have made arrangements for its early appearance in suitable style, and by attaching a fixed sum for the copy-right of the work, to each copy that may be sold, sought to meet the original constitutional objection by putting it in the power of the country to repay the liberal advance which the Legislature has made from the National Treasury for the purchase of the work. We now proceed to give a brief description of the manuscripts.

The work consists of two distinct parts. The first contains the only records known to exist of Debates in the Congress of the Confederation; and as these Debates are merely fragments of those which occurred during the years 1782 and 1787, the interval has been filled up with numerous letters and extracts of letters descriptive of passing events, which were written by Mr. Madison in his official capacity to various distinguished friends, and which will be received as valuable accessions to our materials for the history of the period. Respecting these letters and debates, Mr. Madison himself gives the following circumstantial and authentic informa tion in a prefatory note attached to the volume:

"Mr. Madison took his seat in the Congress of the Confederation on the twentieth day of March, 1780, but did not commence his Diary of its Debates till November fourth, 1782. It was continued through the sequel of that year, and until the removal of Congress was decided on the twenty-first of June, 1783, from Philadelphia to Princeton, where the task was not renewed.

"In February, 1787, being again a member, he resumed his Diary, which was continued till May second of that year, when he left Congress to give his attendance in the approaching Convention at Philadelphia, which was to prepare a new Constitution for the United States.

"On the close of that Convention he returned to his seat in Congress, which he held till March, 1788, when he was called to Virginia with a view to his being elected to the State Convention which was to decide on the Constitution proposed by the General Convention. During this period it appears that no Diary was kept— the effect perhaps of the share he had in writing the Federalist. Nor was it resumed in the interval between his return from the close of the State Convention, and his final departure from Congress, then in the last stage of its existence, to become a candidate for a seat in the approaching House of Representatives under the new Constitution.

"The series of Debates now published, though generally condensed into their substance, are not without more detailed discussions on particular topics; and being, with the exception of the debates in 1776 on the Declaration of Independence, and on a few of the articles of the Confederation preserved by Mr. Jefferson, which are also prefixed, the only known or probable materials of what passed in Congress in that form, they cannot fail to be particularly acceptable to the public. The periods of the Diary comprise much that has been least known, and is of a nature to gratify a just curiosity.

"As Mr. Madison was engaged, whilst a member of the old Congress, in regular and often confidential correspondence with several distinguished friends, some of them at that time his absent colleagues, it was thought that a number of his letters, and extracts from others, in which he gives information of what occurred in Con

"His letters of an important and secret nature to Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Randolph were written in cypher, but decyphered under his eye, except a few of a cypher used a short time with Mr. Randolph, the key to which could not be discovered.'

gress, as well as what related to the public affairs generally, might advantageously make a part of this publication. Such of the communications as were contemporary with the Diary often add to the lights which it affords, and such as belong to the periods prior and subsequent to it will often supply its place, and sometimes perhaps more than supply it.

"It cannot be amiss to remark, that the letters derive a value not only from their perfect authenticity, and from the position of the writer as a member of Congress, but from the consideration that they were written without a thought that they would ever meet the public eye. So entirely absent was such a thought, that no copies, with scarce an exception, were, or indeed, considering their number, the frequency and the haste of the letters, and the situation of the writer, could be retained. And it was owing to the kindness of his correspondents or their representatives, that the originals here used make a part of his files. It is regretted that some of those originals were not effectually guarded against damage, and that others appear to be missing."

The more important Debates of the Convention which framed the Constitution, partake in no respect of the imperfections which must necessarily be expected in a preliminary volume thus composed of historical fragments, which fortunate though accidental circumstances only enabled their author to preserve, and which were never intended as portions of a more perfect and permanent work. Mr. Madison entered upon the duties of the Convention with a solemn sense of responsibility to his country and to posterity, which controlled all his actions; and the record of the debates which he preserved was the result of a deliberate and systematic design, originating in a profound appreciation of the importance of the discussions he recorded, which looked far into the future, and beyond the grave for a reward. These labors, which were viewed with distrust, by many, with unconcern, or hopelessly by others, and with doubt and anxiety by all contemporaries, he, with a few other trusting spirits, as surely saw, would be regarded by posterity with the intensest interest and veneration ever accorded to the deliberations of a public body, and unmindful of the vexations and anxieties of the day, the solemn-minded child of the future sat down to his task. No hope of fame, or reward, or applause of his fellow-citizens cheered his way, but the light of truth, manifested in the sublime developement of immortal principles flashed upon his page, as day after day he urged his noble toil, and laid by his volumes for readers then unborn. The generations around were too near to discern rightly the value and importance of his record in all its full and sublime proportions; and with a faith and trust characteristic of the man, he kept his work throngh all the phases of a long and trying political life, sacred for its owner-the posterity for which it was intended. We confess there is something noble and almost touching in the fidelity with which this reliance was maintained. How often, during the course of the last half century have we not heard our prominent statesmen radically differ in their interpretation of the Constitution? How often during that time have not the intentions of its framers been misrepresented or misunder

stood? How often has not every politician, mingling in the party conflicts of the time, felt the loss of the unerring guide which this publication will hereafter afford? How often have we not seen the parties and partisans of the day interpret wrongfully, or darkly, or wilfully, the thoughts and meaning of the past which can now be illustrated and explained beyond the possibility of a cavil, from a work held back in the deep consciousness of its author that the time for full revelation was not come, and that the impenetrable curtain of the grave should be interposed between the last survivor of its framers and the millions of the great and prosperous nation who looked to the Constitution, and the new system of government which it created as the greatest and noblest fruit of the blood and toil of the Revolution-ere the proper period for fully unbosoming the secret proceedings of that time, to the respectful veneration of the country should arrive.

The following extract from a preliminary essay to the volume of Debates, by Mr. Madison himself, will be found most interesting, and will satisfy every mind of the truth of the above remarks, anď fully shows how completely he was possessed with the responsibiliy of his self-imposed task, and what thorough confidence may be reposed in advance in reports prepared under such circumstances by such a hand :

"On the arrival of the Virginia deputies at Philadelphia, it occurred to them that from the early and prominent part taken by that State in bringing about the Convention, some initiative step might be expected from them. The resolutions introduced by Governor Randolph were the result of a consultation on the subject, with an understanding that they left all the deputies entirely open to the lights of discussion, and free to concur in any alterations or modifications which their reflections and judgments might approve. The resolutions, as the journals shew, became the basis on which the proceedings of the Convention commenced, and to the developements, variations and modifications of which the plan of government proposed by Convention may be traced.

"The curiosity I had felt during my researches into the history of the most distinguished confederacies, particularly those of antiquity, and the deficiency I found in the means of satisfying it, more especially in what related to the process, the principles, the reasons, and the anticipations which prevailed in the formation of them, determined me to preserve as far as I could, an exact account of what might pass in the Convention whilst executing its trust, with the magnitude of which I was duly impressed, as I was by the gratification promised to future curiosity by an authentic exhibition of the objects, the opinions and the reasonings from which the new system of government was to receive its peculiar structure and organization. Nor was I unaware of the value of such a contribution to the fund of materials for the history of a constitution on which would be staked the happiness" of a people great even in its infancy, and possibly the cause of liberty throughout the world.

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"In pursuance of the task I had assumed, I chose a seat in front of the presiding member, with the other members on my right and left hands. In this favorable position for hearing all that passed, I noted in terms legible, and in abbreviations and marks intelligible to myself, what was read from the chair or spoken by the members; and losing not a moment unnecessarily between the adjournment and reassembling of the Convention, I was enabled to write out my daily notes during the

session or within a few finishing days after its close, in the extent and form, preserved in my own hand, on my files.

"In the labor and correctness of this I was not a little aided by practice, and by a familiarity with the style and the train of observation and reasoning which characterized the principal speakers. It happened also that I was not absent a single day, nor more than a casual fraction of an hour in any day, so that I could not have lost a single speech, unless a very short one.

"It may be proper to remark, that with a very few exceptions, the speeches were neither furnished, nor revised, nor sanctioned by the speakers, but written out from my notes, aided by the freshness of my recollections. A further remark may be proper, that views of the subject might occasionally be presented in the speeches and proceedings with a latent reference to a compromise on some middle ground, by mutual concessions. The exceptions alluded to, were, 1st, the sketch furnished by Mr. Randolph, of his speech on the introduction of his propositions on the twentyninth day of May. 2d. The speech of Mr. Hamilton, who happened to call on me when putting the last hand to it, and who acknowledged its fidelity, without suggesting more than a very few verbal alterations which were made. 3d. The speech of Governeur Morris on the second day of May, which was communicated to him on a like occasion, and who acquiesced in it without a verbal change. The correctness of his language and the distinctness of his enunciation were particularly favorable to a reporter. The speeches of Dr. Franklin, excepting a few brief ones, were copied from the written ones read to the Convention by his colleague, Mr. Wilson, it being inconvenient to the Doctor to remain long on his feet.

"Of the ability and intelligence of those who composed the Convention the debates and proceedings may be a test; as the character of the work which was the offspring of their deliberations must be tested by the experience of the future, added to that of nearly half a century which has passed.

"But whatever may be the judgment pronounced on the competency of the architects of the Constitution, or whatever may be the destiny of the edifice prepared by them, I feel it a duty to express my profound and solemn conviction derived from my intimate opportunity of appreciating the views of the Convention, collectively and individually, that there never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or more exclusively or anxiously devoted to the object committed to them, than were the members of the Federal Convention of 1787, to the object of devising and proposing a constitutional system which would best supply the defects of that which it was to replace, and best secure the permanent liberty and happiness of their country."

That resolution of the Convention which closed its doors to the public, gave much umbrage at the time, and exposed the body to great animadversion. Yet how wise and judicious was the provision. Their labor was not for their contemporaries. They worked for the far-off future. They spoke to an audience that no legislative assembly yet has ever addressed. And as posterity was to test the value of their labors, so posterity will now have an opportunity of judging reverently and candidly of their motives, their reasons, their intentions, their fear, and their hopes. The injunction of secrecy has been removed, and the people of the United States may now and henceforward learn and judge for themselves.

One extract, only, are we tempted to make. It is the last sentence of the Work thus sealed up for fifty-two years. And we give it not merely for the striking and deeply interesting anecdote which it contains, but to share with the thousands who will now see it for the first time, the exultation that must come home to every bosom,

in the feeling that the prophetic emblem of Franklin has been so completely verified in an amount of national greatness, prosperity, happiness, and honor without a stain, never reached, even approached by any human community in the same space of time. May the sun that rose on that day never go down!

"Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor Franklin, looking towards the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising sun from a setting sun.

"I have,' said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now, at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.'"

It is not our intention, as already mentioned, to enter at present into an examination of these manuscripts in detail, but having brought the public thus to the threshold of this great National Work, we will await the period of its publication for additional observations. The occasion seems a proper one to bring the life and character of their illustrious author more immediately before the public.

Mr. Madison has been so eminent in public consideration for the last half century that various accounts have been published of his life and character. It is therefore proper to premise that many of the following particulars are taken from another biographical sketch of him by the same hand, with some additional circumstances kindly contributed by others.

It is also proper to add, that no eulogium is attempted, nor little more than an abridged statement of the prominent transactions of a long life of public distinction.

James Madison was born on the fifth of March, 1751, (O. S.) at the dwelling of his maternal grandmother, opposite to Port Royal, a town on the south side of the Rappahannock, in Virginia. The house of his parents, James Madison and Nelly Conway, was in Orange county, where he always resided. It is remarkable for the beauty of the scenery and purity of the air; and likewise, that within a short distance of each other, in that region three Presidents of the United States, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, all resided, as closely connected in personal attachment, as in political faith, who have impressed on the country a large share of the policy and distinction of these United States.

After passing through the usual elementary education, Mr. Madison was placed, at about twelve years of age, under the tuition of Donald Robertson, a distinguished teacher in that neighborhood, with whom he accomplished the common preparatory studies for a