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Rh when in very reduced circumstances, he obtained an offer of 1,000l. for the advowson, and at once tried to induce Thomas Haweis [q. v.] to resign, declaring that he had been presented with some such reservation. Haweis, fortified by Madan's advice, refused to do so. An acrimonious attack was, in consequence, made on Madan, and accusations of simony, methodist principles, and misrepresentation were freely bandied about. In the end Lady Huntingdon herself purchased the advowson from Kimpton for 1,000l. on 8 March 1768, and Haweis continued vicar. A qualified apology, which Lady Huntingdon wished Madan to make, was rejected by the latter, and not insisted on, and that his conduct in this matter did not forfeit the confidence of his friends may be gathered from the action of Lord Apsley, afterwards Lord Bathurst [q. v.], in appointing him soon after his domestic chaplain, but Lady Huntingdon and others certainly considered that he held to a narrow and legal view of the circumstances, in opposition to considerations of equity.

In 1780 Madan published a work entitled ‘Thelyphthora,’ in which he advocated polygamy, taking his stand on the Mosaic law, and elaborately arguing that it is in accordance with Christianity, properly understood. These principles, it may be noted, are said to have been previously held by Lord-chancellor Cowper, Madan's great-uncle, and by Westley Hall [q. v.], brother-in-law of John Wesley. Even before the appearance of the book Lady Huntingdon expressed to the author her readiness to send him a petition against it signed by three thousand persons, and when it was actually published it raised a storm of indignation, criticism, and opposition. Madan consequently resigned his chaplaincy of the Lock Hospital, and retired into private life at Epsom. He occupied his leisure in translating Juvenal and Persius, and other literary and theological work, and on 2 May 1790 died at Epsom, at the age of sixty-four, and was buried at Kensington.

In 1751 Madan married Jane (d. 15 June 1794 at Epsom), daughter of Sir Bernard Hale [q. v.], by whom he had two sons, Martin, of Bushey, Hertfordshire (d. 1809), and William (d. 1769), and three daughters, Sarah, Anna, and Maria. He was possessed of private means, and, after his father's death in 1756, of a considerable fortune. Activity, zeal, gentleness of temper, love of study, always distinguished him, and the directness and earnestness of his sermons, rather than rhetorical display, attracted the crowds who thronged the rooms of the hospital. The obloquy heaped on him in 1767 and 1780 did not sour his mind, but diverted it to quieter pursuits. No impartial reader of the two controversies can fail to acquit him of the charges of insincerity and of self-seeking.

The following is believed to be a complete list of his publications, anonymous books being distinguished by an asterisk: 1. *‘Seasonable Animadversions upon the Rev. Mr. Forster's Sermon (on John iii. 7). By a Member of the Church of England,’ London, 1759. 2. ‘A Collection of Psalms and Hymns extracted … and published by the Reverend Mr. Madan,’ London, 1760 (2nd edit. 1763, 4th 1765, 5th 1767, 6th 1769, 7th 1771, 8th 1774, 11th 1788, 12th 1787 (sic), 13th 1794). 3. ‘Justification by Works … a Sermon on James ii. 24, at St. Vedast's, Foster Lane, 8 Feb. 1761,’ London, 1761 (an Oxford University sermon on James ii. 14, by John Allen, preached and printed in 1761, contains strictures on the above sermon). 4. ‘A Treatise on Christian Faith, by H. Wits, translated by the Rev. Mr. Madan,’ London, 1761. 5. ‘Every Man our Neighbour, a Sermon on Luke x. 29, at the Opening of the Chapel of the Lock Hospital, 28 March 1762,’ London (1762). 6. ‘A Funeral Sermon on the Death of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Jones, by the Reverend Mr. Madan,’ London (1762). 7. ‘An Answer to the Capital Errors in the Writings of the Rev. William Law,’ London, 1763. 8. *‘A Scriptural Account of the Doctrine of Perfection, by a Professor of Christianity,’ London, 1763. 9. ‘An Account of the Death of F. S., a Converted Prostitute,’ London, reprinted at Boston in 1763. 10. ‘Justification in Christ's Name, by Bishop Andrewes, republished by Mr. Madan,’ London, 1765. 11. ‘An Answer to a Faithful Narrative of Facts relative to the late Presentation of Mr. H——s to the Rectory of Al—w—le,’ London, 1767 [occasioned by John Kimpton's ‘Faithful Narrative,’ 1767, and followed by *‘Strictures upon Modern Simony,’ 1767; *‘Remarks on the Answer by a Bystander,’ 1767; *‘Aldwinckle. A Candid Examination,’ 1767; ‘A Letter to the Rev. Mr. Madan, by M. Fleetwood,’ 1767; ‘An Exact Copy of an Epistolary Correspondence between the Rev. Mr. M—and S—B—(Brewer),’ 1768; ‘A Supplement, or the Second Part of an Epistolary Correspondence,’ 1768]. 12. ‘A Compassionate Address to the Christian World … for the use of the Lock Hospital,’ London, 1767. 13. *‘Elegy occasioned by the Loss of my sweet William’ (his son, d. 1769). 14. ‘A Conversation between Richard Hill, Mr. Madan, and Father Walsh … relative to … John Wesley,’ London, 1771, 1772. 15. ‘A Scriptural Comment on the Thirty-nine Articles,’ London, 1772