Tempest at Dawn (71 page)

Madison looked at Sherman. Sherman shrugged and
said, “Let’s walk.”

People thinned after a few blocks, and Madison said,
“Good speech.”

“
I understand you wrote it.”

“
Editing would be a better
description.”

“
A fine job, just the same. It moved some to
tears.”

“
He originally made a big point of being
childless.”

“
Childless?”

“
He wanted the country to understand that
there was no way he could create a hereditary monarchy.”

“
The country would check that.”

“
That’s why I deleted it. By the way, did you
know the Bible came from St. John’s Masonic lodge?”

“
God’s word comes from him
alone.”

Madison looked embarrassed. “The president
looked nervous and unsure.”

“
If the country hadn’t called
Washington to other vocations, he would’ve been our greatest
thespian.”

Madison looked startled. “Are you saying he
feigned modesty?”

“
I’m saying George Washington is
precisely the man the country needs at this moment.”

“
Mr. Sherman, may I have a
word?”

Sherman turned from Abraham Baldwin to face Madison.
“Of course, James.”

“
Do you need privacy?” Baldwin
asked.

“
Good morning, Abe,” Madison said,
reaching around to shake hands with both men. “Yes, if it wouldn’t
be too inconvenient.”

The three men stood in the cloakroom to the house
chamber prior to their first session since the inauguration.
Sherman put one hand on Madison’s shoulder and extended his other
arm toward a corner. “Let’s step over there.”

After they had moved away from the milling
representatives, Sherman asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“
A bill of rights.”

“
A worthy goal.”

“
I believe it should be our first
order of business.”

Sherman glanced around at the other
representatives. “We have many serious issues before us.”

“
None more serious,” Madison
said.

“
Abe would disagree. Georgia needs
protection against the Spanish and the Indians.”

“
Commitments were made to achieve
ratification.”

“
By whom?”

“
Myself—among others. Ratification
wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“
We can address rights later. First,
we need to resolve our finances and security.”

Madison looked nervous. “If we don’t address
rights immediately, we may never get to them. There will always be
pressing matters.”

“
James, personal liberty is not
threatened at the moment. Farms and our territorial sovereignty
are. The public wants us to solve the nation’s
problems.”

“
This won’t take long. I’ve brought a
revision with me.”

“
What kind of revision?”

“
I’ve incorporated the rights into the
text of the Constitution.”

“
James!”

“
What?”

“
That will require another convention
and ratification.”

“
I kept everything identical except
for adding rights in the appropriate place.”

“
If we change the Constitution, our
opponents will seize the event to reopen the debate. We barely eked
out this one.”

“
Look at it before you
judge.”

Sherman looked anxiously around. “Why did
you come to me?”

“
I need your help.”

“
I oppose what you want
done.”

“
You oppose the timing. The country
fears this new government. What better way to gain time than to
give them a statement of their rights.”

“
I can’t let you discard our
accomplishments by opening the Constitution. It must remain
sacrosanct.”

“
Are you saying we may never have a
bill of rights?”

“
They must be amendments, proposed and
ratified according to Article V.”

Madison hesitated. “If I concede that point,
will you help?”

Now it was Sherman’s turn to pause. The bell
signaling the start of the session rang. “Mr. Madison, I must admit
that you have a knack for knowing what must be done.”

“
And Mr. Sherman, you have a knack for
knowing how to get it done.”

Both men looked at each other for a long
moment, and then Sherman put his lanky arm around the narrow
shoulders of Madison. “The country seems to have more work for
us.”

Madison’s darting eyes caught Sherman’s, and
then moved away. “I’ll be happy as long as my country needs
me.”

As both men moved toward the door, Sherman
lightly gripped Madison’s elbow. “Jemmy, it’ll be a sad day when
America no longer needs men like you.”

Shoulder to shoulder, Sherman and Madison
walked through the double doors and into the House of
Representatives.

October 21, 1835

I laid my steel-tipped pen aside and tried
to shake the cramp out of my hand. James Madison looked as if he
had dozed off once again, so I closed my inkwell, content that we
had completed a good day’s work.

“
I believe we’re done.” The old man
had not twitched a single muscle except to open his
eyes.

That had used to startle me, but I had grown
accustomed to his determined stillness. “I agree. This has been an
unusually long day. You should get some rest. We can begin again in
the morning.”

“
I mean our collaboration is done. You
have your material.”

“
Mr. President, please, I have so many
questions.”

“
Everything else is a matter of public
record. Well documented.”

“
At least tell me what happened to the
Ohio and Scioto companies.”

Madison sighed. “Very well. The Scioto
Company advanced the Ohio Company about one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars toward their first installment of five hundred
thousand. The Ohio Company founded Marietta, Ohio, but never came
up with the remaining money. I believe it went defunct in the late
1790s. The Scioto Company was a complete bust. They sold land in
Europe, but the money disappeared.” Madison chuckled. “Hard to
imagine now, but there was too much land for too few people.”

“
What about the Revolutionary War
bonds?”

“
Mr. Witherspoon, I refuse to go into
that subject, or any other for that matter. You are welcome to
remain a few days to organize your notes, but this interview has
drawn to a close.”

“
Mr. President, you and Jefferson
quarreled with Hamilton over those bonds. The resulting chasm gave
us our two-party system. Surely, you can enlighten the public
record.”

“
I refuse to spend my final days
reliving that episode.”

The old man’s eyes told me the issue was
nonnegotiable. As Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton
had created a national bank and retired the bonds at face value.
These actions had inflamed Jefferson and triggered Madison to
insist that the Constitution did not authorize a government bank.
Years later, Madison was accused of duplicity when he championed a
less literal interpretation. I decided that could wait because
there was something more important I needed to probe. “You promised
to discuss slavery.”

“
I think I explained the slave issue.”
As he spoke, his eyes wandered over my shoulder. “Have you come to
fetch me for my nap?”

“
You must excuse us, Mr. Witherspoon.”
I craned my head around at the sound of Dolley’s voice. She glided
around my chair and put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “James
needs his rest.”

“
Will we talk again, Mr.
President?”

“
I have nothing further to
say.”

“
I want to talk about the present. I
believe abolition achievable.”

“
As do I. It is the price that has
held my hand.”

I bent forward. “I support a new tax to
compensate slaveholders.”

Madison spoke in an even softer voice. “If
the North tries to mandate emancipation, war will ensue. The
republic will not survive. Not then, not now.”

“
I don’t believe that.”

“
Do you think you can simply pass an
amendment?” Dolley asked.

Not knowing whom to address, I shifted my
gaze between the two Madisons. “Well, yes.”

Madison didn’t answer immediately. “Mr.
Witherspoon, the price of union in 1787 was the accommodation of
slavery. The price of abolition in 1835 will be disunion.”

“
We shouldn’t be faced with this
quandary. Was there no other choice in 1787?”

“
Yes. Two nations: one slave, one
free.”

“
Perhaps a better choice.”

“
That would only assuage your
guilt.”

I had started to lean back in my chair, but
Madison’s words made my back as stiff as a seasoned plank. “I beg
your pardon. I’m guiltless.”

“
You are a citizen of a slaveholding
nation.”

I crossed my legs and let my glance flit
between the two. “Times change. You’re a slaveholder and the father
of the Constitution. Your endorsement of an abolition amendment
would carry enormous weight.”

“
I’ll not instigate an armed
conflict.”

“
You support the Constitution with all
its defects?”

“
I took an oath to protect the
Constitution.”

“
I thought that expired with your
term.”

“
I don’t believe so.”

“
Mr. President, in time, we’ll secure
an amendment. You can make it sooner.”

“
The country isn’t ready.”

“
Why did you make the amendment
process so difficult?”

“
There were fifty-five men in the
chamber. We designed a system to give voice to every faction, while
restraining any single interest group from gaining
dominance.”

“
With all due respect, you’re
mistaken. You endorsed the oppression of one faction by another.
You gave slaveholders a constitutional right to maintain their
status as masters.”

Madison remained still as a wary cat. I
began to fear I had overstepped, when his lips curled up in an
unruffled smile. “Did you bring any other clothes?”

I looked down at my threadbare wool suit.
“Only my travel garments.”

“
Well, put them on, and my overseer
will give you a tour of Montpelier.”

“
Are our discussions over?”

“
You must excuse me. I fatigue
easily.”

Dolley stood and guided me by the elbow out
of the great man’s presence.

I had just buttoned my waistcoat when Paul
softly knocked on my door.

“
The president asked me to see if you
needed assistance.”

“
No, thank you. I can dress
myself.”

He started to retreat when I stopped him
with a question, “Paul, do you envy the free Negroes in the
North?”

“
I know nothing of their
predicament.”

“
You accompanied the president to
Washington, did you not?”

“
I’ve been with Master James my entire
life.”

“
There are free Negroes in
Washington.”

“
I stick to my own.”

“
You mean fellow slaves.”

“
I mean the Madison
family.”

“
Surely, you must occasionally desire
freedom?”

“
I’m doing what I want.”

I realized Madison had sent Paul to answer
questions. “What will happen to you when the president dies?”

“
My wish is to be buried as close to
him as possible.”

Maybe I had found a weakness. “That shan’t
be very close.”

“
I’ll find a permanent home at
Montpelier. That’s all I ask.”

“
You see yourself as part of the
family?”

“
Excuse me, sir, if you have no need
of my services, I have other duties.”

Before I could grant permission, Paul was
gone. I shrugged. For every house-slave, hundreds toiled in the
fields. I hurried out of the house to find a cobalt sky that
signaled a harsh winter on the near horizon.

“
Mr. Witherspoon, I’m John Watson,
manager of Montpelier.”

“
I’m pleased to meet you. Am I dressed
appropriately?”

“
It’ll do. This is your
mount.”

The man had been holding the reins of two
horses and now, with an extended right arm, pulled one horse around
for me. As I stepped up into the saddle, I asked, “Will I have an
opportunity to talk to slaves?”

“
If you wish.”

“
How many hours does a field hand
work?”

“
Mostly twelve hours days, a few more
during harvest. The problem is how to keep them productive in the
winter.”

“
Difficult problem, I’m sure.
Distressing how they eat every day.”

Watson threw me a hard stare. “You don’t
think much of our way of life, do you?”

“
I am unconcerned about your way of
life. It’s the slave’s way of life that distresses me.”