8437. THIRD TERM, Physical decline and.—
My determination to retire is the result
of mature reflections, and on various considerations.
Not the least weighty of these
is that a consciousness that a decline of physical
faculties cannot leave those mental en
tirely unimpaired; and it will be happy for
me if I am the first who shall become sensible
of it. As to a successor, there never will be
a time when it will not produce some difficulty,
and never less, I believe, than at present.
That some of the federalists should prefer
my continuance to the uncertainty of a
successor, I can readily believe. There are
among them men of candor, who do not join
in the clamor and condemnation of everything,
nor pretend that even chance never
throws us on a right measure. There are
some who know me personally, and who give
a credit to my intentions, which they deny
to my understanding; some who may fear a
successor, preferring a military glory of a
nation to the prosperity and happiness of its
individuals. But to the mass of that political
sect, it is not the less true, the 4th of
March, 1809, will be a day of jubilee, but it
will be a day of greater joy to me. I never
did them an act of injustice, nor failed in
any duty to them imposed by my office.—
To William Short.
Ford ed., ix, 50.
(W.
May. 1807)
