and perchance have only storms. We love to be as children who must be
carried over the swamps and rough places, not knowing that strength of
manhood and womanhood comes generally through struggling. The "happy
years" at Monticello were already numbered. Another little girl had come
to gladden the heart of the man who so loved children, and had quickly
taken her departure. And now Martha Jefferson, at thirty-four, the
sweet, gentle woman who had lived with him only ten short years, was
also going away. She talked with him calmly about the journey; she said
she could not die content if she thought their children would have a
stepmother. The young governor, without a moment's thought as to his
future happiness, taking her hand, solemnly promised that he would never
marry again, and he kept his word. It is not known that any person ever
entered the place left vacant in his heart by Martha Jefferson's death.
For four months he had watched by her bedside, or had his books so near
her that he could work without being separated from her. When she died
he fainted, and remained so long insensible that the attendants thought
he could never be restored to consciousness. For three weeks he kept his
room, ministered to by his little daughter Martha, who wound her arms
about his neck, with that inexpressible consolation that only a pure,
sweet child-nature can give. She said years later, "I was never a moment
from his side. He walked almost incessantly, night and day, only lying
down occasionally, when nature was completely exhausted.... When, at
last, he left his room, he rode out, and from that time he was on
horseback rambling about the mountain, in the least frequented roads,
and just as often through the woods. In those melancholy rambles I was
his constant companion, a solitary witness to many a burst of grief."
He longed now for a change of scene; Monticello was no more a place of
peace and rest. Being elected to Congress, he took his seat in
November, 1783. To him we owe, after much heated discussion, the
adoption of the present system of dollars and cents, instead of pounds
and shillings. In May, 1784, he was appointed minister to France, to
join Dr. Franklin and John Adams in negotiating commercial treaties. He
sailed in July, taking with him his eldest child, Martha, leaving Mary
and an infant daughter with an aunt.
The educated governor and congressman of course found a cordial welcome
in Parisian society, for was he not the author of the Declaration of
Independence, endeared to all lovers of liberty, in whatever country. He
was charmed with French courtesy, thrift, and neatness, but he was
always an American in sentiment and affection. He wrote to his young
friend, James Monroe, afterwards President: "The pleasure of the trip to
Europe will be less than you expect, but the utility greater. It will
make you adore your own country,--its soil, its climate, its equality,
liberty, laws, people, and manners. How little do my countrymen know
what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other
people on earth enjoy!" More and more he loved, and believed in, a
republic. He wrote to a friend: "If all the evils which can arise among
us from the republican form of government, from this day to the day of
judgment, could be put into scale against what this country suffers from
its monarchical form in a week, or England in a month, the latter would
preponderate. No race of kings has ever presented above one man of
common-sense in twenty generations. The best they can do is to leave
things to their ministers; and what are their ministers but a committee
badly chosen?"
Jefferson spent much time in looking up the manufacturing and
agricultural interests of the country, and kept four colleges--Harvard,
Yale, William and Mary, and the College of Philadelphia--advised of new
inventions, new books, and new phases of the approaching Revolution.
He had placed his daughter Martha in a leading school. His letters to
her in the midst of his busy life show the beautiful spirit of the man,
who was too great ever to rise above his affectional nature. "The more
you learn the more I love you," he wrote her; "and I rest the happiness
of my life on seeing you beloved by all the world, which you will be
sure to be if to a good heart you join those accomplishments so
peculiarly pleasing in your sex. Adieu, my dear child; lose no moment in
improving your head, nor any opportunity of exercising your heart in
benevolence."
His baby-girl, Lucy, died two years after her mother, and now only
little Mary was left in America. He could not rest until this child was
with him in France. She came, with a breaking heart on leaving the old
Virginia home and her aunt. On board the vessel she became so attached
to the captain that it was almost impossible to take her from him. She
spent some weeks with Mrs. John Adams in London, who wrote: "A finer
child I never saw. I grew so fond of her, and she was so much attached
to me, that, when Mr. Jefferson sent for her, they were obliged to force
the little creature away."
Once in Paris, the affectionate child was placed at school with her
sister Martha, to whom Jefferson wrote: "She will become a precious
charge upon your hands.... Teach her, above all things, to be good,
because without that we can neither be valued by others nor set any
value on ourselves. Teach her to be always true; no vice is so mean as
the want of truth, and at the same time so useless. Teach her never to
be angry; anger only serves to torment ourselves, to divert others, and
alienate their esteem."
The love of truth was a strong characteristic of Jefferson's nature, one
of the most beautiful characteristics of any life. There is no other
foundation-stone so strong and enduring on which to build a granite
character as the granite rock of truth. Jefferson wrote to his children
and nephews: "If you ever find yourself in any difficulty, and doubt how
to extricate yourself, _do what is right_, and you will find it the
easiest way of getting out of the difficulty.... Give up money, give up
fame, give up science, give the earth itself, and all it contains,
rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that, in any possible
situation or any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable
thing." Again he wrote: "Determine never to be idle. No person will
have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It
is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."
After five years spent in France, most of which time he was minister
plenipotentiary, Dr. Franklin having returned home, and John Adams
having gone to England, Jefferson set sail for America, with his two
beloved children, Martha, seventeen, and Mary, eleven. He had done his
work well, and been honored for his wisdom and his peace-loving nature.
Daniel Webster said of him: "No court in Europe had at that time a
representative in Paris commanding or enjoying higher regard, for
political knowledge or for general attainments, than the minister of
this then infant republic."
Even before Jefferson reached home he had been appointed Secretary of
State by President Washington. He accepted with a sense of dread, and
his subsequent difficulties with Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the
Treasury, realized his worst fears. The one believed in centralization
of power--a stronger national government; the other believed in a pure
democracy--the will of the people, with the least possible governing
power. The two men were opposite in character, opposite in financial
plans, opposite in views of national polity. Jefferson took sides with
the French, and Hamilton with the English in the French Revolution. The
press grew bitter over these differences, and the noble heart of George
Washington was troubled. Finally Jefferson resigned, and retired to
Monticello. "I return to farming," he said, "with an ardor which I
scarcely knew in my youth."
Three years later, he was again called into public life. As Washington
declined a reelection, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became the two
Presidential candidates. The one receiving the most votes of the
electors became President, and the second on the list, Vice-President.
John Adams received three more votes than Jefferson, and was made
President.
On March 4, 1797, Jefferson, as Vice-President, became the leader of the
Senate, delivering a short but able address. Much of the next four years
he spent at Monticello, watching closely the progress of events. Matters
with the French republic grew more complicated. She demanded an alliance
with the United States against England, which was refused, and war
became imminent. At the last moment, John Adams rose above the tempest
of the hour, went quite half-way in bringing about a reconciliation, and
the country was saved from a useless and disastrous war.
The Federalists had passed some unwise measures, such as the "Alien
Law," whereby the President was authorized to send foreigners out of the
country; and the "Sedition Law," which punished with fine and
imprisonment freedom of speech and of the press. Therefore, at the next
presidential election, when Adams and Jefferson were again candidates,
the latter was made President of the United States, the Federalists
having lost their power, and the Republicans--afterwards called
Democrats--having gained the ascendancy.
The contest had been bitter. Jefferson's religious belief had been
strongly assailed. Through it all he had the common-sense to know that
the cool-headed, good-natured man, who has only words of kindness, and
who rarely or never makes an enemy, is the man who wins in the end. He
controlled himself, and therefore his party, in a manner almost
unexampled.
March 4, 1801, at the age of fifty-eight, in a plain suit of clothes,
the great leader of Democracy rode to the Capitol, hitched his horse to
the fence, entered the Senate Chamber, and delivered his inaugural
address. Thus simple was the man, who wished ever to be known as "the
friend of the people." Alas! that sweet Martha Jefferson could not have
lived to see this glad day! To what a proud height had come the
hard-working college boy and the tender-hearted, tolerant man!
As President, he was the idol of his party, and, in the main, a wise
leader. He made few removals from office, chiefly those appointed by
John Adams just as he was leaving the Presidency. Jefferson said
removals "must be as few as possible, done gradually, and bottomed on
some malversation or inherent disqualification." One of the chief acts
was the purchase from France of a great tract of land, called the
Territory of Louisiana, for fifteen million dollars.
During his second four years in office, there were more perplexities.
Aaron Burr, Vice-President during Jefferson's first term, was tried on
the charge of raising an army to place himself on the throne of Mexico,
or at the head of a South-western confederacy. England, usually at war
with France, had issued orders prohibiting all trade with that country
and her allies; Napoleon had retorted by a like measure. Both nations
claimed the right to take seamen out of United States vessels. The
British frigate Leopard took four seamen by force from the American
frigate Chesapeake. The nation seemed on the verge of war, but it was
postponed, only to come later, in 1812, under James Madison.
Congress passed the Embargo Act, by which all American vessels were
detained in our own ports. It had strong advocates and strong opponents,
but was repealed as soon as Jefferson retired from office. Owing to
these measures our commerce was well-nigh destroyed.
At the age of sixty-five years, Jefferson retired to Monticello, "with a
reputation and popularity," says Mr. Morse, "hardly inferior to that of
Washington." He had had the wisdom never to assume the bearing of a
leader. He had been careful to avoid disputes. Once, when riding, he met
a stranger, with whom engaging in conversation, he found him bitterly
opposed to the President. Upon being asked if he knew Mr. Jefferson
personally, he replied, "No, nor do I wish to."
"But do you think it fair to repeat such stories about a man, and
condemn one whom you do not dare to face?"
"I shall never shrink from meeting him if he ever comes in my way."
"Will you, then, go to his house to-morrow, and be introduced to him, if
I promise to meet you there?"
"Yes, I will."
The stranger came, to his astonishment found that the man he had talked
with was the President himself, dined with him, and became his firm
friend and supporter ever afterward.
For the next seventeen years, Jefferson lived at Monticello, honored and
visited by celebrities from all the world. Sometimes as many as fifty
persons stayed at his home over night. One family of six came from
abroad, and remained with him for ten months. His daughter Martha,
married to Thomas Mann Randolph, presided over his hospitable home, and
with her eleven children made the place a delight, for she had "the
Jefferson temperament--all music and sunshine." The beautiful Mary, who
married her cousin, John W. Eppes, had died at twenty-six, leaving two
small children, who, like all the rest, found a home with Jefferson.
In the midst of this loving company, the great man led a busy life,
carrying on an immense correspondence, by means of which he exerted a
commanding influence on the questions of the day as well as on all
social matters. To a child named for him, he wrote a letter which the
boy might read after the statesman's death. In it are these helpful
words: "Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your
neighbor as yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of
Providence."
To his daughter Mary he wrote these lines, which well might be hung up
in every household:--
"Harmony in the married state is the very first object to be aimed at.
Nothing can preserve affections uninterrupted but a firm resolution
never to differ in will, and a determination in each to consider the
love of the other as of more value than any object whatever on which a
wish had been fixed. How light, in fact, is the sacrifice of any other
wish when weighed against the affections of one with whom we are to pass
our whole life. And though opposition in a single instance will hardly
of itself produce alienation, yet every one has his pouch into which all
these little oppositions are put. While that is filling, the alienation
is insensibly going on, and when filled it is complete. It would puzzle
either to say why, because no one difference of opinion has been marked
enough to produce a serious effect by itself. But he finds his
affections wearied out by a constant stream of little checks and
obstacles.
"Other sources of discontent, very common indeed, are the little
cross-purposes of husband and wife, in common conversation; a
disposition in either to criticise and question whatever the other says;
a desire always to demonstrate and make him feel himself in the wrong,
and especially in company. Nothing is so goading. Much better,
therefore, if our companion views a thing in a light different from what
we do, to leave him in quiet possession of his view. What is the use of
rectifying him, if the thing be unimportant, and, if important, let it
pass for the present, and wait a softer moment and more conciliatory
occasion of revising the subject together. It is wonderful how many
persons are rendered unhappy by inattention to these little rules of
prudence."
Jefferson rose early; the sun, he said, had not for fifty years caught
him in bed. But he bore great heart-sorrow in these declining years, and
bore it bravely. His estate had diminished in value, and he had lost
heavily by indorsements for others. His household expenses were
necessarily great. Finally, debts pressed so heavily that he sold to
Congress the dearly prized library, which he had been gathering for
fifty years. He received nearly twenty-four thousand dollars for it,
about half its original value. But this amount brought only temporary
relief.
Then he attempted to dispose of some of his land by lottery, as was
somewhat the fashion of the times. The Legislature reluctantly gave
permission, but as soon as his friends in New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore heard of his pecuniary condition, they raised about eighteen
thousand dollars for him, and the lottery plan was abandoned. He was
touched by this proof of esteem, and said: "No cent of this is wrung
from the tax-payer; it is the pure and unsolicited offering of love."
Jefferson was now, as he said, "like an old watch, with a pinion worn
out here and a wheel there, until it can go no longer." On July 3, 1826,
after a brief illness, he seemed near the end. He desired to live till
the next day, and frequently asked if it were the Fourth. He lingered
till forty minutes past the noon of July 4, and then slept in death.
That same day, John Adams, at ninety-one, was dying at Quincy, Mass. His
last words were, as he went out at sunset, the booming of cannon
sounding pleasant to his patriotic heart, "Thomas Jefferson still
lives." He did not know that his great co-laborer had gone home at
midday. "The two aged men," says T. W. Higginson, "floated on, like two
ships becalmed at nightfall, that drift together into port, and cast
anchor side by side." Beautiful words!
The death of two Presidents at this memorable time has given an
additional sacredness to our national Independence Day.
Among Jefferson's papers were found, carefully laid away, "some of my
dear, dear wife's handwriting," and locks of hair of herself and
children. Also a sketch of the granite stone he desired for his
monument, with these words to be inscribed upon it.
Here was buried
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Author of the Declaration of Independence,
Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom,
And Father of the University of Virginia.
He was buried by his family and servants, on the spot selected by
himself and Dabney Carr in boyhood, his wife on one side and his loving
Mary on the other.
The beloved Monticello passed into other hands. Martha Jefferson and her
children would have been left penniless had not the Legislatures of
South Carolina and Louisiana each voted her ten thousand dollars. Thomas
Jefferson Randolph, the grandson, with the assistance of his daughters,
who established a noted school, paid all the remaining debts, many
thousand dollars, to save the honor of their famous ancestor.
To the last, Jefferson kept his sublime faith in human nature and in the
eternal justice of republican principles, saying it is "my conviction
that should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to
rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights." Whatever his
religious belief in its details of creed, he said, "I am a Christian in
the only sense in which Jesus wished any one to be--sincerely attached
to his doctrines in preference to all others." He compiled a little
book of the words of Christ, saying, "A more precious morsel of ethics
was never seen."
In his public life he was honest, in his domestic life lovable, and he
died, as he had lived, tolerant of the opinions of others,
even-tempered, believing in the grandeur and beauty of human nature.
What though we occasionally trust too much! Far better that than to go
through life doubting and murmuring! That he believed too broadly in
States' Rights for the perpetuity of the Union, our late Civil War
plainly showed, and his views on Free Trade are, of course, shared by a
portion only of our citizens. However, he gave grandly of the affection
of his heart and the power of his intellect, and he received, as he
deserved, the love and honor of thousands, the world over.
[Illustration: Signature A. Hamilton]
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
To the quiet and picturesque island of Nevis, one of the West Indies,
many years ago, a Scotch merchant came to build for himself a home. He
was of a proud and wealthy family, allied centuries before to William
the Conqueror.
On this island lived also a Huguenot family, who had settled there after
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which drove so many Protestants
out of the country. In this family was a beautiful and very intellectual
girl, with refined tastes and gentle, cultured manners. Through the
ambition of her mother she had contracted a marriage with a Dane of
large wealth, followed by the usual unhappiness of marrying simply for
money. A divorce resulted, and the attractive young woman married the
Scotch merchant, James Hamilton. A son, Alexander, was born to them,
January 11, 1757.
But he was born into privation rather than joy and plenty. The generous
and kindly father failed in business; the beautiful mother died in his
childhood, and he was thrown upon the bounty of her relations.
The opportunities for education on the island were limited. The child
read all the books he could lay his hands upon, becoming especially fond
of Plutarch's Lives and Pope's works. He was fortunate also in having
the friendship of a superior man, Dr. Knox, a Presbyterian clergyman,
who delighted in the boy's quick and comprehensive mind.
At twelve years of age he was obliged to earn money, and was placed in
the counting-house of Nicholas Cruger. Probably, like other boys, he
wished he were rich, but found later in life that success is usually
born of effort and economy. He early chose "Perseverando" for his motto,
and it helped to carry him to the summit of power.
That the counting-house was not congenial to him, a letter to a
school-fellow in New York plainly shows. "To confess my weakness, Ned,
my ambition is prevalent, so that I contemn the grovelling condition of
a clerk, or the like, to which my fortune condemns me, and would
willingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my station. I
am confident, Ned, that my youth excludes me from any hopes of immediate
preferment, nor do I desire it, but I mean to prepare the way for
futurity. I'm no philosopher, you see, and may be justly said to build
castles in the air; my folly makes me ashamed, and beg you'll conceal
it; yet, Neddy, we have seen such schemes successful, when the projector
is constant. I shall conclude by saying, I wish there was a war."
The "projector was constant," and the "schemes became successful." He
was indeed "preparing the way for futurity," this lad not yet fourteen.
At this time, Mr. Cruger made a visit to New York, and left the
precocious boy in charge of his business. Such reliance upon him
increased his self-reliance, and helped to fit him to advise and uphold
a nation in later years.
In these early days he began to write both prose and poetry. When he was
fifteen, the Leeward Islands were visited by a terrific hurricane. In
one town five hundred houses were blown down. So interested was
Alexander in this novel occurrence that he wrote a description of it for
a newspaper. When the authorship was discovered, it was decided by the
relatives that such a boy ought to be educated. The money was raised for
this purpose, and he sailed for New York, taking with him some valuable
letters of introduction from Dr. Knox.
He was soon attending a grammar-school at Elizabeth, New Jersey. The
principal, Francis Barber, was a fine classical scholar, patriotic,
entering the Revolutionary War later; the right man to impress his
pupils for good. Alexander, with his accustomed energy and ambition, set
himself to work. In winter, wrapt in a blanket, he studied till
midnight, and in summer, at dawn, resorted to a cemetery near by, where
he found the quiet he desired. In a year he was ready to enter college.
Attracted to Princeton, he asked Dr. Witherspoon, the president of the
college, the privilege of taking the course in about half the usual
time. The good days of election in study had not yet dawned. The dull
and the bright must have the same routine; the one urged to his duties,
the other tired by the delay. The doctor could not establish so peculiar
a precedent, and Princeton missed the honor of educating the great
statesman.
He entered Columbia College, and made an excellent record for himself.
In the debating club, say his classmates, "he gave extraordinary
displays of richness of genius and energy of mind." He won strong
friendships to himself by his generous and unselfish nature, and his
ardent love for others. It is only another proof of the old rule, that
"Like begets like." Those who give love in this world usually receive
it. Selfishness wins nothing--self-sacrifice, all things.