Madison suffered a physical breakdown (may well have been mental as well) at Princeton because of overwork. Hard to imagine, given his bawdy diversions (though he never quite made it into the company of Washington’s stepson or even Alex or Aaron on this), but he became quite a nerd in his studies once exclusively in John Witherspoon’s care. Madison suffered from many illnesses, including colitis. Some of his ailments were also imaginary. He was convinced that he was going to die young. He pulled this stunt several times on his father, which might explain how he got along without ever even feigning a job. Somewhere along the line, he did undergo a loss or at least a dimunition of faith. I ascribe this to Jefferson’s influence. “Jemmy” did all the heavy lifting on the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom. Their correspondence on this is hilarious with Madison trying explain to his mentor both the substance (“Tom, you cannot eradicate something with feelings. We need a bill.”) Patrick Henry stood opposed to disestablishing the Anglican church. So, Jemmy figured out a way to get his opponent “kicked upstairs.” The legislature re-appointed Henry governor, creating a vacancy on the committee that had bottled up the bill. The shift in composition resulted in its passage. Henry probably thought the Almighty had intervened in his elevation. Whether Madison thought of religion enough to declare himself a Deist, I do not know. One Witherspooninan characteristic remained with him through life. He always wore (ministerial) black.

Never the Jeffersonian dandy sort. (Then again, he never made it to Paris.)