Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-11-11
From the New York Sun. !
Our Ex.PresidentS.
AN INTERESTING CHAPTER IN AMERICAN
HISTORY HOW OUR PRESIDENTS
LIVED AND DIED.

The death of ex-President Pierce and
the defeat of ex-President Johnson, natu.
rally direct attention to the conduct an
employments of our Presidents after their
retirement from office. Harrison, Taylor
and Lincoln died while in the White
House. Mr.. Fillmore and Mr.. johnson
are the only ex-Presidents now living-a
smaller number than at any other period
during the last forty years.
Washington retired to Mt. Vernon. For
the two years and nine m onths that he
enjoyed its rural delights, he was visited
by crowds of distinguished and curious
Americans and Europeans, while he de-
voted his leisure to the cultivation Of his
estate and to correspondence with his
friends. Though he took a lively interest
IN current events, he did not actively par
ticipate in public affairs after he left the
Presidency, except that in 1893, when
there was a prospect Of war with
France, Mr.. Adams appointed him Lieu
tenant General of the United States.
The elder Adams retired to Quincy,
where he died on the 4th of July, 1896
The twenty-five years Of his life after he
had ceased to be President were mainly
spent in literary pursuits, diversified by
correspondence with distinguished char
acters, and especially with his venerable
rival, Jefferson He emerged from his
calm retreat in 1920, then eighty-six years
of age, to take his seat in convention for
revising the constitution Of Massachu-
sets On his deathbed, awakened from
a lethargic sleep by the poaling of bells,
he inquired into the cause, aud wds told
that it was the anniversary Of the Deolara-
ton of Independence. Lifting his aged
head, be said, "Thsnk God, Jefferson
still lives"
When Jefferson vacated Tie Presidency,
though be sought reposc ut his favorite
Mon icello, he too celebrated a per-
sonage 20 remain in obscurity He took
m active interest in passing occurrences,
and during the seventeen years OF his re-
tirement. his mansion Was throused with
admirers from every part OF the world.
he established he University OF Viz
gini4, watched over its progress with
generous solicitude, aud was for some
time its rector. IL expired Gu the 4th OF
July, 1926, within u few hours OF the
demise of his whil,ln antagonist AdaI rs
The death Of these two famous men ON
the anniversary Of our national indcpend-
ence gave occasion for one of Wobster's
greatest orations.
Madison withdrew from the cares OF
office to the shades of his picturesque
Montpelier. He there gave valuable
counsel to the great party which he had
aided in building up, engaged actively in
the cultivation of the soil, was president
Of the. agricultural society of his native
county, was an officer of the American
Colonization Society, a visitor and rector
of the University of Virginia, and a
member of the Convention of 1929 for
the revision Of the Constitution Of that
State.
When Monroe laid aside his Presiden-
tial duties, he went to live among the
charming scenes of Oak Hill, Va. At the
solicitation of his neighbors, he subse-
quently accepted the office of Justice Of
the Peace, and as such, sat in the County
Court. Elected to the Constitutional
Convention Of 1929, of which Madison
was a member, he presided over that body.
Unlike all of his predecessors, Monroe
found himself in straitened pecuniary
circumstances, and thereupon removed to
the city of New York to enjoy the hospi-
talities of his wealthy son-in-law, Samuel
l.. Gouverneur, then postmaster of this
city, where he died on the 4th of July,
1861, being the third President of revolu-
tionary fame who had expired on that
great anniversary.
John Quincy Adams left the Executive
Masion on the 4th of March, 1929, and
repaired to the old family seat at Quincy
Never out of Office for an hour during
the previous third of a century, and of an
active and aspiring temperament, he did
not take kindly to the quietude OF private
life. He fret ran us the anti-Masonic
candidate for Governor of Massachusetts.
and his fellow citizens of the old colony
district then sent him as their representa-
tive to. Congress, where he remained from
December, 1881, to February, 1913. These
seventeen years were the great epoch of
his remarkable public career. Here he
fought those battles for the right Of petit
ton and the freedom, Of debate, and
against the aggressions of the slave power,
which carried his name and fame to re-
hottest corners of the earth. After play
ing . distinguished psrt a. the most