r use than to save schooling for the six youngsters at home,--to
him it may have seemed that liberty was more seriously threatened by
that outrage, 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 contrive. Not that he overestimated the
importance of this wrong, but that he underestimated the importance of
that. He was not long, however, in getting the true perspective.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Dr. Draper has kindly put into our hands the correspondence
between himself and Mr. Madison, and we copy these genealogical notes in
full, with the letter in which they were sent, as all that the
ex-President had to say about his ancestry:--

MONTPELLIER, _February 1, 1834_.

DEAR SIR,--I have received your letter of December 31st, and inclose a
sketch on the subject of it, made out by a member of the family. With
friendly respects,

JAMES MADISON.

"James Madison was the son of James Madison and Nelly Conway. He was
born on the 5th of March, 1751 (O. S.), at Port Conway, on the
Rappahannock River, where she was at the time on a visit to her mother
residing there.

"His father was the son of Ambrose Madison and Frances Taylor. His
mother was the daughter of Francis Conway and Rebecca Catlett.

"His paternal grandfather was the son of John Madison and Isabella Minor
Todd. His paternal grandmother, the daughter of James Taylor and Martha
Thompson.

"His maternal grandfather was the son of Edwin Conway and Elizabeth
Thornton. His maternal grandmother, the daughter of John Catlett and
---- Gaines.

"His father was a planter, and dwelt on the estate now called
Montpellier, where he died February 27, 1801, in the 78th year of his
age. His mother died at the same place in 1829, February 11th, in the
98th year of her age.

"His grandfathers were also planters. It appears that his ancestors, on
both sides, were not among the most wealthy of the country, but in
independent and comfortable circumstances."]

[Footnote 2: _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial Series, 1574-1660,
Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record
Office, edited by W. Noel Sainsbury, Esq., etc. London, 1860.]

[Footnote 3: The letters to a friend, from which we have quoted, were
written to William Bradford, Jr., of Philadelphia, afterward
attorney-general in Washington's administration. They are given in full
in _The Writings