This letter is telling to me, because it shows Madison clearly demonstrating the same kind of disdain for the state governments that Hamilton displayed. Washington got his advice from these two men, but his inclinations put him in the centralizing camp anyway.
What's hard to understand is why Madison became a Jeffersonian after having been one of the most important Federalists ever. Strange. But then, he flip-flopped on a lot of things e.g., standing army, national bank.
As for me, I think the whole project of consolidating the union into one republic was the seed of our downfall. Anyone who cared about state sovereignty at the time opposed ratification.
When I start to see what appear to be conflicting statements from the same source, I usually consider the possibility that I may be taking one or the other in the wrong context.