5497. MONROE (James), Selection of a home.—
On my return from the South of
France, I shall send you * * * a plan of
your house. I wish to heaven you may continue
in the disposition to fix it in Albemarle.
Short will establish himself there, and perhaps
Madison may be tempted to do so. This will be
society enough, and it will be the great sweetener
of our lives. Without society, and a society
to our taste, men are never contented.
The one here supposed, we can regulate to our
minds, and we may extend our regulations to
the sumptuary department so as to set a good
example to a country which needs it, and to
preserve our own happiness clear of embarrassment.
* * * I am in hopes that Mrs. Monroe
will have, in her domestic cares, occupation
and pleasure sufficient to fill her time and insure
her against the
tedium vitæ; that she
will find that the distractions of a town and the
waste of life under these can bear no comparison
with the tranquil happiness of domestic
life. If her own experience has not yet taught
her this truth, she has in its favor the testimony
of one who has gone through the various
scenes of business, of bustle, of office, of rambling
and of quiet retirement and who can assure
her that the latter is the one point upon
which the mind can settle at rest. Though
not clear of inquietudes, because no earthly
situation is so, they are fewer in number and
mixed with more objects of contentment than
in any other mode of life.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. ii, 71.
(P.
1786)
