1From James Madison to Octavius Fairfax, 19 September 1827 (Madison Papers)
I have recd your letter of the 15th. I feel in common with all who were acquainted with your Father the sincerest respect for the public & private virtues which adorned his character. I find myself precluded nevertheless from the particular mark of it which you request, by the number of like applications, and the general rule they have constrained me to adopt, of declining the desired...