had promised me a copy. The promised copy he never gave me; whether he ever executed his intention to write it out, even, I don’t know. Yates has blended these two speeches together in his account of the proceedings.’
“I (N.P.T.) here reminded Mr. Madison of his having given me, some years ago, an account of these speeches, and those of others (of which I made a memorandum at the time, which is among my papers in Washington), and his having told me that he read to Colonel Hamilton and to Gouverneur Morris his reports of their speeches. That Col. H. acknowledged the accuracy of his, suggesting only one or two verbal alterations, and that G.M. laughed and said ‘yes, it is all right.’
“Mr. M., ‘Yes, Gouverneur Morris’s speech was a very extravagant one. It displayed his usual talent, and also in a striking degree, his usual fondness for saying things and advancing doctrines that no one else would. At the moment, he was not perhaps himself conscious how far he went; and when the thing stared him in the face (this was Mr. M.’s exact expression), as written down by me, it caused him to laugh, while he acknowledged its truth.’
“Mr. M., ‘As to the other branch of the subject, I deserted Colonel Hamilton, or rather Colonel H. deserted me; in a word, the divergence between us took place—from his wishing to administration, or rather to administer the Government (these were Mr. M.’s very words), into what he thought it ought to be; while, on my part, I endeavored to make it conform to the Constitution as understood by the Convention that produced and recommended it, and particularly by the State conventions that adopted it.’”
CCCXCVI. James Madison to Edward Coles.[1]
October 15, 1834.
It is well known that the large States, in both the Federal and State Conventions, regarded the aggregate powers of the Senate as the most objectionable feature of the Constitution.
CCCXCVII. James Madison to W.A. Duer.[2]
Montpellier, June 5th, 1835.
I have received your letter of April 25th, and with the aid of a friend and amanuensis, have made out the following answer:
On the subject of Mr. Pinckney’s proposed plan of a Constitution, it is to be observed that the plan printed in the Journal was not
