Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1847-11-05
From the y. Y. Observer.
Thomas Jefferson /;

| HIS HOUSE, DEATH, GRAVE, MONUMENT.
! On the summit that commands this en-
| chanting view, the mansion was built BY
| Jefferson when he had wealth to lavish on
| his cultivated tastes The house was 100
/ feet long. and of peculiar form and proper
tions You enter wide and lofty hall
that was once adorned with works of art
which he had selected with a masters
skill in the high places of the earth, and
then you pass on TO the spacious dining
room with polished inlaid floor; then to his
library, and study. and parlor; ascend this
! flight of stairs, not wide enough for more
than one to walk up at time, and you
| find the chamber where he died on the 4h
| of July, 1920. The bed was in a recess,
the end of which contained two cross pie
ces, and on these was thrown the mattress
on which he laid himself to die. 1t was
the goomiest place - that dead room =
that | was ever in; there was the strangest
gathering of thoughts, crowded 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 philosophy, and re-
ligion, and fidelity, and death, and here
after = fthe soul ola mighty man strug.
Cling with the letters of the flesh, and rush
ing away with them into the darkness of
an untried future, in the presence of the
Infinite, in whom the wisdom of men and
angels is lost as q drop that falls on the
ocean; before whom the soul of the I'M
holy shrinks away, and finds the rags
of human glory and the fig leaves of phil
osophy to be no covering when the eye of
the Holy One searches the spirit. Such
thoughts as these pressed me as stood in
tho chamber whence the soul of Jefferson
fled to judgment.-The mansion, now
owned by Capt. Levy, is falling into de-
cay; it was sold, and all his furniture, for
his creditors, Jefferson having died insol-
vent, and almost the only relic left ola
man whose name is identified with his
country's history as devoted patriot, and
distinguished President, is a bust of
Votaire, which stands here tutelar di-
vinity ofthis deserted dilapidated house.
As you descend the mountain, you pass
an enclosure without a gate, that con-
tains the grave Of Jefferson; and a more
neglected, wretched burial place you will
seek in vain. If Campbell's last man had
been buried here, he would not have
been less cared for.
The wife of Jefferson, . torn from him
by death, ten years after their early mar
rage, lies here.
A granite obelisk, battered much by
pilgrims, but without name or epitaph,
is doubtless the monument of Jefferson.
1t was here placed by his executors, and
the PANEL on which was to be inscribed
the epitaph, he wrote for himself, has
never been inserted IN the stone. | was
told that II is lying with the iron gates
designed for the enclosure, on the bank of
the river where they were landed, and
that no man has troubled himself to see
that they ever reached their destination.
mention these facts, that those who
would honor the memory of the Apostle
of Democracy. may stir themselves to pay
respect to his ashes; and those who do
not respect his name and his principles.
may see how both are esteemed in the re-
gion of his home and his tomb.