three States had been arrogantly committed, | but a measure so indispensable to the preservawas speedily compelled to accept of the same tion of our freedom is above every pecuniary mortifying terms which had been imposed on consideration. that brave but unfortunate garrison: to sur- The organization of our militia is likewise a render an army of many thousand regulars, and subject of infinite importance: a clear and conto abandon his wretched followers, whom he cise law, by which the burdens of service will had artfully seduced from their allegiance by be equally sustained, and a competent number specious promises of protection, which he could of men brought forth and kept in the field, never have hoped to fulfil, to the justice or when their assistance may be required, is essenmercy of their country, on the naval superiority tial to our security, and therefore justly claims established by the illustrious ally of the United your immediate and serious attention: certain States a superiority in itself so decided, and it is, that some of our militia have, upon several in its consequences so extensive, as must in- occasions, exhibited symptoms of valor which evitably soon oblige the enemy to yield to us would have reflected honor on veteran troops. the only post which they occupy in this State: The courage and conduct of the generals whom and on the reiterated proofs of the sincerest I have mentioned; the cool and determined friendship, and on the great support which bravery displayed by Brigadier Pickens, and, America has received from that powerful mon- indeed, the behavior of many officers and men arch-a monarch whose magnanimity is uni- in every brigade, are unquestionable testimonies versally acknowledged and admired, and on of the truth of this assertion. But such behawhose royal word we may confidently rely for vior cannot be expected from militia in geneevery necessary assistance: on the perfect har-ral, without good order and strict discipline; mony which subsists between France and Ame-nor can that order and discipline be established, rica: on the stability which her independence but by a salutary law, steadily executed. has acquired, and the certainty that it is too deeply rooted ever to be shaken; for animated as they are by national honor, and united by one common interest, it must and will be main-glorying in their professions of loyalty and tained. Another important matter for your deliberation, is the conduct of such of our citizens as, voluntarily avowing their allegiance, and even attachment to his Britannic Majesty, have offered their congratulations on the success of his arms, prayed to be embodied as loyal militia, accepted commissions in his service, or endeavored to subvert our constitution and establish his power in its stead; of those who have returned to this State, in defiance of law, by which such return was declared to be a capital offence, and have bettered the British interest, and of such whose behavior has been so reprehensible, that justice and policy forbid their free re-admission to the rights and privileges of citizens. public use; but we have forborne even to take the profits of the estates of our most implacable enemies. It is with you to determine whether the forfeiture and appropriation of their pro What may be the immediate effects on the British nation, of the events which I have mentioned, of their loss of territory in other parts of the world, and of their well-founded apprehensions from the powers of France, Spain, and Holland, it is impossible to foretell. If experience can teach wisdom to a haughty and infatuated people, and if they will now be governed by reason, they will have learnt they can have no solid ground of hope to conquer any State in the Union; for though their armies have obtained temporary advantages over our troops, yet the citizens of these States, firmly The extraordinary lenity of this State has resolved as they are never to return to a domi- been remarkably conspicuous. Other States nation which, near six years ago, they unan- have thought it just and expedient to approimously and justly renounced, cannot be sub-priate the property of British subjects to the dued; and they must now be convinced, that it is the height of folly and madness to persist in so ruinous a war. If, however, we judge, as we ought, of their future by their past conduct, we may presume that they will not only en-perty should now take place: if such should be deavor to keep possession of our capital, but make another attempt, howsoever improbable the success of it may appear, to subjugate this country: it is therefore highly incumbent upon us, to use our most strenuous efforts to frustrate so fatal a design; and I earnestly conjure you, by the sacred love which you bear to your country, by the constant remembrance of her bitter sufferings, and by the just detestation of British government which you and your posterity must for ever possess, to exert your utmost faculties for that purpose, by raising and equipping, with all possible expedition, a respectable permanent force, and by making ample provision for their comfortable subsistence. I am sensible the expense will be great; your determination, though many of our warmest friends have been reduced for their inflexible attachment to the cause of their country, from opulence to inconceivable distress, and, if the enemy's will and power had prevailed, would have been doomed to indigence and beggary, yet it will redound to the reputation of this State, to provide a becoming support for the families of those whom you may deprive of their property. The value of paper currency became of late so much depreciated, that it was requisite, under the powers vested in the executive during the recess of the General Assembly, to suspend the laws by which it was made a tender. You will now consider whether it may not be proper to repeal those laws, and fix some equitable all unsettled demands should be liquidated, and mode for the discharge of debts contracted satisfactory assurances of payment given to the whilst paper money was in circulation. public creditors. In the present scarcity of specie, it would be difficult, if not impracticable, to levy a tax to any considerable amount, towards sinking the public debt, nor will the creditors of the State expect that such a tax should at this time be imposed; but it is just and reasonable, that The interest and honor, the safety and happiness of our country, depend so much on the result of your deliberations, that I flatter myself you will proceed in the weighty business before you with firmness and temper, with vigor, unanimity and despatch. JAMES MADISON. JAMES MADISON was born on the sixteenth of March, 1751, at the dwelling of his maternal grandmother, near the town of Port Royal, on the banks of the Rappahannock, in Virginia. After acquiring the rudiments of a classical education, under the tuition of Donald Robertson, a native of Scotland, and the Reverend Thomas Martin, his parish minister, he entered the college of New Jersey, at Princeton, which was then under the presidency of the "sterling Doctor John Witherspoon." Here he completed his collegiate studies, and in the autumn of 1771, received the degree of bachelor of arts. While at college his health became impaired by too strict application to his studies, and remained delicate and feeble for some years. These infirmities, however, did not deter him from persevering in his literary pursuits. He devoted himself to a systematic and extensive course of reading, somewhat miscellaneous, but principally with reference to the law, although he formed no absolute determination to enter upon its practice; which, Burke says, while it sharpens the wits, does not always enlarge the mind. Early instilled with the noble principles of civil and religious liberty, he strenuously resisted all forms of cruelty or oppression. He was particularly active in opposing the persecution of the early Baptists in Virginia, who were, in some instances, consigned to jail for violating the law which prohibited preaching by dissenters from the established church. At the beginning of the dispute with Great Britain, he manifested great zeal in the cause of the Americans, and was prevented from taking up arms only by the feeble condition of his health. In the spring of 1776 he was chosen a member of the Virginia legislature, and in 1778 was appointed one of the executive councillors, which place he retained until the next year, when he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. Of this body he became an active and leading member, taking a prominent part in many of its important transactions. During the years 1784, 1785, and part of 1786, he was a member of the legislature of his native State, and distinguished himself by his laborious efforts to establish a reform in the federal system. All his energies were devoted to this object. The Virginia legislature appointed him a delegate to the Annapolis Convention, which met in September, 1786, to devise a uniform system of commercial regulations, which should be binding on the whole confederacy when acceded to by all the States. This movement resulted in the recommendation of a convention of delegates from all the States, to be held at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, and finally in the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Of that convention Mr. Madison was one of the most distinguished members. He took a prominent part in the debates, and rendered eminent service in perfecting the constitution as adopted. His notes of those proceedings and debates, published since his death, form an invaluable chapter in the legislative history of the country. Mr. Madison, in his will, dated the fifteenth of April, 1835, thus notices this work: "Considering the peculiarity and magnitude of the occasion which produced the convention at Philadelphia in 1787, the characters who composed it, the constitution which resulted from their deliberations, its effects during the trial of so many years on the people living under it, and the interest it has inspired among the friends of free government, it is not an unreasonable inference that a careful and extended report of the proceedings and discussions of that body, which were with closed doors, by a member who was constant in his attendance, will be particularly gratifying to the people of the United States, and to all who take an interest in the progress of political science and the cause of true liberty. It is my desire that the report as made by me should be published." The constitution, on its adoption by the National Convention, was submitted to the several States for ratification. The Virginia Convention assembled for that purpose in June, 1788. Mr. Madison was a member of that body. His speeches were full of power, and evinced a high order of statesmanship. Although opposed by the vehement and torrent-like oratory of Patrick Henry, and the persuasive eloquence of George Mason, he gained his cause: the constitution was adopted, and Virginia entered the Union. In the interval between the adjournment of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia, and the meeting of the State Committees to sanction it, Mr. Madison was associated with Hamilton and Jay in the production of the celebrated series of essays under the title of The Federalist.* These essays exerted an important influence with the people in favor of the constitution. In April, 1789, he took his seat in the Congress assembled at New York. Here he was continued by re-elections until March, 1797, the close of the administration of Washington. In the proceedings of Congress during this time, he bore an active and important part; addressed the House upon all matters of moment, and in all the leading measures occupied an influential position. He opposed the funding system, the national bank, and other measures of the administration which originated with Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; and acted generally with the anti-federalists, who sustained the views of Mr. Jefferson,. then Secretary of State. On Mr. Madison's retirement from Congress, in 1797, he was elected to the Virginia legislature, where he distinguished himself by his opposition to the alien and sedition laws which had been passed by the federal party in Congress. Mr. Jefferson being elected President of the United States in 1801, appointed Mr. Madison to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in that station during the whole of Mr. Jefferson's administration, and in 1809 was himself elected to the presidency. In 1812 Congress declared war against Great Britain. To this measure Mr. Madison reluctantly consented, considering war "only and rarely tolerable as a necessary evil, to be kept off as long, and whenever it takes place, to be closed as soon, as possible." The same year he was re-elected President, and performed his duties during the exigencies of the war with firmness and ability. On the capture of Washington by the British, in 1814, he, with many of the principal officers, was obliged to fly to escape from being made prisoner. After the return of peace, which was consummated by the Treaty of Ghent, in December, 1814, the remaininder of his administration was prosperous and tranquil, and when he retired from office the country was flourishing, with a reviving commerce and rapidly increasing manufactures. At the close of his presidency he retired to his estate at Montpelier, Virginia, where he lived until his death, which occurred on the twenty-eighth of June, 1836. On the annunciation of his decease, by President Jackson, to the Senate and House of Representatives, John Quincy Adams, the only surviving ex-president, and then a member of the lower House, delivered the following eloquent tribute to his memory: "It is not without some hesitation and some diffidence, that I have risen to offer, in my own behalf and that of my colleagues upon this floor, and of our common constituents, to join our voice at once of mourning and of exultation, at the event announced to both Houses of Congress by the message from the President of the United States-of mourning at the bereavement which has befallen our common country, by the decease of one of her most illustrious sons; of exultation at the spectacle afforded to the observation of the civilized world, and for the emulation of after times, by the close of a life of usefulness and glory, after forty years of service in trusts of the highest dignity and splendor that a confiding country could bestow, succeeded by twenty years of retirement and private life, not inferior, in the estimation of the virtuous and wise, to the honors of the highest station that ambition can ever attain. *The authorship of the different numbers of this work, Mr. Madison designates in his own copy and in his own handwriting, as follows: Nos. 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 59, 60, 61, 65 to 85 inclusive, by Alexander Hamilton. Nos. 10, 14, 18, 19, 20, 87 to 58 inclusive, and 62 and 63, by James Madison. Nos, 2, 3, 4, 5, 64, by John Jay. "Of the public life of James Madison, what could I say that is not deeply impressed upon the memory and upon the heart of every one within the sound of my voice? Of his private life, what but must meet an echoing shout of applause from every voice within this hall? Is it not, in a pre-eminent degree, by emanations from his mind that we are assembled here as the representatives of the people and States of this Union? Is it not transcendently by his exertions that we all address each other here by the endearing appellation of countrymen and fellow-citizens? Of that band of benefactors of the human race, the founders of the Constitution of the United States, JAMES MADISON is the last who has gone to his reward. Their glorious work has survived them all. They have transmitted the precious bond of union to us, now entirely a succeeding generation to them. May it never cease to be a voice of admonition to us of our duty to transmit the inheritance unimpaired to our children of the rising age." THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. This speech is composed of several delivered by Mr. Madison, in the Virginia Convention, during the session of that assembly in June, 1788:* | continually distorting the natural construction of language. Assuredly, it is sufficient if any Before I proceed to make some additions to the human production can stand a fair discussion. reasons which have been adduced by my honorable friend over the way, I must take the MR. CHAIRMAN: In what I am about to offer liberty to make some observations on what was to this assembly, I shall not attempt to make said by another gentleman, (Mr. Henry.) He impressions by any ardent professions of zeal told us that this constitution ought to be rejectfor the public welfare. We know that the prin- ed, because, in his opinion, it endangered the ciples of every man will be, and ought to be public liberty, in many instances. Give me judged, not by his professions and declarations, leave to make one answer to that observation but by his conduct. By that criterion, I wish, let the dangers with which this system is in common with every other member, to be supposed to be replete, be clearly pointed out. judged; and even though it should prove un- If any dangerous and unnecessary powers be favorable to my reputation, yet it is a criterion given to the general legislature, let them be from which I by no means would depart, nor plainly demonstrated, and let us not rest satiscould if I would. Comparisons have been fied with general assertions of dangers, without made between the friends of this constitution proof, without examination. If powers be and those who oppose it. Although I disap- necessary, apparent danger is not a sufficient prove of such comparisons, I trust that in every reason against conceding them. He has sugthing that regards truth, honor, candor and rec-gested, that licentiousness has seldom produced titude of motives, the friends of this system, the loss of liberty; but that the tyranny of here and in other States, are not inferior to its rulers has almost always effected it. opponents. But professions of attachment to the general civilization of mankind, I believe the public good, and comparisons of parties, at there are more instances of the abridgment of all times invidious, ought not to govern or in- the freedom of the people, by gradual and silent fluence us now. We ought, sir, to examine the encroachments of those in power, than by vioconstitution exclusively on its own merits. We lent and sudden usurpations: but on a candid ought to inquire whether it will promote the examination of history, we shall find that turpublic happiness; and its aptitude to produce bulence, violence and abuse of power, by the that desirable object, ought to be the exclusive majority trampling on the rights of the misubject of our researches. In this pursuit, we nority, have produced factions and commotions ought to address our arguments not to the feel- which, in republics, have more frequently than ings and passions, but to those understandings any other cause, produced despotism. If we go and judgments which have been selected, by over the whole history of ancient and modern the people of this country, to decide that great republics, we shall find their destruction to have question, by a calm and rational investigation. generally resulted from those causes. I hope that gentlemen, in displaying their abili- consider the peculiar situation of the United ties on this occasion, will, instead of giving States, and go to the sources of that diversity opinions and making assertions, condescend to of sentiment which pervades its inhabitants, prove and demonstrate, by fair and regular dis- we shall find great danger to fear that the same cussion. It gives me pain to hear gentlemen causes may terminate here in the same fatal effects which they produced in those republics. This danger ought to be wisely guarded against. + See second note at page 18. Since If we |