Mr. Jefferson withdrew his services as
Secretary of State from the administration of Washington towards the
close of his first term in the Presidency. His retirement from that
post took place when party spirit was violent and bitter in the extreme;
never was it more so in the annals of our country; and it was known that
he had differed from Washington on political questions of the greatest
importance. Nevertheless, writing of him at a later period Mr. Jefferson
says: "His integrity was most pure; his justice the most inflexible I
have ever known; no motives of interest or consanguinity, of friendship
or hatred, being able to bias his decision. He was, indeed, in every
sense of the word, a wise, a good, and a great man."
I return to his letters to Mr. Lear. In superintending his domestic
affairs, these letters exhibit him as the head of a well-ordered family,
himself the regulator of it all under maxims that best conduce to order
because not too rigid. We see that he was truly hospitable; kind;
devoted to his kindred whom he gathers around him, interesting himself
in their education and welfare; cheering them with a welcome at Mount
Vernon, and soothing them in sickness and sorrow. The kindred of Mrs.
Washington alike share his solicitudes, paternal care, and constant
kindness. All this is discernible from the facts that drop out in these
letters. They point to a heart affectionately alive to the best social
and family feelings.
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