t be, was never out of his mind. There is not much else in the
volumes of his published letters, while there is just enough else to
show that in these he said all he had to say about anything. His more
ambitious writings, the papers in "The Federalist," the essay on The
British Doctrine of Neutral Trade, his controversial articles in the
newspapers under various pseudonyms, are all political, all able, and
all of great value as a part of the history of the times. Those which
are controversial, however, must be taken, like his letters, as aids to
knowledge rather than as definite conclusions to be accepted without
question. It does not detract from the value of these letters, however,
that they are written from the point of view of a party leader. Affairs
of only temporary importance sometimes loom up before him merely because
of their influence upon some immediate party movement; and others, of
far-reaching consequences, which have no such bearing, escape his
notice altogether; but the reader soon learns that he may, at any rate,
confide in the sincerity of the writer, and accept as freely the reasons
given for his course as they are frankly stated.

Of the literary value of his writings, aside from their historical
interest, there is not much to be said, though Mr. Madison always wrote,
even in his letters, as if writing for posterity. He was not felicitous
in the use of language; the style is turgid, heavy with resounding words
of many syllables, unillumined by any ray of imagination, any flash of
wit or of humor; and the sentences are often involved and badly put
together. But there is a genuineness, an evident sincerity of purpose,
in all he wrote, and occasionally an expression of deep feeling, which
are always impressive. We search for glimpses of his private life and
character in such letters, for they are not easily apparent. In one
sense he had no private life, or, at least, none that was not so
subordinate to his public career that there was little in it either
significant or attractive. There is, in this respect, a marked contrast
between his correspondence and that of Jefferson. There was, possibly, a
little affectation in Jefferson's frequent assertions of his intense
desire for the quiet of the country and the tranquillity of home, and of
his distaste for the turmoils and anxieties of public office. But he was
certainly fond of country life, with the leisure to potter about among
his sheep and his trees; to