The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1912-07-11

obedience to Wills that had not 1inched before
the wrath of kings.
On the thirtieth of June the orator for the
celebration at Quincy called upon Adams In
his home and asked for a toast. II give you"
said the feeble patriarch, Independence for
eyer!" Asked II he desired to add anything to
the sentiment, the old hero replied: "Nct
word"
The great day dawned and John Adams still
lived But the candle had burned to its socket
and could give but a feeble flicker. "'Tis
great day! 'Tis a good day." he said to the
anxious relatives who surrounded his bed Rea
son wavered but the futtering mind in it's last
earthly moments recalled the friend of Month
cello--the old comrade who had stood with
him shoulder to shoulder in the fight for free
dom Thomas Jefferson still survives" he
murmured in a voice so feeble that the last syl-
tables were scarcely distinguishable Those
were his last words. His spirit departed with
the descending sun.
He died in error. Thomas Jefferson did not
survive. For days the good Democrat had fell
the approach Of death and had prepared for It,
desiring only that he might live until the
Fourth. On the third the stupor into which he
had fallen became almost continuous. ''Ah,
doctor" he said awakening In the night "are
you still there Is it is Fourth" 'It soon will
be-" answered the physician AS midnight ap-
preached those watching noted anxiously the
passing of the minutes. hoping and praying
that the feeble thread might hold and death
be hallowed by the great anniversary, The
wish was granted Not until fifty minutes past
the meridian did the soul of the great COM
moner exchange immortalities.
1t was before the days of telegraphs and
railroads. The news spread slowly. Five days
elapsed ere the denizens Of Baltimore and
Washington learned of what had happened at
Braintree. Meantime the inhabitants of Vir-
ginia and neighboring states mourned the
death of Jefferson, marveling greatly over the
strange coincidence that one who had been
the author of the Declaration should die upon
the iftieth anniversary of its adoption
Then came the news from the north and
men realized that not one but two patriarchs
of liberty had departed on the day when hearts
were bounding with Joy over blessings which
sires of former age had handed down-that
almost simultaneously these two had been
translated in the midst of the acclamations of
millions to the judgment of their God Had
steeds and chariots Of fire descended to take
up these partners in earthly fame and coheirs
Of eternity it might perhaps have been more
wonderful but not glorious
AS the news spread over the land to the vii
lagos and the hamets, at raised everywhere ]
q thrill of emotion, such as has never been
caused by any public event. 1t was not the
sense of privation by the loss of valuable lives
The advanced age of the persons, if nothing
else, neutralized that. 1t was the offspring of !
the mixture Of feelings, the chief Of which |
was the surprise at the strangeness of the &C.
ccrrence veneration for the men themselves |
and delight in the splen dor which it would re.
fleet upon page of the national annals Ger.
tainly the fabulous passing away of the first
Roman king, nearly on the same anniversary |
in no dcf of al obo -
compare with it in grandeur Men loved to
meet each other and to dwell on the most
minute particulars, as they were sedulously |
laid before the public by the newspapers and
to read the comments raised to unusual elo.
quence by the tone of the general mind"
Never has it fallen to the lot of arg eom-
mander" wrote the adjutant general 80 an
nounce to army such an event as now calls
forth the mingled grief and establishment of
the republic. Never since History first wrote
the first record of time has cne day thus min
gled every triumph with every tender emotion
and consecrated nations JOY by blending II
with the most sacred of sorrows"
For weeks the newspapers contained little
else but descriptions of the lives and deaths of
the departed patriots. In every city In the
land memorial meetings searched sacred and
profane history for parallel. OF the hun
dreds of such orations one at least will sur
vive Webster's classic on adams and Jeffer
son." In his message to Congress, the noble
son of noble father n calling attention to
the countrys loss, reverentiy announced that
"the time the manner, the coincidence are Wis
ible and palpable marks of Divine favor. for
which I would humble myself in grateful and
silent alteration before the Ruler of the Uni
verse;
Nor was such language extravagant The
Passing Of the two patriots formed not onIv
the strangest coincidence in the annals Of
mankind. but it marked the end of an era-of
the heroic age Of American history