Page:Life And Letters Of Thomas Jefferson -- Hirst (IA in.ernet.dli.2015.89541).pdf/500



is not always seen at his best when the time comes for him to relinquish high office. But Jefferson handed over the reins of government to James Madison with something more than the composure of a philosopher; for like Wordsworth's Happy Warrior, 'conspicuous object in a nation's eye,' he was

It was in this spirit that he wrote just before leaving Washington to his friend Dupont de Nemours in Paris:

"Within a few days I retire to my family, my books, and farms; and having gained the harbour myself I shall look on my friends still buffeting the storm, with anxiety in-