work in its behalf until he saw it firmly established, and in fact it became a constant object of his care and solicitude until the end of his life. He was one of its first trustees, and after Mr. Jefferson, became its rector.

In a letter to Mr. Jefferson in June, 1823, Mr. Madison discussed at some length the question as to the part he took in the farewell address of General Washington, and was always under the impression that he was more instrumental in its preparation than he really was, although his draft, prepared toward the close of Washington's first term, was, to some extent, the foundation of the final and much more extensive address given to the people.

About this time, strangely enough, Mr. Madison began to entertain an opinion favorable to a war alliance with England, as did President Monroe, and the leaders of the dominant party, the bitter opponents of a semblance or ghost of such an idea years before. On this subject Mr. Madison wrote with plainness to both Jefferson and Mr. Monroe.

In the spring of 1829, Mr. Madison was urged to stand for election as a delegate to the State convention to be held in the fall at Richmond for revising the constitution. He was elected, and took his seat in the convention. The chairmanship was offered to him, but this he declined from failing strength and deference to the feelings of young, aspiring men. The chairmanship was then offered to Mr. Monroe, who accepted it, but was compelled from want of health and strength, to transfer it to another.

These old men took little part in the work of the convention, but their presence was supposed to be worth something. Mr. Madison's last public speech

was delivered in this body, and the circumstances surrounding it exhibited the great respect attached to his opinions and character.

On the first day of February, 1830, he wrote to General Lafayette :

"The convention was composed of the élite of the community, and exhibited great talents in the discussions belonging to the subject. Mr. Monroe, and still more, myself, were too mindful of the years over our heads to take any active part in them. The same consideration was felt by Mr. Marshall. I may add that each of us was somewhat fettered by the known, and in some important instances, by the expressed, will of our immediate constituents."

This extensive political ingredient, the will of the constituents, had on former occasions been felt by Mr. Madison. But it was a ridiculous thing for these three old men of Virginia, who had to be mindful of the years hanging over them, to be reined in by their "constituents!" Then, to hear one of the most persistent of all the Democratic politicians talk of the élite! But Mr. Madison was no exception to the general rule. Like Jefferson, Marshall, Burr, Knox, the Morrises, Washington, the Adamses, and most of the rest, not excepting Andrew Jackson, down to the present day, Mr. Madison was an aristocrat. Although this defect in republican character, and libel on its pretensions, has displayed itself in several forms, it has been seen, perhaps, in the greatest prominence among the extremest leaders of the Democracy, in an inordinate affection for titles, and the possession of baronial estates, and a kind of boisterous and rude pompousness.

In actual life, Mr. Madison was, to all appearances, one of the most unassuming, modest, and unobjection

able men, and it was hardly in keeping with his practice, heart, or good sense, to hear him chuckle over being one of the élite. Mr. Madison belonged to Mr. Jefferson's especial order of the élite, the aristocracy of learning and genuine culture, the least objectionable of all the varieties, because its leading ingredient was designed to be that good sense which studies to give no offense by its own accomplishments and preferences, and to conceal all external signs of its existence other than in frank manners and unpretentious intelligence.

CHAPTER XXXII.

DEATH AT MONTPELLIER-MR. MADISON'S RELIGION.

ON

N the 28th of June, 1836, Mr. Madison died. For six months before this event he was unable to walk, and spent most of his time reclining on a couch. On the last day he could not swallow food, and complained of a "change of mind." "change of mind." A few minutes after making this statement he died without indication of pain. His intellect remained unclouded to the last.

Shortly after his birth the Gregorian calendar was adopted, which would take eleven days from Mr. Madison's age, as commonly computed. He was born March 5, 1751, which would have made him eightyfive years, three months, and twenty-three days old, new style.

Virginia made every possible demonstration of respect for his memory, interring his remains with unusual ceremony in the little burial spot on the Montpellier estate. At Washington and throughout the nation, similar respect was paid to his memory. In Congress and in various parts of the country eulogiums were pronounced on his works and character.

The most notable and historic of all of these was prepared and delivered before Congress by John Quincy Adams, by request of that body. The city of Boston had five years previously requested Mr. Adams to deliver an oration on the life and public

services of James Monroe. The "Old Man Eloquent" right nobly performed both of these tasks. These two orations were published in book form in 1850, and a clear account of the Administrations of Madison and Monroe appended, making the only histories of these early Presidents, extant up to the present time.

In the address on the life of Mr. Madison, in the following wonderfully extravagant language Mr. Adams fixes the social and political status of the departed President in this world, and quite decisively disposes of the need of any question as to his character on entering the other world, as well as the degree and place of his residence there:

"In the midst of these occupations the declining days of the Philosopher, the Statesman, and the Patriot were passed, until the 28th day of June last, the anniversary of the day on which the ratification of the Convention of Virginia, in 1788, had affixed the seal of James Madison as the Father of the Constitution of the United States, when his earthly part sunk without a struggle into the grave, and a spirit bright as the seraphim that surround the throne of Omnipotence ascended to the bosom of his God.”

It is difficult to repress the thought that this eulogy partakes of the snap of the paid funeral sermon.

But

it must be attributed to the momentary enthusiasm of the man who was generally deemed frigid and without the fire of warm friendship. Mr. Madison was not a religious man, was not a heavenly minded man, and the claim made by Mr. Adams was much more than he could or would have made for himself.

The following account of the burial place of Mr. Madison's remains, sufficiently accurate, is taken from the "New York World:"

"The region,' said a writer describing the home of James Madison, Montpellier, four miles from Orange, Va., 'is one where