REPORTERS PLEASE NOTE:  "JAMES MADISON'S 'ADVICE TO MY COUNTRY'" WILL
BE RELEASED BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF VIRGINIA ON MARCH 16, JAMES
MADISON'S BIRTHDAY.


NEW BOOK OFFERS JAMES MADISON'S MOST
PERCEPTIVE OBSERVATIONS ACROSS THE AGES 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 5 -- James Madison's words resound
across the centuries. The breadth and depth of his writing and its
relevance today are evident in "James Madison's 'Advice to My
Country,'" a ready reference to Madison's thoughts, including his most
perceptive observations on government and human nature. 
	Edited by historian David B. Mattern, associate professor and
associate editor of "The Papers of James Madison" at the University of
Virginia, the collection offers memorable quotes from the
approximately 6,000 known items the fourth President and chief
architect of the U.S. Constitution wrote, including speeches, essays
and letters.  It contains his views on a variety of social and
political issues, ranging from agriculture to free trade, from
religion and the state to legislative power, from friendship to
fashion, from slavery to unity.  Passages are cross-referenced to "The
Papers of James Madison" volumes for those who want to delve deeper
into Madison's views.
	Madison was a small, quiet man who has left an indelible mark
on our country.The U.S. Constitution bears the stamp of Madison's mind
more than of any other Founder.  In over 40 years of public service,
whether as legislator or executive, he "tried to persuade the
opposition, not with emotional flights of oratory, but with the
luminous light of reason and a realistic understanding of the nature
of man," writes Mattern. 
	Political life and government were the main topics that
Madison wrote about and reflected on for more than 60 years.  He
grappled with questions of human nature and politics that transcend
time. Americans look to Jefferson for inspiration, to Franklin for wit
and charm, and to Washington for unwavering courage, but the wisdom of
Madison is unmatched when it comes to questions of the structure and
workings of our government, Mattern notes.
	These samplings of Madison's writings, Mattern said,
"represent the breadth and depth of his intellect and express basic
thoughts, ideas that appeared again and again in his writings. They
provide inspiration, guidance and a window into the mind of one of our
greatest founders."  The book will be useful to journalists,
politicians, and policymakers, as well as academics, and will make
Madison more accessible to the general reader. 
	David Mattern is the principle editor of "The Papers of James
Madison," volume 17, and "The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of
State Series," volume 3, and the author of "Benjamin Lincoln and the
American Revolution."
###
March 4, 1997
	For more information or interviews about Madison, please
contact David Mattern at (804) 243-8844/924-3987.  Television
reporters should contact our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550. 



Excerpts From "James Madison's 'Advice To My Country'" 

RELIGION
Religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less
they are mixed together.

PUBLIC OPINION
Public opinion sets bounds to every Government, and is the real
sovereign in every free one.

COMMERCE
I own myself the friend to a very free system of commerce, and hold it
as a truth, that commercial shackles are generally unjust, oppressive
and impolitic--it is also a truth, that if industry and labour are
left to take their own course, they will generally be directed to
those objects which are the most productive, and this is a more
certain and direct manner than the wisdom of the most enlightened
legislature could point out. 

ORIGINAL INTENT
But whatever might have been the opinions entertained in forming the
Constitution, it was the duty of all to support it in its true meaning
as understood by the Nation at the time of its ratification. 

POWER
All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree. 

WAR AND EXECUTIVE POWER
The testimony of all ages forces us to admit, that war is among the
most dangerous of all enemies to liberty; and that the executive is
the most favored by it, of all the branches of power. 

FRIENDSHIP
»€city and It is the Counterfeit alone that needs Ornamentation
and ostentation. !õÀiness and si!ž°pFriendship like all Truth