[30]
He was above the pursuit of wealth, but also above dependence and
idleness, and, like an old Roman of the elder Cato's time, worked in the
fields at the head of his slaves in the intervals of public duty, and
did not cease this labor until advancing age rendered him unable to
stand the hot sun of summer.... I think it was the summer of 1817,--that
was the last time (he told me) he tried it, and found the sun too hot
for him,--then sixty years of age, a senator, and the refuser of all
office. How often I think of him, when I see at Washington robustious
men going through a scene of supplication, tribulation, and degradation,
to obtain office, which the salvation of the soul does not impose upon
the vilest sinner! His fields, his flocks, and his herds, yielded an
ample supply of domestic productions. A small crop of tobacco--three
hogsheads when the season was good, two when bad--purchased the exotics
which comfort and necessity required, and which the farm did not
produce. He was not rich, but rich enough to dispense hospitality and
charity, to receive all guests in his house, from the president to the
day laborer--no other title being necessary to enter his house but that
of an honest man;... and above all, he was rich enough to pay as he
went, and never to owe a dollar to any man.
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