LETTER CXCI.--TO JAMES MADISON, March 15, 1789
TO JAMES MADISON.
Paris, March 15, 1789.
Dear Sir,
I wrote you last on the 12th of January; since which I have received
yours of October the 17th, December the 8th and 12th. That of October
the 17th came to hand only February the 23rd.
How it happened to be four months on the way, I cannot tell, as I never
knew by what hand it came. Looking over my letter of January the 12th,
I remark an error of the word 'probable' instead of' improbable,' which,
doubtless, however, you had been able to correct.
Your thoughts on the subject of the declaration of rights, in the letter
of October the 17th, I have weighed with great satisfaction. Some of
them had not occurred to me before, but were acknowledged just, in the
moment they were presented to my mind. In the arguments in favor of a
declaration of rights, you omit one which has great weight with me; the
legal check which it puts into the hands of the judiciary. This is a
body, which, if rendered independent and kept strictly to their own
department, merits great confidence for their learning and integrity.
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