The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-04-18
TEACHERS READING COURSE.
Conducted by MISS ADA ". WoAsdE, a1 haa' al
ai0h N C. TO whom all correspondence re-
SaSgdin1 the Course should be addressed
Thomas Jefferson ".

supplementary to the book IN the |
course. / shall attempt to give some
account of the life of Jefferson after
his retirement from the Presidency. |
In doing this, I shall quote largely.
Writing to his daughter, shortly
before his retirement, he said:
"The morning of life has been
crowded with loss after loss till L
have nothing left but you; to your
sister and yourself, Hook to render
the evening of life serene and
happy"
But when the aged statesman turn
ed his face toward the home which
he had looked forward to, only one
of his daughters was left to comfort
his declining years-Marla having
died in 1904.
"There was a strong theatrical
tinge in Jefferson's composition" we
are told. "When he retired from the
Presidency it was to pose during his
old age as the "Sage of Monticello"
the good and wise old man, the bene-
fatcor of his kind, the statesman
philosopher. He recognized that 1T
was proper, nay, incumbent, and
even inevitable, to assume this role;
he did it readily, without anxiety as
| to his perfect success in the part,
and it must be acknowledged that he
| played it to the end very well. He at
| first expected to be the hermit of
| Monticello:' but he soon found that
| he was of that class of hermits whose
| fame is so great among the nations
| that all the world focks to gaze at
them, so that retreat becomes series
of popular levees. The door of his
mansion, hospitable even beyond V1r-
ginian precedent, stood ever open.
and the stream of visitors passed
ceaselessly in and out. Relatives
came and brought their families,
fathers and mothers with broods of
children, and stayed for months ;
friends treated the generous roof
tree as their own; people CT distinc-
ton or good social position claimed
and received briefer entertainment
All this was pleasant, and the graft
fcation given by such visitors gen
orally more than offset the inconveni-
ences. But it was less agreeable to
have the imperfectly civilized people
at large behave as if Monticello were
the public domain where the ex-Presl-
dent was always on exhibition Pro
fessional tourists, idle gad-abouts
promiscuous sight-seers, thronged his
drives, lined his terraces, peeped al
him through the door. The inquisi
tive female who punches things with
her parasol came, of course; and she
poked out a pane of glass to get 6
better view of Mr.. Jefferson in hi;
room-the lion in his cage
"The ardent parent who points his
: instructive finger at things for the
: benefit of his little boy, and ther
Il holds up the little boy so that he
a may get better look, was there also
: and Mr.. Jefferson. sitting on hi:
I portico of an evening, was expected
!. to sit still and look cheerful while
little boys and instructive parent
were mentally taking his photo
graph"
But even worse is to follow.
Between his dining-room anC
study was the hallway, or passage
and strange ladies and gentlemen
would station themselves there t,
catch a glimpse of him as he wen
to dinner. Consulting their watche
from time to time as people do il
| connection with ccbodu1ac opJ n; -