The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-08-30
Vol XVI Ashland Ohio Wednesday Morning. August

ferson by the Republicans. AS til
t Constitution then stood the person re
1 ceiving the highest number of vote
4 became President, and the one havin
the next highest Vice President. In
, letter to Madison, Jefferson wrote =
, "There is nothing so anxiously hop
Z as that my name may come out eithe
I second or third. These would be in
different to me, as the last would leav
, me home the whole year, and th'
otEer two-thirds of it. When tn
result was known Jefferson wrote /,
, warm letter to Adams.
The four years of bis life as Vic
. President were among the happiest O.
. his career. OF his election and sub
sequcnt proceedings as President, be
, ing matters of history, nothing need
be said. One thing he resolved on
and that was to appoint no relative to
office.
To q kinsman he wrote on this sub
ject:
i "The public will never be made to
believe that an appointment of rela-
tive is made on the ground of merit
alone, uninfuenced by family views
nor can they ever see with appreciation
offices, the disposal of which they in
trust to their President for public
purposes, divided out as family prop
erty. 1t is true that this places the
relation Of President in a worse situ-
alton than if he were stranger; but
the public good, which can not be
effected if its confidence be lost, re-
quires this sacrifice" -.
PRESIDENT.
AS President he did away with
much of the form alities which had
been observed by Washington and
Adams. Instead Of opening Congress
in person by delivering an address he
sent in written message. He did
away with formal levees, the only days
on which his doors were thrown open
to the public being on New Y ears day
and the Fourth of July, although he
at all times received private calls,
whether of courtesy or business
Some of the ladies of the capital were
vexed at the abolition of levecs, and
they resolved to force him to continue
them. Upon the usual levee day they
resorted in full force to the White
House. Jefferson was out taking his
! usual horseback ride. Upon his re-
turn, being informed that the public
rooms were filled with ladies in full
dress, he went there; booted and
spurred and covered with dust: He
welcomed his visitors with the utmost
courtesy, just as though they had
happened to come at the same time by
chance. The experiment was never
repeated.
Jefferson had in mind to retire from
the Presidency at the close of his first
term, but his friends insisted upon re-
nominating him, and, besides their
urgency he had some other reasons for
acceding. In July, 1904, he wrote:
81 should have retired at the end Of
the first four years, but that the i'm
mense load of Tory calumnies, which
have been manufactured respecting
me. and have filled the European
market have obliged me to appeal
once more to my country for justifica-
ton. 1 have no fear but that 1 shall
receive honorable testimony by their
verdict on those calumnies. At the
end of the next four years 1 shall GER
tainly retire. Age, inclination and
principle all dictate this"
Jefferson, with his 10000 acres of
land, and one hundred and fifty slaves,
was supposed to be rich, but the state
of the country during the war of
1912 was ruinous to the Southern
planter. So many considered it their
duty to pay their respects TO Jefferson
that the expenses of his household were
enormous. The last fifteen years of
his life were spent i'll i struggle against
pecuniarY ruin.
MEETING WITH LAFAYETTE.
In 1924 Lafayette visited America,
after an absence of more than forty |
years. At Jefferson's urgent request
he visited him at Monticello. Their
meeting is thus described by an eye
witness:
"rhe lawn on the eastern side of
the house at Monticello contains not
quite an acre. On this spot was the
meeting of Jefferson and Lafayette on
the latter's visit to the United States.
The barouche containing Lafayette
stopped at the edge of this lawn. His
escort - one hundred and twenty
mounted men-formed ON one side in
a semicircle extending from the car
riage to the house. A crowd of about
two hundred men, who were drawn
together by curiosity to witness the
meeting of those two venerable men,
formed themselves in n semicircle on
The opposite side. AS Lafayette de-
scended from the carriage Jefferson
descended the steps of the portico.-
The scene that followed was touching.
Jefferson was feeble and tottering with
age Lafayette permanently lamed
and broken in health by his long con-
finement in the dungeon of Olmutz.
As they approached each other their
gait quickened itself into s
shuffiing run, and exclaiming, "Ah, ,
Jefferson 'Ah, Lafayette J" they 8
burst into tears as they fell into each {
,ther's arms. Among the four hun
lrcd men witnessing the scene there
vas not dry eye-no sound save an F,
occasional sob. The two old men en- {
cred the house as the crowd dispersed $
n profound silence G
DECLINING HEALTH. L
Early in the spring of 1926 the a
lealth of Jefferson began to fail. He l
old his grandson that he thought he t
night last till midsummer. From o
hat time the decline went on, o
lowly but surely. until the 9th of 2