June 3, 1811
I have recd. fellow Citizens your address, approving my Objection to the Bill containg a grant of public land, to the Baptist Church at Salem Meeting House Missippi Terry. Having always regarded the practical distinction between Religion & Civil Govt as essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constn: of the U.S. I could not have otherwise discharged my duty on the occasion which presented itself.
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President Madison's letter as quoted above is located in The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series, 3:323-324