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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Madison, James, 1751-1836 to Peter Stephen Du Ponceau

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00117 Author/Creator: Madison, James, 1751-1836 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: December 8, 1810 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Height: 23 cm, Width: 19 cm Order a Copy

Madison thanks Du Ponceau for a copy and commends his translation of Bynkershoek's "Treatise on the Law of War." Continues with the comments: "A nation which appeals to law, rather to force, is particularly bound to understand the use of the instrument by which it wishes to maintain its rights...When the sword alone is the law, there is less inconsistency if not more propriety in neglecting those Teachers of right and duty."

Madison, James, 1751-1836
Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844

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