Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/46

26 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS their term of office is over, come back to their homes and ordinary pursuits without any impairment of their dignity or their self-respect. In his retire ment from the labors of his official station Gen. Harrison realized the truth of what he said in a speech on the day of his nomination in 1888: "Kings sometimes bestow decorations upon those whom they desire to honor, but that man is most highly decorated who has the affectionate regard of his neighbors and friends." This he had in full measure. Judged by the standards of a few un principled and disappointed politicians who ex pected to thrive on the use and abuse of public patronage, Gen. Harrison was a cold-blooded man, But it is possible that such men are not as well qual ified to judge of the temperature of a man s blood as his friends and intimates who have seen him in all the vicissitudes of his daily life, ministering with sympathy and self-sacrifice to relatives and friends who, overtaken by some great calamity, have found his heart as tender as a child s. The country takes little note of the petulant criticisms of its public servants, but it will hold at their true worth the great and useful virtues of ability, wisdom, in tegrity, courage, and patriotism whenever they are exhibited by men in high official station. In April, 1896, the ex-president married Mrs. Mary Scott Lord Dimmock, and three years later he appeared as counsel in the Anglo- Venezuelan