The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1897-04-08
Mr.. Adams and Mr.. Jefferson, which never
ought to have been interrupted by partisan


ought to have been interrupted by partisan
bitterness.
There came time in later years when a
stronger tie was drawing them together
They were getting to be among the last of the
surviving signers of the Declaration of indie
pendence. Jefferson feelingly alludes to it in
a letter written to Mr.. Adams and there is
something particularly touching in the fact
that after years of devoted love and labor for
their country, ruling the land and holding
the Nation, they should at last pass beyond,
into the presence of the Ruler Of all Nations,
on the same day, almost the same hour the
anniversary-July 4, 1s26-of the glorious
independence of their beloved country.
\
Mr. Madison was Secretary of State for Mr..
Jefferson eight years.
The Capital was almost wilderness The
White House was separated from the Capitol
by marsh, and was surrounded by the debris
of unfinished buildings. Thick woods, with
openings here and there where house could
be seen, formed the setting of this palatial
home. Venerable oaks spread their branches
over the house, and were sort of relief to
the uninclosed, barren field in which the
Executive Mansion was built.
1t was place in which Mrs. Madison felt
quite as much at ease, while Mr.. Jefferson
was President as when she became its presid-
ing genius. She entered the Presidential
Mansion at time when party strife was at
its highest. While she held opinions of her
own, grounded on what she believed to be
the right, she extended the same privilege to
every one and all were alike welcome in the
home of the President.
From out of her great and generous heart
she poured the oil of gladness upon the
troubled sea Of politics, and contending fac
hons were harm0nized. Men of varied poll
tics met at her table, and public strife and
bitterness were for a time forgotten.
But the piping time of peace y only hover
ed over the Nation the clouds Of the war Of
1912 were gathering in the horizon of national
affairs. Notwithstanding Jefferson's and
MadisOn's sympathy with France, one of the
strong party measures on which they were
elected, France, or Napoleon, did not hesitate
to strike at Americas commerce when it
served him to do so. Yet we could hardly
expect such man to respect national friend
ship, when he was found ready to shatter his
own household to further the ends of per-
sonal ambition. The same year that saw
Dolly Madison the Lady Of the White House
witnessed the Empress Josephine's departure
from the homeof Napoleon, and few months
later his marriage to Marie Louise The
eye that watched the march of destiny saw,
from the hour that Josephine turned her
back upon the palace, broken-hearted, to
wend her way to Malmaison, Napoleon's star
begin to wane, and before Mr. Madison's Ad-
ministration was ended, Napoleon Bonaparte
was at st. Helena, and Louis XVIII. on the
throne.
In the meantime the American people,
smarting under the insults OF Great Britain,
had adopted the war-cry of Free trade and
sailors rights, and were ready to fight.
On the 9th of June, 1912, the urbane,
peace-lOving Madison, as President of the
United States, declared war against Great
Britain, and, as is well known, in course
of time, the British entered Washington.
1t was through these trying hours that Mrs.
Madison was seen at her best Her heroism
during the battle of Bladensburg, and the
advance of the enemy into the city is one of
her greatest triumphs The familiar letter to
her sister at Mount Vernon, written during
the hours of suspense, tells us what heroism
was necessary to carry her through the
ordeal
TUESDAY, Aug. 90, 1914.
DEAR SISTER -
My husband left me yesterday to join Gen.
Winder. He inquired anxiously whether /
had the courage to remain in the Presidents
House until his return on the morrow, or sue
ceeding day, and on my assuring him that /
had no fear but for him and the success of
our army, he left me, beseeching me to take
care of myself and of the Cabinet papers,
public and private.
:" have since received two dispatches from
him. written with a pencil; the last is alarm
ing, because he desires that should be ready
at moments warning to enter my carriage
and leave the city; that the enemy seem
stronger than has been reported, and that it
might happen that they would enter the city
with intention to destroy it.