Adams to that office in 1797, he was chosen
vice-president. While presiding in this capacity over the deliberations
of the senate, he compiled and published a Manual of Parliamentary
Practice, a work of more labor and more merit than is indicated by its
size. It is now received as the general standard by which proceedings
are regulated; not only in both houses of congress, but in most of
the other legislative bodies in the country. In 1801 he was elected
president, in opposition to Mr. Adams, and re-elected in 1805, by a vote
approaching toward unanimity.
From the time of his final retirement from public life, in 1809,
Mr. Jefferson lived as became a wise man. Surrounded by affectionate
friends, his ardor in the pursuit of knowledge undiminished, with
uncommon health and unbroken spirits, he was able to enjoy largely the
rational pleasures of life, and to partake in that public prosperity
which he had so much contributed to produce. His kindness and
hospitality, the charm of his conversation, the ease of his manners,
the extent of his acquirements, and, especially, the full store of
revolutionary incidents which he possessed, and which he knew when and
how to dispense, rendered his abode in a high degree attractive to his
admiring countrymen, while his high public and scientific character drew
toward him every intelligent and educated traveler from abroad.
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