the manfesto of the nation, and who had, like him, been by the free suffrages of his countrymen, rewarded with the highest office in their gift. While the news ran through one half the United States that the author of the Declaration of Independence had died on the 4th of July, the other received the intelligence that Mr. Adams, one of the committee which reported it, had died on the same day; and if these facts, singly, excited the liveliest interest, that interest increased to wonder and astonishment when the death of both was made known. The veneration and respect which their revolutionary services, the high stations they had occupied, and their public virtues would at any time have excited, was also greatly heightened by these strange coincidences, which, so much out of the range of probability, seemed to indicate the immediate agency of Heaven. Public meetings were immediately called in all the cities to do honour to their memories, and some of the most accomplished orators and writers of the nation,* were called upon to deliver public addresses on the occasion. The collisions of one portion of their life were forgotten, party strife for a moment was suspended, and men looked upon them only as bold and enlightened patriots, who saw the interests and the glory of their country sometimes in different aspects, sometimes the same, but who honestly and ardently devoted themselves, body and mind, to the furtherance of those interests and the advancement of that glory. Mr. Jefferson's funeral was modest and unpretending, as he had directed. It took place on the afternoon of the 5th. The day was rainy, and many from distant parts of the country, who might have been disposed to pay this last tri * Among them we may mention Mr. Webster and Mr. Everett, of Massachusetts, Mr. Sprague of Maine, Mr. Biddle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wirt of Maryland, Mr. Samuel Harrison Smith of Washington, and Mr. Tyler of Virginia. bute of respect, were thereby prevented. The number, however, who did attend, was considerable. His body was deposited in a small burying place on the side of the mountain, near the road which winds round it to Monticello. It has a slight inclosure, and is surrounded by the native wood. In it lie the remains of other members of the family, some two or three of whom have tablets of marble. On his own grave his executor has erected a granite obelisk, eight feet high, and on a piece of marble inserted on its southern face are inscribed the three acts for which he thought he best deserved to be remembered by posterity. This inscription was found among his papers after his death, in his own hand-writing, and is in these words: HERE LIES BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. 556 CHAPTER XXII. Failure of the Lottery. Liberality of South Carolina and Louisiana. Mr. Jefferson's will-property and debts. His descendants. His character. 1826. THE subscription, which had been begun with so much liberality in New York, cheered the last moments of Mr. Jefferson's existence, not merely as promising relief for his difficulties without compelling him to part with his home, which he had been sixty years in improving and embellishing, but as indicating the kindly sentiments felt for him by his fellow-citizens, even in distant parts of the Union. He happily did not live to see, as he certainly would have seen, that this gleam of sunshine was as transient as it was cheering. Even before his death there were strong symptoms that this mode of relieving his estate would not prove effectual, and after his death the fountain seemed to be dried up altogether. The lottery was then relied on, and the executor, not able to make sale of the whole scheme to some who would at first have purchased it, in consequence of certain prohibitory laws passed in the interval, attempted himself to dispose of the tickets through agents. But as the scheme held out smaller chances of profit than other lotteries, its prizes being land valued at a high price instead of money, no tickets were purchased except by those who felt anxious to befriend the family. A small proportion of the whole number being thus sold, this plan of relief was also abandoned, and the executor was fain to resort to his only reliance, the lands, slaves, and other property of his testator. The whole was accordingly offered for sale in the succeeding January. All his personal estate, both at Monticello and Poplar Forest, except the slaves who were set free by his will, was accordingly sold at auction, and all his real estate,* except a part of the lands of Poplar Forest. But it is understood that the property sold and unsold will be not more than sufficient to pay his debts. In his will he devised all his property to his daughter, Mrs. Randolph, after the payment of his debts, saving two or three specific legacies. The slaves, who had attended on him in person, or had extraordinary merit, he emancipated. He left to his grandson and executor all his papers, and to the University all his books and maps, except those of which it already had copies, and his marble bust by Ceracchi. The books thus excepted, he directed to be divided between Joseph Coolidge, Jr. of Boston, and Nicholas P. Trist, now consul at Cuba. These gentlemen had married two of his granddaughters. The last bequest never took effect. His books, amounting to about one thousand volumes, were sold at auction in Washington, and his marble bust was purchased by Congress. One cause of the lukewarmness or indifference, first shewn by the public to aid in relieving the family, was its incredulity as to the amount of his debts, and its belief that his property, which was known to be large, would, after their discharge, afford an ample provision for his daughter. As soon, however, as it was ascertained, that his whole estate *Monticello, which is inseparably connected with the name of Thomas Jefferson, has twice changed hands since his death. The mansion and two hundred acres of the original tract are now the property of Lieutenant Levy of the navy. See Appendix, F. would be absorbed in the payment of his debts, strong symptoms of public sympathy were manifested throughout the Union; but in two states, to their lasting honour, it alone produced solid fruits. The legislatures of South Carolina and Louisiana, unwilling that the only daughter of one who had been so signal a public benefactor, should be consigned to indigence, generously bestowed on that daughter 10,000 dollars each, in six per cent. stocks, created for the purpose; and, as they were redeemable at distant days, they were sold for a price considerably above par, and thus secured her against want, by the sum of about 24,000 dollars. The descendants of Mr. Jefferson, living at his death, were: I. One daughter-Martha Wayles Randolph, widow of the late Governor Randolph. II. Eleven grandchildren, to wit: 1. Thomas Jefferson Randolph. 2. Ellen Coolidge, wife of Joseph Coolidge of Boston. 3. Virginia Trist, wife of Nicholas P. Trist, consul at Havanna. 4. Cornelia Randolph. 5. Mary Randolph. 6. James Madison Randolph, since deceased. 7. Benjamin Franklin Randolph, a physician in Albemarle. 8. Meriwether Lewis Randolph, residing in Arkansas. 9. Septimia Randolph. 10. George Wythe Randolph, midshipman in the navy. 11. Francis Eppes, the only grandchild by his daughter Maria Eppes. III. Fourteen great-grandchildren, to wit: The children of Thomas Jefferson Randolph-six. A daughter of Mrs. Coolidge. |