The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-03-31
OUR RETIRED PRESIDENTS
HOW THEY SPENT THEIR LIVES AFTER RETIRING FROM OFFICE.
Heads of the NatiOn-some Play at Poll tics-An Active Business Life for Several We'll Earned Rest for Others, and Pow artx, for a Eaxu

As Mir. Cleveland was about to leave the White House in 1889, he was asked by a friend regarding his plans Tor the future. He replied that he was going to practice law, just as he would have done if he had not been president. Il think" he said, "the most appropriate thing a man can do after he has retired from public office is to take up his pri- vate business again, unless, of course, he Is too old"
 It is we'll remembered how industri- ously Grover Cleveland, the lawyer, held to his puropse, and with what un- ostentatious dignity he pursued his Vo- cation in New York as he had done years before in Buffalo, in the practice of his profession. His mental actiVl- ties and his natural energy impelled him to work as plain citizen Of the republic, and to take such part in the political movements around him as oc- casion offered.
 But now, after the turmoil of a sec ond eventful administration, MT CleVe- land appears to have less incentive to engage in active professional toll than he had eight years ago. Doubtless ne does not consider himself too old to take up his private business again. But the necessity for it is surely ab- sent MT. Cleveland has passed l. a.,;o, ,o, AaT If responsibility. Therefore, in retiring to Princeton, he Is but satisfying that worthy ambition which every man feels, to enjoy a well~earned rest. Am pie wealth makes 1t possible for him to indulge In the recreations and light employments of dignlfied leisure, and, like Washington at Mount Vernon. Cleveland seems to have sought out ideal retirement in which to pass the remaining years of his life.
 Benjamin Harrison followed MT Cleveland's example four years ago, by returning to his home in Indianapolis and entering once more upon the duties of his profession. He left the White House under the shadow of domestic misfortune, but neither that nor the fact that he was a retiring president made any difference with his resolute determination to engage in useful pursuits Since leaving Washington he has been particularly active as a lee turer as an advocate and as political orator.
 An opinion has prevailed at times I41. nifty of the nation that an ex-president should engage in professional work or | should be active as a politician. Con- sequently. 1t has been suggested that these high officials should either be pensioned by the government, so as to permit them to retire without financial! embarrassment, or that they should be made honorary members of the senate, in order that their experience and wis dom might be made permanently avail able to the ppblic interests. This feel ing may have been inspired by the opinions expressed by Washington, and by his example when he retired from the presidency. He refused to become a candidate for a third term. as he hc q declined to wear the crown, and he told his countrymen that it would be wise to limit the presidential term by custom, if not by constitutional provision. But the Father of his Country" had grown weary of carrying the burdens of public office, and he yearned for the comforts and relaxation of domestic | life. For thirty years he had been the :. been filled with the most eventful ex- periences, and he had been subjected to thrilling dangers on the field of bat | tie. as well as to the perils of suspi- cion and treachery in the administra- | tion of public affairs. He was literally | tired out, and as soon as his successor was inaugurated he returned to his home in Virginia, and prepared to take up the role of a quiet country gentle man on the banks of the Potomac. He lived but two years in the ideal retire ment which he had eagerly sought, but 1 it was a dignifed repose. such as well befitted the first president of the repub- | lie.
 John Adams was sixtysix years old | Wnen as t1e representa- tive or the Y eu eral party, he was defeated by Thomas Jefferson in the electoral college. He retired from the presidency under a cloud and lived for a quarter of a cen | tury afterward to see his political op- ponents dscredited by the people, when
 his son was elevated to the presidential office. On the same day that his sue cessor was inaugurated MT Adams l left Washington for his home in Quin-
 cy. Mass He entered his library and
 practically lived in it to the day of his
 death. Surrounded by his books and papers, he took the keenest interest in public affairs, and through volumi-
 nous correspondence with statesmen In
 Washington and elsewhere the elder Adams, as he was called, continued fo, many years to have a large influence upon the political destinies of the coun-
 try He died in the peaceful retreat tc
 which he retired July 4. 1926, and. by 8
 singular coincidence. Thomas Jefferson
 passed away on the same day in his
 home at Monticello.
 i At the close of his second presiden-
 tial term, Thomas Jefferson. like Wash. ington, declined election for the third
 time. and withdrew from public life tc
 his estate in Virginia. Though he hac been associate with the government | from ifs heeinnine and had been tWice