September 11, 1824
Madison, James, 1751-1836
Letter
Title: to Augustus B. Woodward
Unsigned. The last page(s) are missing. Per David Mattern, Papers of Madison, the letter fragment appears to be in the hand of Augustus B. Woodward, who published it (Niles Register 1841, pp. 127-28). Woodward had written observations "addressed to the individual citizen" which the writer has given a hasty perusal. The writer notes that the Virginia Constitution should not be ascribed to Jefferson; the origin, he finds with George Mason, and the Declaration of rights "was substantially from the same hand" (i.e., Mason's). He ascribes the preamble of the Va. Constitution to Jefferson.…
GLC00496.605