But he had done his best, and if his scheme had failed, the failure was not an ignoble one. He was still the most beloved, as well as the best hated man in the United States; and he could have had a third term, if he would have taken it. He retired, permanently, as it proved, to Monticello, wearied and harassed, but glad to be back on his farm, in the bosom of his family, and among his neighbors. His fellow-citizens of Albemarle County desired to meet the returning President, and escort him to his home; but Mr. Jefferson, characteristically, avoided this demonstration, and received instead an address, to which he made a reply that closed in a fit and pathetic manner his public career. “... The part which I have acted on the theatre of public life has been before them [his countrymen], and to their sentence I submit it; but the testimony of my native county, of the individuals who have known me in private life, to my conduct in its various duties and relations, is the more grateful as proceeding from eyewitnesses and observers, from triers of the vicinage. Of you, then, my neighbors, I may ask in the face of the world, ‘whose ox have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or of whose hand have I received a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith?’ On your verdict I rest with conscious security.” XII A PUBLIC MAN IN PRIVATE LIFE Jefferson’s second term as President ended March 4, 1809, and during the rest of his life he lived at Monticello, with occasional visits to his more retired estate at Poplar Forest, and to the homes of his friends, but never going beyond the confines of Virginia. Just before leaving Washington, he had written: “Never did a prisoner released from his chains feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions.” Though no longer in office, Jefferson remained till his death the chief personage in the United States, and his authority continued to be almost supreme among the leaders as well as among the rank and file of the Republican party. Madison first, and Monroe afterward, consulted him in all the most important matters which arose during the sixteen years of their double terms as President. Long and frequent letters passed between them; and both Madison and Monroe often visited Jefferson at Monticello.