Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-02-15
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY Is, 1926.
From the Richmond Enquirer.
MIR. JEFEERSON.

On Wednesday Mr. Loyal of Norfolk intro
duced into the House Of Delegates a most in
teresting and touching subject. We should
deem il utterly impossible that The Leg islature
should refuse to sanction it. Mr.. Loyal ad-
dressed the House as follows:
He observed-The sensations under which
now address you, Mr. Speaker, are such as
have never before experienced in this place, or
elsewhere Impelled by The sgengest couyIc-
lions to the duty | am about to discharge, it is
yet, confess, with degree of pain in which |
am well satisfied when l have done, all who
hear me whatever may be their opinions will
mingle the keenest sympathy. am not about
TO tax the patience 9th House, by calling its
attention to question the consideration OF
which is likely TO consume much Of its time;
but to present spectacle which cannot fail TO
reach the heart ofeyery generous man, come
whence he may. Irepea', Sir, it is not without
pain the most acute, that undertake this Of
fee, arising, however, solely from the necessity
which imposes it upon me, and not from any
doubt entertain Of the propriety, or success Of
the measure shall propose 1t is, that the
House will allow me TO Introduce bill autho-
rizing Thomas Jefferson to dispose of his pro-
perry by Lottery. II is not intended, Sir, tina,
this bill shall make any demand upon the Trea,
sury Not solitary dollar will it draw from
that source, No, Sir, the Individual in ques-
ton would rather perish than extract the TWEEN
tieth part OF 1.-THE from the public estate, 10
the accumulation Of which in every possible
form more than sixty Years OF his life nave been
most so!emnlv and intensely devoted. 1t will
confer no pecuniary reward FOR services per-
formed. The reward Of these is found in the
numberless blessings resulting from them, and
a consciousness that they were rendered from
pure love of mankind. twill neither take mo-
ney from the treasury. nor abridge the rights
Of d single individual in the community. 1t
will do more than give authority of law for
doing that which Cannot be done without au-
thority of law, iii behalf of great public bene-
factor who, though pressed Ill his old aye by
hard fortune, would not accept even this Of you
were it not in obedience TO that stern pride
which recois al the idea Of dependence upon
the mere bounty of any human being, and that
elevated sense Of moral obligation, which
prompts him 10 discharge with scrupulous eX-
actness, all just demands upon him.
1t may be inquired, with what view is this
poor boon sought? With no other, Sir, than
that his valuable property may be disposed Of
in way TO commaGd something like fair pri-
ces, for the payment of his debts, which amount
to a sum so great, that but little, If any thing,
will 5e left TO support the remnant Of his days
should his large estate be forced into the mar
ket in the present depressed state of prices
and without some such aid as this measure
proposes, the alternative, affecting as it is,
not Ae averted Will il be asked hoW he has
bc,o ne thus indebted? iiop il has happened
t,a,. with his large patrimoIy, he has become
invoked TO an extent SO alarming? Believe me,
Mr. Speaker, il is the natural result OF causes
which, instead III attaching blame or censure to
him, exhibit hts character and services in
their most attractive view, and increase the
lustre OF those recorded honorS which will
go down with him 10 after ages. His pa
trimony was considerably impaired by the
ra,ages attending our struggle for indepen-
dence, and large as it was ii has baraly euG-
bled him TO bear up under weight OF sacri
fees and charges, both upon his time aud foI-
tune, am bold to say without parallel in this
or anv other country need not recur, Sir, To
period more remote than that OF the first open
res stance of this old dominion and her during
sisters TO the expressions OF the mother country;
for we all know that this crisis liked his destiny
forever. From {. at momeHt all his energies
AMI time and care, were de I'd 10 The glorious
cause upon the success II which the liberties
of tnis people were sl&ked. And surely the
triumph of this cause did not reIea>e such
man as Thomas Jefferson from tolls less peri
lous, il YOU will, hut certainly not less critical
and arduous than those Of the agony which led
20 it, Such man could not be left at such
crisis i'll possession Of his time, or any portion
OF it, To be used for his own inti> idual advan-
tage. Such man could not be spared for
moment from the wants OF his country, and it
is literally true that from the period referred
TO, down TO his retirement from the Presidency
ali care OF MS private concerns was absolutely
forbidden by the heavy and incessan, requisi-
tons upon him Of both state and general gov
ernuent The effects resulting from such neg
lcct, such entire abandonment Of landed estate
in Virginia, need not mention. All who hear
me, know that ruin, utter ruin, is the almost
inevitable consequence, and the larger the es-
tate, the more certain and disastrous the re-
suit. 1t will not be imagined by any one, that
Mr.. Jefferson's retirement from the turmoil Of
nublic scenes at the close of his Presidential
Office, allowed him an opportunity OF arrest
ing the evil, OF repair ing the breach in his
y fortune, and of throwing off the embarrassment