IhavetoacknolegethereceiptofyourtwofavorsofMay27&
29，sincethedateofmylastwhichwasofthe2inst。Inthatofthe27thyousay`youmustnotmakeyourfinalexitfrompubliclifetillitwillbemarkedwithjustifyingcircumstanceswhichallgoodcitizenswillrespect，&towhichyourfriendscanappeal。’——Tomyfellow-citizensthedebtofservicehasbeenfully&faithfullypaid。
Iacknolegethatsuchadebtexists，thatatourofduty，inwhateverlinehecanbemostusefultohiscountry，isduefromeveryindividual。Itisnoteasyperhapstosayofwhatlengthexactlythistourshouldbe，butwemaysafelysayofwhatlengthitshouldnotbe。Notofourwholelife，forinstance，forthatwouldbetobebornaslave——notevenofaverylargeportionofit。Ihavenowbeeninthepublicservicefour&twentyyears；onehalfofwhichhasbeenspentintotaloccupationwiththeiraffairs，&absencefrommyown。Ihaveservedmytourthen。Nopositiveengagement，bywordordeed，bindsmetotheirfurtherservice。NocommitmentoftheirinterestsinanyenterprisebymerequiresthatIshouldseethemthroughit——IampledgedbynoactwhichgivesanytribunalacalluponmebeforeIwithdraw。Evenmyenemiesdonotpretendthis。I
standclearthenofpublicrightonallpoints——MyfriendsIhavenotcommitted。Nocircumstanceshaveattendedmypassagefromofficetooffice，whichcouldleadthem，&othersthroughthem，intodeceptionastothetimeImightremain；&particularlythey&allhaveknownwithwhatreluctanceIengaged&havecontinuedinthepresentone，&ofmyuniformdeterminationtoretirefromitatanearlyday——Ifthepublicthenhasnoclaimonme，&myfriendsnothingtojustify；thedecisionwillrestonmyownfeelingsalone。
Therehasbeenatimewhenthesewereverydifferentfromwhattheyarenow：whenperhapstheesteemoftheworldwasofhighervalueinmyeyethaneverythinginit。Butage，experience&reflection，preservingtothatonlyit’sduevalue，havesetahigherontranquility。Themotionofmybloodnolongerkeepstimewiththetumultoftheworld。Itleadsmetoseekforhappinessinthelapandloveofmyfamily，inthesocietyofmyneighbors&mybooks，inthewholesomeoccupationsofmyfarm&myaffairs，inaninterestoraffectionineverybudthatopens，ineverybreaththatblowsaroundme，inanentirefreedomofrestormotion，ofthoughtorincogitancy，owingaccounttomyselfaloneofmyhours&actions。