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 FROM A MEDALLION EXECUTED IN 1792 BY CERACCHI. 
 
Jonathan Bull and Mary Bull: 
 
 BY 
 
 J 
 TAMES ]\IADISON 
 
 AN iNEDlTED MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 aI 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRESENTATION BV J. C. MGUIKE. 
 
 V 
 
 I'^i:. \ 
 
 DEC 27 1887 1/ ' 
 
 ^ 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, 
 

 Copyright, 1887, by F. B. McGuiKir. 
 
■Written but not published at the period of the Missouri question, 1821. 
 
 JONATHAN BULL AND MAKY BULL. 
 
 Joiiatlian Bull and Mary Bull, who were descend- 
 ants of old John Bull, the head of the family, had 
 inherited contiguous estates in large tracts of land. 
 As they grew up and became well acquainted, a 
 partiality was mutually felt, and advances on several 
 occasions made towards a matrimonial connection. 
 This was particularly recommended by the advan- 
 tage of putting their two estates under a common 
 superintendence. Old Bull, however, as guardian 
 of both, and having long been allowed certain val- 
 uable j^ri^dleges within the estates, with which he 
 was not long content, had always found the means 
 of breaking off the match, which he regarded as a 
 fatal obstacle to his secret design of getting the 
 Avhole property into his own hands. 
 
 At a moment favorable, as he thought, for the 
 attempt, he brought suit against both, l)ut Avitli a 
 view of carrying it on in a way that would make the 
 j^rocess bear on the parties in such different modes, 
 times, and degrees, as might ci-eate a jealousy and 
 discord between them. Jonathan and Mary had too 
 much sagacity to be duped. They understood well 
 old BulFs character and situation. They knew that 
 he was deeply versed in all the suV)tleties of the law; 
 that he was of a stubborn and persevering temper, 
 
and that lie bad, moreover, a very long purse. They 
 were sensible, therefore, that the more he endeavored 
 to divide their interests and their defence of the suit, 
 the more they ought to make a common cause and 
 proceed in a concert of measures. As this could best 
 be done by giving effect to the feelings long enter- 
 tained for each other, an intermarriage was deter- 
 mined on and solemnized, with a deed of settlement, 
 as usual in such opulent matches, duly executed ; and 
 no event certainly of the sort was ever celebrated by 
 a greater fervor or variety of rejoicings among the 
 respective tenants of the parties. They had a great 
 horror of falling into the hands of old Bull, and re- 
 garded the mai'riage of their proprietors, under whom 
 they held their freeholds, as the surest mode of ward- 
 ing off the danger. They were not disappointed. 
 United purses and good advocates compelled old 
 Bull, after a hard struggle, to withdraw the suit, 
 and relinquish forevei', not only the new pretensions 
 he had set up, but the old privileges he had been 
 allowed. 
 
 The marriage of Jonathan and Maiy was not a 
 barren one. On the contrary, every year or two 
 added a new member to the family, and on such oc- 
 casions the pi'actice was to set off a portion of land 
 sufficient for a good farm, to be put undei' the au- 
 thoi'itv of the child on its attaining the at^e of nian- 
 hood. And these lands were settled very rapidly 
 l)y tenants going, as the case might be, from the 
 estates, sometimes of Jonathan, sometimes of Mary, 
 and sometimes partly from one and partly from the 
 other. 
 
5 
 
 It happened that at the ex])iration of the nonage 
 of" tlie tenth oi' eleventh fruit of the niamage some 
 (littifulties were started concerning the rules and con- 
 ditions of declaring tlie young party of age, and of 
 giving him, as a member of the family, tlie manage- 
 ment of his patrimony. Jonathan became ])()ssessed 
 with a notion that an arranyvment ouii;ht to he ma(h' 
 that Avould prevent the new farm from being settled 
 and cultivated, as in all the latter instances, indis- 
 criminately by persons removing from his and Mary's 
 estate, and confine this privilege to those going from 
 his own ; and in the perverse humor which had seized 
 him, he listened moreover to suggestions that Mary 
 had some undue advantage from the selections of the 
 head stewards, which happened to have been made 
 much oftener out of hei' tenants than his. 
 
 Now the prejudice suddenly taken up by Jona- 
 than against the ecpial I'ight of Mary's tenants to 
 remove with their property to new fai'ms, was con- 
 nected with a peculiarity in Mary's person not as yet 
 noticed. Strange as it may appear, the circumstance 
 is not the less true, that Mary, when a child, had 
 unfortunately received from a certain African dye 
 a stain on her left arm, which had made it perfectly 
 black, and ^^ ithal somewhat weaker than the other 
 arm. Tlie misfortune arose from a ship from Africa, 
 loaded with the article, which had been permitted 
 to enter a river running through her estate, and 
 dispose of a part of the noxious cargo. The fact 
 was well known to Jonathan at the time of their 
 marriage, and if felt as mi objection, it was, in a 
 manner, reduced to nothing, l)y the comely form an<l 
 
6 
 
 pleasing features of Mary in every other respect, by 
 her good sense and amiable manners, and in part 
 perhaps by the large and valua]>le estates she brought 
 with her. 
 
 In the unlneky fit, however, M'hich was upon him, 
 he looked at the ])lack arm, and forgot all the rest. 
 To such a pitch of feeling was he w^rought up, that 
 he broke out inlo the grossest taunts on Mary for 
 her misfortune, not omitting at the same time to 
 remind her of his long forbearance to exert his 
 superior voice in the appointment of the head 
 stewai'd. He had now, he said, got his eyes fully 
 opened ; he saw every thing in a new light, and was 
 resolved to act accoi'dingly. As to the head stew- 
 ard, he would let her see that the appointment was 
 virtually in his power, and she might take her leave 
 of all chance of ever having another of her tenants 
 advanced to that station ; and as to the black arm, 
 she should, if the color could not be taken out, 
 either tear off the skin from the tlesh, or cut oif the 
 limb ; for it w^as his fixed determination that one 
 oi' other should be done, or he would sue out a 
 divorce, and there should be an end of all connec- 
 tion between them and their estates. I have, he said, 
 examined well the marriage settlement, and flaws 
 have been pointed out to me, that never occurred 
 before, by which I shall be able to set the whole 
 aside. White as I am all over, I can no longer con- 
 sort with one marked with such a deformity as the 
 blot on your person. 
 
 Mary was so stunned with the language she heard, 
 that it was some time before she could speak at all ; 
 
and as tlie surprise abated, she was almost clicked 
 with the anger ;iii(l indignation swelling in lici 
 bosom, (xenerons nnd j)lac'able as hei- temper was, 
 she had a ])rond sensibility to what she thought an 
 unjust and (h'grading treatment, which did not permit 
 her to suppress the violence of her first emotions. 
 Hei" hinguage accordingly foi* a moment was such as 
 these emotions prom])ted. But her good sense, and 
 her regard for Jonathan, whose (pialities as a good 
 husband she had long ex])ei'ienced, soon gained an 
 ascendency, and changed her tone to that of sohci- 
 reasoning and affectionate expostulation. 
 
 "Well, my dear husband, you see what a ])assi(>n 
 you have put me into. But it is now ovei', and I 
 will endeavor to express my thoughts with the calm- 
 ness and good feelings which become the relation of 
 wife and husband. 
 
 "As to the case of providing for our child just 
 coming of age, I shall say but little. We both have 
 such a tender regard for him, and such a desire to 
 see him on a level with his brethren as to the chance 
 of nniking his fortune in the world, that I am sure 
 the diiliculties which have occurred will in some way 
 or other be got over. 
 
 " But I caimot pass so lightly over the reproaches 
 you east on the color of my left arm, and on the more 
 frecpient appointment of my tenants than of youi's 
 to the head stewardship of our joint estates. 
 
 " Now, as to the first point, you seem to have for- 
 gotten, my worthy partner, that this infii-mity was 
 fully known to you before oui' marriage, aii<l is 
 proved to be so by the deed of settlement itself. At 
 
8 
 
 that time you made it no objection whatever to onr 
 union; and, indeed, how could you urge such an ol)- 
 jection, when you were conscious that you yourself 
 were not entirely free from a like stain on your own 
 person ? The fatal Africau dye, as you well know, 
 had found its way into your abode as well as mine ; 
 and at the time of our marriage, you had spots and 
 specks scattered over your body as black as the skin 
 on my arm. And although you have, by certain 
 abrasions and other api)lications, taken them in some 
 measure out, there are visiV)le remains which ought 
 to soften at least your language when reflecting on 
 my situation. You ought surely, when you have so 
 slowly and imperceptil)ly relieved yourself from the 
 mortifying stain, although the task was comparatively 
 so easy, to have some forbearance and sympathy with 
 me, who have a task so much more difficult to per- 
 form. Instead of that, you al)use me as if I had 
 brought the misfortune on myself, and could re- 
 move it at will ; or, as if you had pointed out a 
 ready way to do it, and I had slighted your advice. 
 Yet, so far is this from being the case, that you 
 know as well as I do, that I am not to be blamed for 
 the origin of the sad mishap ; that I am as anxious 
 as you can be to get rid of it ; that you are as un- 
 able as I am to find out a safe and feasi])le plan for 
 the purpose ; and, moreover, that I have done every 
 thing I could, in the meantime, to mitigate an evil 
 that cannot as yet be removed. When you talk of 
 tearing off the skin, or cutting off the unfortunate 
 limb, must I remind you, of what you cannot be 
 ignorant, that the most skilful surgeons have given 
 
9 
 
 their opinions that if so cruel an operation were to 
 be tried, it could hardly fail to be followed by a 
 mortifieatioii, oi' a l)le(Mlino; to death '. Let nic ask, 
 too, whether, should neither of the fatal effects 
 ensue, you would like lue better in my nangled or 
 mutilated condition than nou do now? And when 
 you threaten a divorce and an annulment of the 
 marriage settlement, may I not ask wdiether youi- 
 estate would not suffer as nuich as mine })y dissolv- 
 ing the pai'tnei'ship between them ? I am fai' from 
 denying that 1 feel the advantage of having the 
 pledge of your arm, your stronger arm if you 
 please, for the protection of me and mine ; and that 
 my interests in general have been, and must con- 
 tinue to l)e, the better for your aid and counsel in 
 the management of them. But on the other hand, 
 you must be equally sensiV)le that the aid of my 
 purse will have its value, in case old Bull, or any 
 other such litigious fellow, should put us to the ex- 
 pense of another tedious lawsuit. And now, that we 
 are on the subject of loss and gain, you will not be of- 
 fended if I take notice of a report that you sometimes 
 insinuate that mv estate, accordinfr to the rates of 
 assessment, does not })ay its due share into the com- 
 mon purse, r tliink, my dear Jonathan, that if you 
 ever entertained this opinion, you must have been 
 led into it b}- a very wrong view of the subject. 
 As to the direct income from rents, there can be no 
 deficiency on my part there; the lule of apportion- 
 ment being clear, and founded on a calculation by 
 numbers. And as to what is raised from the articles 
 bought and used bv m\ tenants, it is ditticult to 
 
10 
 
 « 
 
 conceive that my tenants buy or use less than yours, 
 considering that they carry a greater amount of 
 crops to market, the whole of which, it is well 
 known, tliey lav out in articles from the use of 
 which the bailifP re^-ularly collects the sum due. It 
 would seem, then, that my tenants selling more, buy 
 more ; buying more, use more ; and using more, 
 pay more. Meaning, however, not to put you in the 
 wrong, but myself in the right, I do not push the 
 argument to that length ; because I readily agree 
 that in paying for articles bought and used, you 
 have, beyond the fruits of tlie soil, on which I de- 
 pend, ways and means which I have not. You 
 draw chiefly the interest we jointly pay for the 
 funds we were obliged to borrow for the fees and 
 costs the suit of old Bull ])ut us to. Your tenants 
 also turn their hands so ingeniously to a variety of 
 handicraft and other mechanical productions, that 
 they make not a little money from that source. Be- 
 sides all this, you gain much by the iish you catch 
 and cai'ry to market ; by the use of your teams and 
 boats, ill transporting and trading on the crops of 
 my tenants ; and, indeed, in doing that sort of busi- 
 ness for strano'ers also. This is a fair statement on 
 your side of the account, with the drawback, how- 
 ever, that as your tenants are supplied with a greater 
 proportion of articles, made by themselves, than is 
 the case with mine, the use of which articles does 
 not contribute to the common purse, they avoid, in 
 the same proportion, the payments collected from my 
 tenants. If I were to look still further into this mat- 
 ter, and refer you to every advantage you draw from 
 
11 
 
 the imloii of onr persons and property, T might re- 
 mark that the profits you make from your teams and 
 lioats, and wliich enable you to ])ay your quota, aiv 
 in great part drawn from the preference they Inive 
 in conveying and disposing of tlie products of ni\- 
 soil — a business that misfht fall into other hands in 
 the event of our separation. I mention tliis, as 1 
 have already said, not })y way of complaint, for I am 
 well satisfied that your gain is not altogether my loss 
 in this, more than in many other instances ; and tliat 
 what })roiits you immediately, may profit me also in 
 the long iiin. But I will not dwell on these calcu- 
 lations and comparisons of interest, which you ought 
 to weigh as well as myself, as reasons against the 
 measure to which you threaten a resort. For when 
 T consult my own lieart, and call to mind all the en- 
 dearing- ])roofs you have i>:iven of vours being" in 
 sympathy with it, I must needs hope that there are 
 other ties than mere interest to prevent us fi'om ever 
 suffering a trafisient resentment on either side, with 
 or without cause, to Ijring on both all the conse- 
 quences of a divorce — consequences, too. which would 
 be a sad inheritance, indeed, for oui* numerous and 
 beloved offspring. 
 
 " As to the other point, relative to the head steAv- 
 ards, I must own, my worthy husband, that I am 
 altogether at a loss for any cause of dissatisfaction 
 on your part, or Idame on mine. It is true, as you 
 say, that they have been often er taken from among 
 my tenants than yours; })ut, undei' other circum- 
 stances, the reverse might as well have hajipened. 
 If the individuals appointed had made their way to 
 
12 
 
 the important trust l:)y corrupt or fallacious means; 
 if tliey liad been preferred merely because they 
 dwelt on my estate, or had succeeded by any interpo- 
 sition of mine contrary to your inclination ; or, finally, 
 if they had administered the trust unfaithfully, sac- 
 rificing your interests to mine, or the interests of 
 ])oth to selfish oi' to unworthy ])urposes ; in either of 
 these cases you would have ground foi' your com- 
 ])laints. But I know, Jonathan, that you are too just 
 and too candid not to admit that no such ground 
 exists. The head stewards in question could not 
 have been appointed without your own participation 
 as well as mine. They were recommended to our 
 joint choice by the reputed fairness of their charac- 
 ters ; by their tried fidelity and competency in pi'e- 
 vious trusts; and l)y theii' exemption from all 
 chai'ges of impure and grasping designs. And so 
 far were they from being partial to my interest 
 at the expense of yours, that they were rather con- 
 sidered by my tenants as leaning to a management 
 more favorable to yours than to mine, I need not 
 say that I allude to the ])Ounties, direct or indirect, 
 to your teams and boats, to the hands employed in 
 your fisheries, and to the looms and othei' machine- 
 ries, which, without such encouragements, would not 
 be able to meet the thi'eatened rivalships of inter- 
 fei'ing neighbors. I say, only, that these ideas were 
 in the heads of some of my tenants. For myself, I 
 should not have mentioned them, but as a defence 
 against what I must regard as so unfounded a 
 charge, that it ouglit not to be permitted to make a 
 lasting impression. 
 
13 
 
 " Hut, laying aside all these considerations, I repeat, 
 my dear Jonathan, that the a])])ointnient of the h<'nd 
 steward lies as much, if n(»t moiv, with you than w itli 
 me. Let the choice fall where it may, you will find 
 me faithfully abiding by it, whether it be thought 
 the best possible one or not; and sincerely wishing 
 that he may equally improve better opportunities of 
 serving us both than was the lot of any of those ^vho 
 have gone before him,'"' 
 
 Jonathan, who had a good heart as well as a sound 
 head and steady temper, was touched with this ten- 
 der and considerate language of Mary, and the l)ick- 
 ering which had sprung up ended, as the quarrels of 
 lovers ahrai/s, and of married folks sometimes do, in 
 an increased affection and confidence between the 
 parties. 
 
39 
 

 
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