was during his administration of this department, that the French revolution burst forth; and the division of feeling consequent upon it, began to exhibit itself among the American people. Like most of the other patriots of the revolution, Mr. Jefferson aimed to hold the golden mean between the violent extremes of public opinion. His skill and firmness were as conspicuously displayed in his correspondence with M. Genet, as in that with Mr. Hammond. When it became necessary for the administration to take a decided step, the proclamation of neutrality was resolved upon, by the unanimous consent of the cabinet. It was not long, however, before the divisions of opinion, which existed in the community, manifested themselves in the cabinet of general Washington too decisively, for that harmonious action necessary to the welfare of the state. Mr. Jefferson, unable to act with general Hamilton, who, with talents of the highest order, entertained, on most points, political opinions variant from his own, retired from the administration, with the purpose of devoting himself to the pursuits of an elegant and philosophic leisure. An ample library and scientific apparatus, an unconquerable thirst for learning, in all its branches, and a taste refined in the best school of European civilization, furnished resources abundantly sufficient to occupy him, in his seclusion from the laws of office. To the gratification of this purpose, the will of the people opposed an insuperable obstacle. On the retirement of general Washington from the presidency, the weight of an influence, which prevailed equally in all hearts and over all interests and parties, ceased to be felt. The country was now, for the first time, canvassed for the election of a chief magistrate; and the two parties were arrayed against each other. It would have been wholly out of place, to attempt a history of these divisions, which were now for the first time manifested, in a presidential election. Their basis may possibly be sought, in geographical limits, which will be found, perhaps, more than any thing else, to lie at the foundation of our various political controversies. Mr. Adams had the unanimous votes of the states north of the Delaware, and Mr. Jefferson a very large majority of those south. To a geographical division of parties like this, no permanent remedy, in ordinary times, can be expected. The principle of it operates in our state, county, and even town elections; and must prevail in those more important national ones, in which the citizens of the remotest parts of the union take part. With what feelings toward each other, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams entered upon their respective duties, the one as president and the other as vice president, has already been seen in the sketch of Mr. Adams' life. In the chair of the senate, Mr. Jefferson distinguished himself and the practice of the senate itself; a work which still remains the rule of our parliamentary proceedings. During the vice presidency of Mr. Jefferson, the political division of the American family reached its crisis. The foreign relations of the country, furnished the chief aliment, and these had been made to assume the most embarrassing forms, by all the preliminary measures of war. In the result of the presidential contest, Mr. Jefferson was elected to the chief magistracy of the country. Peace He entered on this exalted station, under the most favorable circumstances, and with every disposition to avail himself of them, for the welfare of the country. was already concluded with France, by a treaty negotiated under the former administration, and which remained only to be ratified. This circumstance authorised a general reduction of the military establishments of the country. A reduction of the naval establishment had already begun, and the removal of the burden of taxation was an easy consequence. In applying however this principle of retrenchment to the infant navy of the United States, he carried it so far, as to materially impair the ability of the country to vindicate her maritime rights. It may be justly considered as the fundamental error of his adininistration. Our foreign commerce, released from all its embarrassments, by the treaties with England and France, and continually extending itself to meet the consumption of a most rapidly increasing population, poured a tide of wealth into the treasury, and furnished the means for the reduction of the national debt. In his inaugural address. Mr. Jefferson paints in bright colors the prosperous state in which he found the country, on his accession to the chair of state. But while Mr. Jefferson strenuously pursued the policy of retrenchment, under the circumstances which so remarkably favored the application of that policy, he adventured on one measure, which might have startled an infant government, even as a matter of finance; and which, in its political relations, was of the boldest and most decided cast. This is not the place to dwell upon the purchase of Louisiana; nor will this generation be able to do justice to the subject, in all its consequences. It may only be observed that, to the student of our constitution, it already presents the most curious and profound inquiries into the limits of the treaty-making power, and the mode, by which a foreign people may become incorporated in our free republic. To the patriot citizen it appears, as a peaceful acquisition more extensive and more important, than any that was ever gained, on fields of blood by contending hosts. Although Mr. Jefferson was the first president who enjoyed the satisfaction of finding his administration gain strength from year to year among the people, he declined a nomination, as a candidate for a third term in office, and retired from public life in 1809. Henceforward he took no part in public affairs. When the library of congress was destroyed in 1814, in the sack of Washington, Mr. Jefferson promptly placed his own at the command of that body, and thus consented, for the sake of animating the spirits of the country, at a moment of depression, to deprive himself of the On the return of peace, he devoted himself to a new and noble enterprise, the foundation of the university of Virginia. This magnificent institution is justly called "his work; his the first conception; his the whole impulse and direction; his the varied and beautiful architecture, and the entire superintendence of its erection; the whole scheme of its studies, its organization and government are his."--(Vide Wirt's Discourse.) cherished resources of his philoso- as if to form one of her finest conphic retreat. trasts with the rude and rolling grandeur on the west. In the wide prospect, and scattered to the north and south, are several detached mountains, which contribute to animate and diversify this enchanting landscape and among them, to the south, Williss' mountain, which is so interestingly depicted in his notes. From this summit, the philosopher was wont to enjoy that spectacle, among the sublimest of nature's operations, the looming of the distant mountains; and to watch the motions of the planets, and the greater revolution of the celestial sphere. From this summit, too, the patriot could look down, with uninterrupted vision. upon the wide expanse of the world around, for which he considered himself born; and upward, to the open and vaulted heavens which he seemed to approach, as if to keep him continually in mind. of his high responsibility. It is indeed a prospect in which you see and feel, at once, that nothing mean or little could live. It is a scene fit to nourish those great and high-souled principles which formed the clements of his character, and was a most noble and appropriate post, for such a sentinel, over the rights and liberties of man. This great enterprise filled up the closing years of Mr. Jefferson's life. Temperance, industry, and method, had enabled him also, as it were, to multiply his existence, and to crowd, into one life, objects seemingly numerous and vast enough for many lives. The mere reception and entertainment of visiters, drawn to his abode by his splendid reputation, was almost enough to fill the hours of a busy day. The following description of his abode may be not inappropriately be introduced here: "The mansion house at Monticello was built and furnished in the days of his prosperity. In its dimensions, its architecture, its arrangements, and ornaments, it is such a one as became the character and fortune of the man. It stands upon an elliptic plain, formed by cutting down the apex of a mountain; and, on the west, stretching away to the north and the south, it commands a view of the Blue Ridge for a hundred and fifty miles, and brings under the eye one of the boldest and most beautiful horizons in the world: while, on the east, it presents an extent of prospect, bounded only by the spherical form of the earth, in which nature seems to sleep in eternal repose, On fied with objects of science and taste, so classed and arranged as to produce their finest effect. one side, specimens of sculpture set out, in such order, as to exhibit at a coup d'œil, the historical progress of that art; from the first rude attempts of the aborigines of our country, up to that exquisite and finished bust of the great patriot himself, from the master hand of Caracci. On the other side, the visiter sees displayed a vast collection of specimens of Indian art, their paintings, weapons, ornaments, and manufactures; on another, an array of the fossil productions of our country, mineral and animal; the polished remains of those colossal monsters that once trod our forests, and are no more; and a variegated display of the branching honors of those 'monarchs of the waste,' that still people the wilds of the American continent. "From this hall he was ushered into a noble saloon, from which the glorious landscape of the west again burst upon his view; and which, within, is hung thick around with the finest productions of the pencil-historical paintings of the most striking subjects from all countries, and all ages; the portraits of distinguished men and patriots, both of Europe and America, and medallions and engravings in endless profusion. "While the visiter was yet lost in the contemplation of these treasures of the arts and sciences, he was startled by the approach of a strong and sprightly step, and turning with instinctive reverence to the door of entrance, he was met by the tall, and animated, and stately figure of the patriot himself-his countenance beaming with intelligence and benignity, and his out stretched hand, with its strong and cordial pressure, confirming the courteous welcome of his lips. And then came that charm of manner and conversation that passes all description---so cheerful-so unassuming so free, and easy, and frank, and kind, and gay—that even the young, and overawed, and embarrassed visiter at once forgot his fears, and felt himself by the side of an old and familiar friend. There was no effort, no ambition in the conversation of the philosopher. It was as simple and unpretending as nature itself. And while in this easy manner he was pouring out instruction, like light from an inexhaustible solar fountain, he seemed continually to be asking, instead of giving information. The visiter felt himself lifted by the contact, into a new and nobler region of thought, and became surprised at his own buoyancy and vigor. He could not, indeed, help being astounded, now and then, at those transcendant leaps of the mind, which he saw made without the slightest exertion, and the ease with which this wonderful man played with subjects which he had been in the habit of considering among the argumenta crucis of the intellect. And then there seemed to be no end to his knowledge. He was a thorough master of every subject that was touched. From the details of the humblest mechanic art, up to the highest summit of science, he was perfectly at his ease, and, every where at home. There seemed to be no longer any terra incognita of the human understanding for, what the visiter had thought so, he now found reduced to a familiar garden walk; and all this carried off so lightly, so playfully, so gracefully, so engagingly, that he won every heart that approached him, as certainly as he astonished every mind." Mr. Jefferson was in stature tall and erect, and active in his movements. He possessed a taste for some of the polite accomplishments, particularly for music, and in younger life performed occasionally on the violin. He was an elegant scholar, an accomplished linguist, a proficient in several parts of natural science, and a great patron of literary enterprise. He presided for many years over the American Philosophical society at Philadelphia. While president of the United States, he projected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke across the continent, and much of the success of that well conducted expedition is due to his counsels. may It is gratifying to reflect, that, in the most violent periods of political contention, and while Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams were regarded as the heads of the two great parties in the country, and were rival candidates for the chair of state, the courtesies of private life were not neglected between them. The biographer of Mr. Pitt informs us, that for twentyfour years that eminent statesman never met Mr. Fox, in a private room. On the very eve of the election, in 1800, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams were in the exchange of all the offices of social life, and good neighborhood. That they may, in moments of excitement, have felt and spoken, in reference to each other, in the chaThe remarkable parallel, which racter of the leaders of opposite be traced between the lives of parties, is matter of course. But Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, whatever estrangement, at any time from their entrance on public life, existed, it was transitory in its duto their departure from this world, ration; and a correspondence arose makes it proper to record the re- between them, in their latter years, newed intercourse of their de- which, "if it ever be given to the clining years. Their early friend- world," says Mr. Wirt, "I speak ship and co-operation in the pub- from knowledge when I say, will lic service, their temporary separabe found to be one of the most intion, and subsequent revived inti- teresting and affecting, the world' macy, have been a natural theme has ever seen. It resembles, more of reflection to the numerous eu- than any one thing else, one of logists, that have celebrated their those conversations in the elysium lives and characters. It has been of the ancients, which the shades most beautifully observed, "that of the departed great were supthe streams of their lives were posed by them to hold. There united near their sources, and, are the same playful allusions to joined in one current, had forced the points of difference, that had their way through mounds of earth, divided their parties; the same and swept over appalling barriers- mutual, and light, and unimpasbut at length divided in their course sioned raillery on their own past by a rough island of rock, they misconceptions and mistakes; the rushed by its opposing sides with same mutual and just admiration turbulent and emulous rapidity, until and respect for their many virtues at last their waters were commingled and services to mankind. That in peace, and flowed on tranquil and correspondence was to them both, majestic into the ocean of eternity." one of the most genial employ(Vide, Mr. Sprague, of Hallowell.)ments of their old age, and it reads |