It was accidental that Port Conway was the birthplace of Madison. His maternal19 grandfather, whose name was Conway, had a plantation20 at that place, and young Mrs. Madison happened to be there on a visit to her mother when her first child, James, was born. In the stately—not to say stilted—biography of him by William C. Rives, the christened name of this lady is given as Eleanor. Mr. Rives may have thought it not in accordance with ancestral dignity that the mother of so distinguished a son should have been burdened with so commonplace and homely21 a name as Nelly. But we are afraid it is true that Nelly was her name. No other biographer than Mr. Rives, that we know of, calls her Eleanor. Even Madison himself permits "Nelly" to pass under his eyes and from his hands as his mother's name.
In 1833-34 there was some correspondence between him and Lyman C. Draper, the historian, which includes some notes upon the Madison genealogy22. These, the ex-President writes, were "made out by a member of the family," and they may be considered, therefore, as having his sanction. The first record is, that "James Madison was the son of James Madison and Nelly Conway." On such authority Nelly, and not Eleanor, must be accepted as the mother's name. This, of course, is to be regretted from the Rives point of view; but perhaps the name had a less[4] familiar sound a century and a half ago; and no doubt it was chosen by her parents without a thought that their daughter might go into history as the mother of a President, or that any higher fortune could befall her than to be the respectable head of a tobacco planter's family on the banks of the Rappahannock.
This genealogical record further says that "his [Madison's] ancestors, on both sides, were not among the most wealthy of the country, but in independent and comfortable circumstances." If this comment was added at the ex-President's own dictation, it was quite in accordance with his unpretentious character.[1] One might venture to say [5]as much of a Northern or a Western farmer. But they did not farm in Virginia; they planted. Mr. Rives says that the elder James was "a large landed proprietor23;" and he adds, "a large landed estate in Virginia ... was a mimic24 commonwealth25, with its foreign and domestic relations, and its regular administrative26 hierarchy27." The "foreign relations" were the shipping28, once a year, a few hogsheads of tobacco to a London factor; the "mimic commonwealths29" were clusters of negro huts; and the "administrative hierarchy" was the priest, who was more at home at the tavern30 or a horse-race than in the discharge of his clerical duties.
As Mr. Madison had only to say of his immediate31 ancestors—which seems to be all he knew about them—that they were in "independent and comfortable circumstances," so he was, apparently32, as little inclined to talk about himself; even at that age when it is supposed that men who have enjoyed celebrity33 find their own lives the most agreeable of subjects. In answer to Dr. Draper's inquiries34 he wrote this modest letter, now for the first time published:[6]—
Montpellier, August 9, 1833.
Dear Sir,—Since your letter of the 3d of June came to hand, my increasing age and continued maladies, with the many attentions due from me, had caused a delay in acknowledging it, for which these circumstances must be an apology, in your case, as I have been obliged to make them in others.
You wish me to refer you to sources of printed information on my career in life, and it would afford me pleasure to do so; but my recollection on the subject is very defective35. It occurs [to me] that there was a biographical volume in an enlarged edition compiled by General or Judge Rodgers of Pennsylvania, and which may perhaps have included my name, among others. When or where it was published I cannot say. To this reference I can only add generally the newspapers at the seat of government and elsewhere during the electioneering periods, when I was one of the objects under review. I need scarcely remark that a life, which has been so much a public life, must of course be traced in the public transactions in which it was involved, and that the most important of them are to be found in documents already in print, or soon to be so.
With friendly respects, James Madison.
Lyman C. Draper, Lockport, N. Y.
The genealogical statement, it will be observed, does not go farther back than Mr. Madison's great-grandfather, John. Mr. Rives supposes that this John was the son of another John who, as "the pious37 researches of kindred have ascertained," took out a patent for land about 1653 between the North and York rivers on the shores of Chesa[7]peake Bay. The same writer further assumes that this John was descended38 from Captain Isaac Madison, whose name appears "in a document in the State Paper Office at London containing a list of the Colonists39 in 1623." From Sainsbury's Calendar[2] we learn something more of this Captain Isaac than this mere6 mention. Under date of January 24, 1623, there is this record: "Captain Powell, gunner, of James City, is dead; Capt. Nuce (?), Capt. Maddison, Lieut. Craddock's brother, and divers40 more of the chief men reported dead." But either the report was not altogether true or there was another Isaac Maddison, for the name appears among the signatures to a letter dated about a month later—February 20—from the governor, council, and Assembly of Virginia to the king. It is of record, also, that four months later still, on June 4, "Capt. Isaac and Mary Maddison" were before the governor and council as witnesses in the case of Greville Pooley and Cicely Jordan, between whom there was a "supposed contract of marriage," made "three or four days after her husband's death." But the lively widow, it seems, afterward41 "contracted herself to Will Ferrar before the governor and council, and disavowed the former contract," and the case therefore became so complicated that the court was "not able to decide [8]so nice a difference." What Captain Isaac and Mary Maddison knew about the matter the record does not tell us; but the evidence is conclusive42 that if there was but one Isaac Maddison in Virginia in 1623 he did not die in January of that year. Probably there was but one, and he, as Rives assumes, was the Captain Madyson of whose "achievement," as Rives calls it, there is a brief narrative43 in John Smith's "General History of Virginia."
Besides the record in Sainsbury's Calendar of the rumor44 of the death of this Isaac in Virginia, in January, 1623, his signature to a letter to the king in February, and his appearance as a witness before the council in the case of the widow Jordan, in June, it appears by Hotten's Lists of colonists, taken from the Records in the English State Paper Department, that Captain Isacke Maddeson and Mary Maddeson were living in 1624 at West and Sherlow Hundred Island. The next year, at the same place, he is on the list of dead; and there is given under the same date "The muster45 of Mrs. Mary Maddison, widow, aged46 30 years." Her family consisted of "Katherin Layden, child, aged 7 years," and two servants. Katherine, it may be assumed, was the daughter of the widow Mary and Captain Isaac, and their only child. These "musters," it should be said, appear always to have been made with great care, and there is therefore hardly a possibility that a son, if there were one, was omitted in the numer[9]ation of the widow's family, while the name and age of the little girl, and the names and ages of the two servants, the date of their arrival in Virginia, and the name of the ship that each came in, are all carefully given. The conclusion is inevitable47: Isaac Maddison left no male descendants, and President Madison's earliest ancestor in Virginia, if it was not his great-grandfather John, must be looked for somewhere else.
Mr. Rives knew nothing of these Records. His first volume was published before either Sainsbury's Calendar or Hotten's Lists; and the researches on which he relied, "conducted by a distinguished member of the Historical Society of Virginia" in the English State Paper Office, were, so far as they related to the Madisons, incomplete and worthless. The family was not, apparently, "coeval48 with the foundation of the Colony," and did not arrive "among the earliest of the emigrants49 in the New World." That distinction cannot be claimed for James Madison, nor is there any reason for supposing that he believed it could be. He seemed quite content with the knowledge that so far back as his great-grandfather his ancestors had been respectable people, "in independent and comfortable circumstances."
Of his own generation there were seven children, of whom James was the eldest50, and alone became of any note, except that the rest were reputable and contented51 people in their stations of life. A hundred years ago the Arcadian Virginia, for which[10] Governor Berkeley had thanked God so devoutly,—when there was not a free school nor a press in the province,—had passed away. The elder Madison resolved, so Mr. Rives tells us, that his children should have advantages of education which had not been within his own reach, and that they should all enjoy them equally. James was sent to a school where he could at least begin the studies which should fit him to enter college. Of the master of that school we know nothing except that he was a Scotchman, of the name of Donald Robertson, and that many years afterward, when his son was an applicant52 for office to Madison, then secretary of state, the pupil gratefully remembered his old master, and indorsed upon the application that "the writer is son of Donald Robertson, the learned Teacher in King and Queen County, Virginia."
The preparatory studies for college were finished at home under the clergyman of the parish, the Rev36. Thomas Martin, who was a member of Mr. Madison's family, perhaps as a private tutor, perhaps as a boarder. It is quite likely that it was by the advice of this gentleman—who was from New Jersey—that the lad was sent to Princeton instead of to William and Mary College in Virginia. At Princeton, at any rate, he entered at the age of eighteen, in 1769; or, to borrow Mr. Rives's eloquent54 statement of the fact, "the young Virginian, invested with the toga virilis of anticipated manhood, we now see launched on that[11] disciplinary career which is to form him for the future struggles of life."
One of his biographers says that he shortened his collegiate term by taking in one year the studies of the junior and senior years, but that he remained another twelve-month at Princeton for the sake of acquiring Hebrew. On his return home he undertook the instruction of his younger brothers and sisters, while pursuing his own studies. Still another biographer asserts that he began immediately to read law, but Rives gives some evidence that he devoted55 himself to theology. This and his giving himself to Hebrew for a year point to the ministry56 as his chosen profession. But if we rightly interpret his own words, he had little strength or spirit for a pursuit of any sort. His first "struggle of life" was apparently with ill-health, and the career he looked forward to was a speedy journey to another world. In a letter to a friend (November, 1772) he writes: "I am too dull and infirm now to look out for extraordinary things in this world, for I think my sensations for many months have intimated to me not to expect a long or healthy life; though it may be better with me after some time; but I hardly dare expect it, and therefore have little spirit or elasticity57 to set about anything that is difficult in acquiring, and useless in possessing after one has exchanged time for eternity58." In the same letter he assures his friend that he approves of his choice of history and morals as the subjects of his winter studies;[12] but, he adds, "I doubt not but you design to season them with a little divinity now and then, which, like the philosopher's stone in the hands of a good man, will turn them and every lawful59 acquirement into the nature of itself, and make them more precious than fine gold."
The bent60 of his mind at this time seems to have been decidedly religious. He was a diligent61 student of the Bible, and, Mr. Rives says, "he explored the whole history and evidences of Christianity on every side, through clouds of witnesses and champions for and against, from the fathers and schoolmen down to the infidel philosophers of the eighteenth century." So wide a range of theological study is remarkable62 in a youth of only two or three and twenty years of age; but, remembering that he was at this time living at home, it is even more remarkable that in the house of an ordinary planter in Virginia a hundred and twenty years ago could be found a library so rich in theology as to admit of study so exhaustive. But in Virginia history nothing is impossible.
His studies on this subject, however, whether wide or limited, bore good fruit. Religious intolerance was at that time common in his immediate neighborhood, and it aroused him to earnest and open opposition63; nor did that opposition cease till years afterward, when freedom of conscience was established by law in Virginia, largely by his labors64 and influence. Even in 1774, when all the colonies were girding themselves for the coming[13] revolutionary conflict, he turned aside from a discussion of the momentous65 question of the hour, in a letter to his friend[3] in Philadelphia, and exclaimed with unwonted heat:—
"But away with politics!... That diabolical66, hell-conceived principle of persecution67 rages among some; and, to their eternal infamy68, the clergy53 can furnish their quota69 of imps70 for such purposes. There are at this time in the adjacent country not less than five or six well-meaning men in close jail for publishing their religious sentiments, which in the main are very orthodox. I have neither patience to hear, talk, or think of anything relative to this matter; for I have squabbled and scolded, abused and ridiculed71 so long about it to little purpose that I am without common patience."
These are stronger terms than the mild-tempered Madison often indulged in. But he felt strongly. Probably he, no more than many other wiser and older men, understood what was to be the end of the political struggle which was getting so earnest; but evidently in his mind it was religious rather than civil liberty which was to be guarded. "If the Church of England," he says in the same letter, "had been the established and general religion in all the Northern colonies, as it has been among us here, and uninterrupted harmony had prevailed throughout the continent, it is [14]clear to me that slavery and subjection might and would have been gradually insinuated72 among us."
He congratulated his friend that they had not permitted the tea-ships to break cargo73 in Philadelphia; and Boston, he hoped, would "conduct matters with as much discretion74 as they seem to do with boldness." These things were interesting and important; but "away with politics! Let me address you as a student and philosopher, and not as a patriot17." Shut off from any contact with the stirring incidents of that year in the towns of the coast, he lost something of the sense of proportion. To a young student, solitary75, ill in body, perhaps a trifle morbid76 in mind, a little discontented that all the learning gained at Princeton could find no better use than to save schooling77 for the six youngsters at home,—to him it may have seemed that liberty was more seriously threatened by that outrage78, under his own eyes, of "five or six well-meaning men in close jail for publishing their religious sentiments," than by any tax which Parliament could contrive79. Not that he overestimated80 the importance of this wrong, but that he underestimated the importance of that. He was not long, however, in getting the true perspective.
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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ratification
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| n.批准，认可 | |
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affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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seraphim
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| n.六翼天使(seraph的复数)；六翼天使( seraph的名词复数 ) | |
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omnipotence
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| n.全能，万能，无限威力 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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appropriation
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| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
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maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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genealogy
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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administrative
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hierarchy
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shipping
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commonwealths
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| n.共和国( commonwealth的名词复数 )；联邦；团体；协会 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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rev
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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descended
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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coeval
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| adj.同时代的；n.同时代的人或事物 | |
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emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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quota
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imps
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| n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童 | |
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ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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77
schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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78
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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79
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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80
overestimated
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| 对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
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