1From James Madison to Robert C. Jones, James M. Jeffries, and James P. Henderson, [Post-17 December 1827] (Madison Papers)
Your letter of the 17. has been duly recd. My respect for every Institution having in view the culture of the Mind, & for the kind motives of the Society you represent, does not permit to decline the honorary membership conferred on me, however sensible I may be that it cannot be due to any anticipated advantage from it. The Society, I doubt not will, best devise an appropriate motto. In...