jurisdiction of the courts, liberalized the granting of public lands, ended primogeniture, and specified certain religious and civil rights which the state was bound to honor. Only Jefferson’s preamble was grafted into the final version of the Constitution of 1776. After his trying experience as governor (1779–1781), Jefferson complained that the fundamental law of Virginia contained “very capital defects.” JM agreed and was ready to launch a reform movement once the great issue of national survival had been settled.
By the fall of 1782 the subject was being privately discussed with the May session of the General Assembly in view. George Mason told close friends he understood “that the present Assembly intend to dissolve themselves, to make Way for a General Convention, to new-model the Constitution,” but questioned whether or not it was prudent to delay such action “until the present Ferment … has subsided, and Mens Minds have had time to cool” (Rutland, Papers of George Mason, II, 768–70). The reform movement was not well developed, however, and it became apparent that most delegates had no enthusiasm for constitutional reform. Perhaps, as Philip Mazzei said, they “feared that by jumping out of the frying pan they would fall into the fire” (Marraro, Memoirs, p. 285 n. 6).
If any one person kept the idea of constitutional revision alive, it was Jefferson. In the summer of 1783 he reported to JM that a revising convention had “been much the topic of conversation for some time,” and the day to act seemed at hand. Accordingly Jefferson sent JM his notions on a revision but cautioned him not to share them with fellow Virginians because of “prejudices frequently produced against propositions handed to the world without explanation or support” (Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VII, 156–57). Probably Jefferson expected to broach the subject to the House of Delegates that spring, but the illness of his wife drew him away from the session and back to Monticello, with the result that he sent JM his propositions. It seems likely that Jefferson expected JM to take up the cudgel of constitutional reform and use the enclosures of 17 June (printed in Boyd, Papers of JeffersonJulian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of
          Thomas Jefferson (18 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——)., VI, 294–305) as the point of departure. At least the circumstances forced such a decision for Jefferson returned to the Congress that fall and thereafter remained only an observer of state politics. Jefferson’s severe critique of the 1776 Constitution called for a strengthened governorship, with the tenure extended to five years, and his powers extended so as better “to carry into execution the laws.”
Jefferson undoubtedly urged JM to stop by Gunston Hall early in the winter of 1783 en route from Philadelphia to Orange County. JM tested Mason on a proposed constitutional convention “for revising our form of government” and found Mason “sound and ripe and I think would not decline a participation in the work” (italicized words in code; Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VII, 401). Mason’s political power could well limit the success of the reform yet Jefferson and JM apparently thought they could not move ahead without the elder statesman’s help, or at least a promise that he would not interfere (Jefferson to JM, 11 Dec. 1783, ibid., p. 406). During the next few months, the subject was gingerly offered to another great man in Virginia politics, the redoubtable Patrick Henry. As Jefferson and JM viewed matters, Henry would not risk his reputation by favoring any measure not certain of success. Before the session of the General Assembly of May 1784 began, JM decided constitutional revision depended upon Richard Henry Lee and Henry, since Mason had refused to leave Gunston Hall (JM to Jefferson, 15 May 1784). JM tried to learn Henry’s sentiments and was mildly encouraged by the great orator’s guarded remarks. “The general train of his thoughts seemed to suggest favorable expectations,” JM reported to Jefferson.
What then happened is clear from JM’s post mortem on the session. As Edmund Randolph had correctly predicted a year earlier, the delegates “constantly profess a sacred regard to the constitution” (Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VI, 319). However, an Augusta County petition, with its casual reference to the state constitution, gave JM and his ally Richard Henry Lee an excuse to raise the whole question of revision. Carter Henry Harrison introduced a resolution which declared that the 1776 Constitution did “not rest upon an authentic basis, and was no more than a temporary organization of government for preventing anarchy.” A companion resolution called for the convening of a general convention, “with powers to form a constitution of government to which all laws present and future should be subordinate” (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1784, p. 55). The line of reasoning used by JM in a speech which he made either on 14 June or a week later bears the heavy stamp of Jefferson’s earlier writings. Comparing this and the resolutions, it is likely JM composed the reform propositions.
After 14 June, however, the revisionists’ battle was all uphill. Richard Henry Lee, counted on as a stalwart friend of revision, became ill and left the session on 20 June. The next day, the Committee of the Whole upset the revisionists’ applecart by rejecting a resolution for a constitutional convention, 42 ayes to 57 noes. The majority then went further and declared “such a measure not being within the province of the House of Delegates to assume; but on the contrary, it is the express duty of the representatives of the people at all times, and on all occasions, to preserve the same inviolable, until a majority of all the free people shall direct a reform thereof” (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1784, pp. 70–71). The vote was closer (41 to 47) on a resolution to leave the door to revision slightly ajar. A number of bright young men joined JM in voting for reform—among them Wilson Cary Nicholas, John Taylor, and John Marshall—but in the opposition there was a lone figure they could not circumvent—Patrick Henry. So with Jefferson bound for France and concerns in a different sphere, JM looked to another time when the climate of opinion would be favorable toward constitutional reform. Time went by, and the great expectations of 1783–1784 faded.
Eventually, what the reformers could not accomplish in a single state became easier to manage in a Union of thirteen states. Moreover, the great overhaul of the national machinery of government in 1787–1788 eased much of the pressure for local change. By October 1788, JM had already differed with Jefferson’s ideas, as his commentary sent to the Kentuckians about to write a constitution indicates (DLC: Observations on Mr. Jefferson’s draught of a Constitution for Virginia, Oct. 1788). The anxieties of 1784 had long since disappeared when JM was elected an Orange County delegate to the Convention of 1829. JM attended the Richmond gathering as a patriarch and spoke only in a whisper. As the only survivor of the Virginia Convention of 1776, JM then looked on the first constitution with some affection.

[14 or 21 June 1784]
Nature of a Constitution ⟨examd.⟩
See Mass p. 7, 8. 15, 16
N. Y. p. 63.
Penna. p. 85, 86.
Delaw. p. 106
N. C. p. 146, 150
S. C. p. 158
Georgia p. 175, 186.
Convention of 1776. without due power from people.

1. passed ⟨the ordinance for Constn.⟩ on recommendation of Congs. May 15, 1776 prior to declaration of Independence as ⟨was done⟩ in N. H. p. 1. & N. J. p. 78–84.
2. ⟨passed it⟩ from impulse of Necessity—see last clause of Preamble to Constution.
3. before independance declared by Congs.
4. power from people no where pretended
5. provision for ⟨case⟩ district of ⟨West⟩ Augusta p: 140 ⟨in its nature temporary⟩
6. other ordinances ⟨of same session⟩ passed by same authority deemed alterable—as ⟨relative to⟩ Salt—Senators—Oaths
7. Convention make themselves branch of ⟨the⟩ legislature
Constitution if to be so called defective &c

1. ⟨in a⟩ Union of powers of Govt. ⟨which is⟩ tyranny. Montesqueu.
2. Executive dependant: ⟨on Legislature⟩ 1. for Salary—2. stigma ⟨for character in the triennial expulsion⟩ 3. expensive—4 ⟨may be⟩ for life contrary to 5 art. D ⟨eclaration of⟩ R⟨ights⟩
3. Judiciary dependent for ⟨amt. of⟩ salary.
4. Privileges & wages of ⟨members of Legislature unlimited & undefined⟩ H. D. & Senate neither limited and defd. & ⟨5⟩ Senate restrained ⟨badly constituted & improperly barred of the⟩ from originating ⟨of⟩ laws.
5. ⟨6⟩ equality of Representation not provided for Counties as for Cities & boroughs—See N. Y. p. 65
S. C. p. 165
6. ⟨7⟩ Impeachmts. of great moment & ⟨on bad footing.⟩ not on good footing
7. ⟨8⟩ County Courts seem to be fixed p. 143. 144. ⟨also General Court.⟩
8. ⟨9⟩ Habeas Corpus omitted
9. ⟨10⟩ No mode of expounding Constitution—⟨& of course no check to Genl. Assembly⟩
10. ⟨11⟩ Right of Suffrage, ⟨not well fixed, quere if popish recusants &c are not disenfranchised?⟩ exclusion of Papists recusants

Constitution rests on acquiescence, ⟨a bad⟩ dangerous basis

— — —
revision during the war improper
— — —
On peace decency requires surrender of power to people.
— — —
No danger in refer⟨r⟩ing to people ⟨who already exercise an equivalent power.⟩
— — —
if ⟨no change be made in the⟩ prest. Const. be ⟨it is advisable to have it⟩ ratified by them, more stable ⟨and secured agst. the doubts & imputations under which it now labours⟩.
— — —
without it, doubts render it unstable


Title: From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 15 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To: Madison, James, Sr.

Hond Sir
Richmond June 15. 1784
Yours by Mr. Barbour was duly handed to me as have been several others of late. Mine by Mr. Craig will have answered the enquiries in most of them. I am now at a loss what step to take with the certificates of Mr. Winslow, having sent you all the money arising from your Tobo. which is now payable. I shall wait till I hear from you on the subject. If payment into the Treasury be immediately wished by Mr. Winslow as I suppose to be the case, it will be best for you to send back part of the money rcd. from Mr. Craig, to wit £170. I have not yet had time to present the claim last rcd. from Mr. Winslow, or to examine it critically. On a slight perusal of the papers I suspect he is mistaken in supposing it to be within the purview of the Contl: Commissr. I shall obtain & forward as soon as I can the exact state of Tobo. sold by me. You will let Mr. Winslow know that the Senate have ratified the postponemt. of the taxes till the last day of Jany. It is thought by some that an intermediate tax of some kind or other will be essential, but whether any such will take place is uncertain & perhaps improbable, though we shall make a sharp figure, after our declarations with regard to Congs. & the Continental debt, if we wholly omit the means of fulfilling them. I have got a resolution for Majr. Lee’s Warrant & will get it for him & send it as soon as I can. I have been slightly indisposed for several days past, but feel myself better this morning. With my affect. regards to the family I am Yr. dutiful son
J. Madison Jr.
I mean that the whole of Burrow’s Reports including any continuation supplemental to the 5 Vols: to be sent for.
I see not how any thing can be done by the Legislature with regard to Kentucky: nor would I have you rely on such expectation, but be prepared to maintain your rights as well as you can in the ordinary way.


Title: Bill Authorizing an Amendment in the Articles of Confederation, [21 June] 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
Whether JM introduced the resolution on 19 May calling for compliance with the act of Congress (17 Feb. 1783) that sought to apportion taxes amongst the states according “to the value of all land … & improvements thereon” is highly conjectural. JM thought a land tax scheme unreasonable and on 21 June he seized the opportunity to strike at the weakness, as he viewed it, of Article VIII of the Articles of Confederation. The point of JM’s bill was to make the national treasury revenues proportionate to the state’s population rather than its land wealth. JM had seen the old system founder, and on 14 January 1783 had discussed with other congressmen an alteration in the basis of Article VIII from land values to a census (Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VI, 35–37). He opposed the 17 February 1783 act of Congress that maintained land values as the basis for treasury requisitions as “ineffectual,” but his population principle triumphed in the package approved by Congress on 18 April 1783. Indeed, most of this bill follows verbatim the congressional recommendation for a shift of the tax base to people rather than property. Convinced that population rather than land value was the only equitable solution to the nation’s tax apportionment, JM admitted the three-fifths principle was hardly a perfect solution either. But JM hoped in April 1783 that “an equal spirit of accomodation among the several Legislatures, will prevail against little inequalities … on one side or on the other” (Papers of MadisonWilliam T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The
          Papers of James Madison (8 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——)., VI, 492). Fourteen months later, JM was still trying to solve the problems created by a rickety fiscal plan.

[21 June 1784]
For the purpose of introducing a more convenient and certain rule of ascertaining the proportions to be supplied to the common Treasury of the United States recommended by Congress in their act of the 18 of April 1783. Be it enacted by the General Assembly that so much of the 8th. of the articles of Confederation & perpetual Union between the 13 States of America, as is contained in the words following, to wit, “all charges of war, and all other expences that shall be incurred for the common defence, or General welfare, and allowed by the U. S. in Congs. assembd. shall be defrayed out of a Common Treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land within each State granted to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings & improvements thereon, shall be estimated according to such mode as the U. S. in Congress assembd. shall from time to time direct and appoint,” shall be revoked & made void on the part of this Commonwealth; and in place thereof it is declared & concluded, the same having been agreed to in a Congress of the U. States, that all charges of war & all other expences that have been or shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the U. S. in Congress assembled, except so far as shall be otherwise provided for, shall be defrayed out of a Common Treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states in proportion to the whole number of white & other free Citizens & inhabitants of every age, sex and condition, including those bound to servitude for a term of years, and three fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description, except Indians not paying taxes, in each State; which number shall be biennially taken & transmitted to the U. S. in Congress assembled, in such mode as they shall direct and appoint: And the Delegates representing this State in Congress, or any two of them, are hereby authorised & required to subscribe & ratify the said alteration of the Articles of Confederation & perpetual Union; and the same when subscribed & ratified by the said Delegates, and by the Delegates of each of the other Confœderated States duly authorised therefor, shall be valid & binding as to this Commonwealth.


Title: Resolution for Procuring a Statue of General Washington, 22 June 1784
From: Madison, James,Beckley, John
To:

In the House of Delegates Tuesday the 22d. of June 1784
Resolved that the Executive be requested to take measures for procuring a Statue of General Washington to be of the finest marble and best Workmanship with the following inscription on its pedestal Viz:
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia have caused this Statue to be erected as a monument of affection and Gratitude to George Washington who uniting to the endowments of the Hero the virtues of the Patriot and exerting both in establishing the Liberties of his Country has rendered his name dear to his fellow Citizens and given the world an immortal example of true Glory. Done in the year of Christ  and in the year of the Commonwealth .


Title: From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 24 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To: Madison, James, Sr.

Hond Sir
Richmond June 24. 84.
Your letter by Capt: Cowherd with that of my brother’s have been just put into my hand. I shall leave to him the sale of the Tobo. belonging to Capt: Conway & Ambrose, not being at leisure myself to do it before he proposes to set out. I think it will be well to accept of Mr. Lawson’s offer of the Madeira. I shall do the best I can towards satisfying the Treasury on acct. of Mr. Winslow. Majr Lee’s warrant has been ordered by the assembly, but Mr. Harvey being a little puzzled by the peculiarity of the case, could not make it out immediately on my first application, & I have not time now to repeat it. I hope the delay will not be inconvenient to Majr. Lee. Much time has been lately spent by the Assembly in abortive efforts for amendment of the Constitution, and fulfilling the Treaty of peace in the article of British debts. The residue of the business will not be completed till next week. If my brother W. is at leisure as before, I beg him to bring down the Chair for me to be here by Wednesday next. I am your dutiful son
J. Madison Jr.


Title: Opinion in Controversy between Joseph Jones and William Lee, 26 June 1784
From: Madison, James,Lee, Henry
To:

Richmond June 26, 1784
A dispute between Mr. Joseph Jones of King George and Mr. William Lee being mutually referred to us: We are of opinion that Mr. Jones never was an enemy to the payment of British or other debts: We are also of opinion that Mr. Lee’s inference respecting the opposition of Mr. Jones to the payment of debts, was founded on Mr. Jones’ support to the prohibitory laws revived last session of Assembly against the recovery of British debts and admitting commutables into the payment of [do]mestic debts, which inference altho’ erronious appears not to have been confined to Mr. Lee alone. We therefore decide that Mr. Lee misconceived Mr. Jones’ principles with respect to the payment of debts, and that he was led by this misconception, into a statement of them injurious to Mr. Jones, to remove which impressions, propriety requires that Mr. Lee should take the first opportunity of communicating to Mr. Fitzhugh of Marmion, the misconception into which he was led relative to Mr. Jones’ principle.
J. Madison Jr. Henry Lee Jun.


Title: Bill to Aid Thomas Paine, 28 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
Despite the concern expressed to JM by Jefferson and Washington over the penury afflicting Thomas Paine, all legislative attempts in Virginia to aid the author of Common Sense failed. On 28 June there was appointed a special committee, of which Patrick Henry was chairman and JM a member, to prepare a bill “vesting a certain tract of public land, in Thomas Payne and his heirs” (JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the
          Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg.
        Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and
          Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session
        has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which
        the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published
        in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1784, p. 82). As JM on 2 July reported to Washington, the “gift first proposed” offered Paine “a moiety of a tract … known by the name of ‘the Secretary’s land.’” This was true so far as the proposal was first made to the House of Delegates; but the present manuscript clearly indicates that within the committee itself there was a disposition to reward Paine with the entire tract. Evidently fearing (justifiably, as time would reveal) that a donation so liberal might cause the raising of more than eyebrows, JM persuaded the committee to halve the acreage.

[28 June 1784]
Whereas Thomas Paine author of the Pamphlet entitled common Sense printed at Philadelphia in the year 1776 has by the said and several other literary performances published in the Course of the late Revolution rendered distinguished Service to the United States and it is just and expedient that such patriotic exertions of Genius should be honorably and substantially rewarded Be it enacted that in Testimony of the Esteem entertained by this Commonwealth for the merits of the said Thomas Paine the tract of Public Land lying in the County of Northampton and known by the name of the Secretarys Land ⟨shall be divided into two equal moieties in such manner as the Executive shall direct, and for such moiety as the said Thomas Paine shall prefer a patent shall issue vesting the same⟩ be and the same is hereby vested in him and his heirs forever; Saving to all persons other than those claiming under the Commonwealth any Interest which they may have therein.


Title: Resolutions Appointing Virginia Members of a Potomac River Commission, 28 June 1784
From: Madison, James
To:

Monday the 28th. of June 1784.
Whereas great inconveniences are found to result from the want of some concerted regulations, between this State, and the State of Maryland touching the jurisdiction & navigation of the River Potowmack:
Resolved that George Mason, Edmund Randolph, James Madison jr & Alexander Henderson Esqrs. be appointed Commissioners & that they or any three of them do meet such Commissioners, as may be appointed on the part of Maryland, and in concert with them, frame such liberal & equitable regulations concerning the said River as may be mutually advantageous to the two States, and that they make report thereof to the General Assembly.
Resolved, that the Executive be requested to notify the above appointment with the object of it to the State of Maryland, and desire it’s concurrence in the proposition.


Title: To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 1 July 1784
From: Jefferson, Thomas
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir
Boston July 1. 1784.
After visiting the principal towns through Connecticut, Rhode-island, this state & N. Hampshire in order to acquire what knowlege I could of their commerce & other circumstances I am returned to this place & shall sail the day after tomorrow in the Ceres bound for London: but my purpose is to get on shore in some boat on the coast of France & proceed directly to Paris. My servant being to set off to-day, & much on hand to prepare for my journey I have no time for any particular communications. Indeed there are few I should have to make unless I were to enter into a detail which would be lengthy as to the country & people I have visited. The lower house of this state have passed a bill giving Congress the powers over their commerce which they had asked: it has had two readings with the Senate & meets with no opposition. I find the conviction growing strongly that nothing can preserve our Confederacy unless the band of Union, their common council be strengthened. I inclose you a letter from mrs. Trist & a new pamphlet. Since I came here I have received from mr. Harrison a bill of John Pirkman on John J. Bogert Philadelphia for 333⅓ Dollars. This being for part of the money included in my draught on the Treasurer in your favor, and which at the time of that draught I did not know had been forwarded for me, I now inclose the bill to mr. Saml. House in Philadelphia & desire him to receive & lodge the money in the bank in your name, and to give you advice of it that you may know when it may be safely drawn for. You shall hear from me as soon as I reach the other side the Atlantic. In the mean time I am with truth Dr. Sir Your affectionate friend & sert.
Тн: Jefferson
P.S. I inclosed you by Genl. Gates from N. York Deane’s letters which I could not get in Philada.


Title: From James Madison to George Washington, 2 July 1784
From: Madison, James
To: Washington, George

Dear Sir
Richmond July 2d. 1784.
The sanction given by your favor of the 12th. inst: to my desire of remunerating the genius which produced Common Sense, led to a trial for the purpose. The gift first proposed was a moiety of the tract on the Eastern Shore, known by the name of “the Secretary’s land.” The easy reception it found induced the friends of the measure to add the other moiety to the proposition which would have raised the Market value of the donation to about £4000 or upwards, though it would not probably have commanded a rent of more than £100 per annum. In this form the bill passed through two readings. The third reading proved that the tide had suddenly changed, for the bill was thrown out by a large majority. An attempt was next made to sell the land in question and apply £2000 of the money to the purchase of a Farm for Mr. Paine. This was lost by a single voice. Whether a greater disposition to reward patriotic and distinguished exertions of genius will be found on any succeeding occasion is not for me to predetermine. Should it finally appear that the merits of the Man, whose writings have so much contributed to infuse & foster the Spirit of Independence in the people of America, are unable to inspire them with a just beneficence: the world, it is to be feared, will give us as little credit for our policy as for our gratitude, in this particular. The wish of Mr. Paine to be provided for by separate acts of the States, rather than by Congress, is I think a natural and just one. In the latter case it might be construed into the wages of a mercenary writer, in the former it would look like the returns of gratitude for voluntary services. Upon the same principle the mode wished by Mr. Paine, ought to be preferred by the States themselves. I beg the favor of you to present my respectful compliments to Mrs. Washington and to be assured that I am with the profoundest respect & sincerest regard your Obdt. & humble servant
J. Madison Jr.


Title: From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 3 July 1784
From: Madison, James
To: Jefferson, Thomas

Dear Sir
Richmond July 3d. 1784.
The Assembly adjourned the day before yesterday. I have been obliged to remain here since on private business for my Countymen with the auditor’s and other departments. I had allotted towards the close of the Session to undertake a narrative for you of the proceedings, but the hurry on which I did not sufficiently calculate, rendered it impossible, and I now find myself so abridged in time that I cannot fulfil my intentions. It will however be the less material, as Mr. Short by whom this goes, will be possessed of almost every thing I could say. I inclose you a list of the Acts passed excepting a few which had not received the last Solemnity when the list went to the press. Among the latter is an Act under which 1 per Ct. of the land tax will be collected this fall and will be for Congress. This with the 1½ per Ct. added to the impost on trade, will be all that Congress will obtain on their last requisition for this year. It will be much short of what they need, & of what might be expected from the declarations with which we introduced the business of the Session. These declarations will be seen in the Journal, a copy of which I take for granted will be carried by Mr. Short. Another act not on the list lays duties on law proceedings, on alienations of land—on probat[e]s of Wills, administration & some other transactions which pass through official hands. This tax may be considered as the basis of a stamp-tax; it will probably yield £15 or 20,000 at present, which is set apart for the foreign Creditors of this State.
We made a warm struggle for the establishmt. of Norfolk & Alexandria as our only ports; but were obliged to add York, Tappahannock & Bermuda hundred, in order to gain any thing & to restrain to these ports foreigners only. The footing on which British debts are put will appear from the Journal noting only that a law is now in force which forbids suits for them. The minority in the Senate have protested on the subject. Having not seen the protest I must refer to Mr. Short who will no doubt charge himself with it.
A trial was made for a Convention, but in a form not the most lucky. The adverse temper of the House & particularly Mr. Henry had determined me to be silent on the subject. But a Petition from Augusta having among other things touched on a Reform of the Govt. and R. H: L. arriving with favorable sentiments, we thought it might not be amiss to stir the matter. Mr. Stuart from Augusta accordingly proposed to the Committee of Propositions, the Resolutions reported to the House as per Journal. Unluckily R. H: L. was obliged by sickness to leave us the day before the question came on in Com[m]ittee of the Whole, and Mr. Henry shewed a more violent opposition than we expected. The consequence was that after two days Debate, the Report was negatived, and the majority not content with stopping the measure for the present availed themselves of their strength to put a supposed bar on the Journal against a future possibility of carrying it. The members for a Convention with full powers, was not considerable for number, but included most of the young men of education & talents. A great many would have concurred in a Convention for specified amendments, but they were not disposed to be active even for such a qualified plan.
Several Petitions came forward in behalf of a Genl. Assessmt which was reported by the Come. of Religion to be reasonable. The friends of the measure did not chuse to try their strength in the House. The Episcopal Clergy introduced a notable project for re-establishing their independence of the laity. The foundation of it was that the whole body should be legally incorporated, invested with the present property of the Church, made capable of acquiring indefinitely—empowered to make canons & by laws not contrary to the laws of the land, and incumbents when once chosen by Vestries to be immovable otherwise than by sentence of the Convocation. Extraordinary as such a project was, it was preserved from a dishonorable death by the talents of Mr. Henry. It lies over for another Session.
The public lands at Richmond not wanted for public use are ordered to be sold & the money, aided by subscriptions, to be applied to the erection of buildings on the Hill as formerly planned. This fixes the Govt. which was nearly being made as vagrant as that of the U. S. by a coalition between the friends of Williamsbg & Stau[n]ton. The point was carried by a small majority only.
The lands about Williamsbg are given to the University, and are worth Mr. H. Tazewell thinks £10,000 to it. For the encouragement of Mr. Maury’s School, license is granted for a lottery to raise not more than £2000.
The revisal is ordered to be printed. A frivolous œconomy restrained the no. of copies to 500. I shall secure the no. you want & forward them by the first opportunity. The three Revisors’ labour was recollected on this occasion, and £500 voted for cash. I have taken out your warrant in five parts, that it may be the more easily converted to use. It is to be paid out of the first unappropriated money in the Treasury, which renders its value very precarious unless the Treasurer sd. be willing to endorse it “receivable-in-taxes” which he is not obliged to do. I shall await Your orders to the disposition of it.
An effort was made for Paine & the prospect once flattering. But a sudden opposition was brewed up which put a negative on every form which could be given to the proposed remuneration. Mr. Short will give you particulars.
Col: Mason the Attorney & Mr. Henderson & myself are to negociate with Maryland if she will appt. Comissrs. to establish regulations for the Potowmac.
Since the receipt of yours of May 8. I have made diligent enquiry concerning the several schools most likely to answer for the education of your Nephews. My information has determined me finally to prefer that of Mr. W. Maury as least exceptionable: and I have accordingly recommended it to Mrs. Carr. & on receiving her answer shall write to Mr. Maury pointing out your wishes as to the course of study proper for Master Carr. I have not yet made up any opinion as to the disposition of your younger Nephew, but shall continue my enquiries till I can do so. I find a greater deficiency of proper schools than I could have supposed, low as my expectations were on the subject. All that I can assure of is that I shall pursue your wishes with equal pleasure and faithfulness.
Your hint for appropriating the slave-tax to Congress fell in precisely with the opinion I had formed and suggested to those who are most attentive to our finances. The existing appropriation of one half of it however to the Military debt was deemed a bar to such a measure. I wished for it because the Slave holders are Tobo. makers, and will generally have hard money as alone will serve for Congress. Nothing can exceed the confusion which reigns throughout our Revenue department. We attempted but in vain to ascertain the amount of our debts, and of our resourses, as a basis for some thing like a system. Perhaps by the next Session the information may be prepared. This confusion indeed runs through all our public affairs, and must continue as long as the present mode of legislating continues. If we cannot amend the constitution, we must at least call in the aid of accurate penmen for extending Resolutions into bills, which at present are drawn in manner that must soon bring our laws & our Legislature into contempt among all orders of Citizens.
I have communicated your request from Philada. May 25. to Mr. Zane. He writes by Mr. Short & tells me he is possessed of the observations which he promised you. I found no opportunity of broaching a scheme for opening the Navigation of the Potowmac under the auspices of Genl. Washington, or of providing for such occurrences, as the case of Marbois. With the aid of the Attorney perhaps something may be done on the latter point next Session. Adieu My dear friend.
J. Madison Jr.


Title: To James Madison from Noah Webster, 5 July 1784
From: Webster, Noah
To: Madison, James

Sir
Hartford 5th July 1784.
From the small acquaintance I had with you at Philadelphia & the recommendation of Mr Jefferson, I take the liberty to address you on the subject of Literary property & securing to authors the copyright of their productions in the State of Virginia. The Grammatical Institute of the English Language is so much approved in the Northern States, that I wish to secure to myself the copy-right in all. General Laws for this purpose are passed in New England in New Jersey—& I believe also in New York and Pensylvania. In one of these States, the period mentioned is twenty years—in another twenty on[e], & in Connecticut, the right is secured to the author &c for the term of fourteen years & if the author should live beyond the first term, then the right returns to him & his heirs for another term of fourteen years; & all give the inhabitants of other States, the benefit of the laws, as soon as the States where the author is an inhabitant shall have passed a similar law.
It is my request Sir, that you would move for a law of this kind in your next Session of Assembly; & if the Legislature shall not think proper to pass a general law; be pleased to present a petition in my name, for a particular law securing to me & my heirs & assigns the exclusive right of publishing & vending the above mentioned works in the State of Virginia for the term of twenty years—or for such other term as the Legislature shall think proper. I shall endeavour to publish the Works in Virginia as soon as circumstances will permit; I therefore beg your assistanc[e] in this matter & shall take the earliest opportunity to make a suitable acknowledgment for the favour.

I am, Sir, with the highest respect Your most obedient most humble Servant
Noah Webster Jr


Title: From James Madison to George Washington, 12 August 1784
From: Madison, James
To: Washington, George

Dear Sir
Orange August. 12th 1784
I had the honor of receiving your favor of the 12th. of June during my attendance in the Legislature and of answering it a few days, before I left Richmond. Since my return home I have been informed that the gentleman into whose hands my answer was put has mislaid or lost it, and that I cannot rely on its ever finding its way to you. I have therefore to repeat, Sir, that the sanction which your judgment gave to the propriety of rewarding the literary Services of Mr. Payne led to an attempt in the House of Delegates for that purpose. The proposition first made was that he should be invested with a moity of a tract of public land known by the name of the Secretary’s lying on the Eastern Shore. The kind reception given to this proposition induced some gentlemen to urge that the whole tract containing about 500 acres might be included in the donation as more becoming the dignity of the State, and not exceeding the merits of the object. The proposition thus enlarged, passed through two readings without apprehension on the part of its friends. On the third a sudden attack grounded on considerations of economy and suggestions unfavorable to Mr. Payne, threw the bill out of the house. The next idea proposed was that the land in question should be sold and £2000 of the proceeds allotted to Mr. Payne to be laid out in the purchase of a Farm if he should think fit. This was lost by a single vote. Whether a succeeding Session may resume the matter and view it in a different light, is not for me to say. Should exertions of genius which have been every where admired, and in America unanimously acknowledged, not save the author from indigence and distress, the loss of national character will hardly be balanced by the savings at the Treasury. With the highest respect and sincere regard I am Dear Sir, Your most Obedient and humble servant
J. Madison Jr.