_Secretary of State_.
WASHINGTON, _July 9, 1836_.
Mrs. D.P. MADISON,
_Montpelier, Va_.
MADAM: It appearing to have been the intention of Congress to make me
the organ of assuring you of the profound respect entertained by both
its branches for your person and character, and of their sincere
condolence in the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, which has
at once deprived you of a beloved companion and your country of one
of its most valued citizens, I perform that duty by transmitting the
documents herewith inclosed.
No expression of my own sensibility at the loss sustained by yourself
and the nation could add to the consolation to be derived from these
high evidences of the public sympathy. Be assured, madam, that there is
not one of your countrymen who feels more poignantly the stroke which
has fallen upon you or who will cherish with a more endearing constancy
the memory of the virtues, the services, and the purity of the
illustrious man whose glorious and patriotic life has been just
terminated by a tranquil death.