Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1847-12-08
--snm,S House, Death. Grave
and MOmla nnc1At.

A s,,mmit that commands this en-.
.hantinp view, the mansion was bullt by
s.aarson when he had wealth to lavish on
.. cultivated tastes. The house is a hun
jr.d feet long; and Of peculiar form and
7. -.,,corfions-you enter a wide. lofty hail
rr.swas once adorned with the works OF
4 =. which he had selected with a master )
I;I in the high places Of earth: then you
~. an 10 the spacious dining-room with
..,Ished inlaid Goor-thcn to his library
snd study, and parlors-ascend this flight
! cf stairs, not wide enough for more than
one to walk up at a time, and you find the
chamber where he died ON the Fourth o.
Iuly. 1926 The bed was i'll a recess, the
.uis-of which sustained two cross pieces,
and ON these was thrown the mattrass on
rbich he laid himself TO die! 1t was the
yloomiest place, that dead room-that
vas ever in: there was the strangest gath
crine ofthoughts, crowding on each other,
and each claiming to be the true emotion
for the hour and spot.
thought Of liberty and revolutions; Of
human greatness and glory; of philoso-
phy. and religion, and infidelity. and death.
and hereaftcr;~ of the soul Of a mighty
man struggling. with the fcttcrs Of flesh.
and rushing away from them into the dark
ness of an untrcd future. into the pres
cnce of the Infinite, in whom the wisdom
Of men and Of angels is lost as drop that
falls in the ocean; before whom the soul
of the unholy shrinks away and finds the
rags Of human glory, and the fig leaves OF
philosophy, 10 be no covering when the
eve Of the Holy One searches the spirit;
such thoughts as these pressed on me as !
stood in the chamber whence the soul Of
Jefferson fled to Judgment. The mansion
now owned by Capt. Levy. is falling into
decay; il was sold, and all the furniture,
for his creditors; jefferson having died in
= solvent; and almost the only relic left Of
the man whose name is identified with his
country's history. as devoted patriot and
a distinguished President, is bust of
Voltairc. which stands here as a sort Of tu-
tclar divinity of this deserted and dilapi-
dated house.
As YOU descend the mountain you pass
an enclosure without a gate. that contains
the grave of Jefferson; and more me-"
lcc,cd, wrctched burial place you Will
seek in vain. If Campbcll's "last man
had been buried here, he could not have
been less cared for.
The wife of Jefferson, s.torn from him
by dcath,' ten years after their early mar
rage, lies here.
granite obclisk, battered much by
democratic pilgrims, bul without name or
epitaph, is doubtless the monument of JEFF
frson. II was here placed by his cXccu-
tor. and The panel on which was to be in
scribcd the cpitaph which he wrote for
himself, has never been inserted on the
stone. was told that il is living with iron
gates designed for the enclosure. on the
banks of the river where they were landed
and that no man has troubled himself To
see that they ever reached their dcstina-
tion.f
| mention these facts that those who
would honor the memory Of the Apostle Of
Democracy may stir themselves TO pay r.
spcct 10 his ashes. and those who do not
respect his name and his principles. may
sec how both are esteemed in the region
of his home and his tomb
by late Virginia paper il appears that the
cpItaph was Inscribed a marble tablet, which
is preserved in the solitary mansion,
ErITAPiI.
Here lies buried
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Author OF the Declaration Of Indie
pcndcncr, Of the State Of Virginia for
Religious Freedom, And Father
Of the University of
Virginia.