For the United States’ Telegraph.
THE MYSTERY
On the fourth of July, 1826, Thomas Jefferson, sole author and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, breathed his last, at ten minutes before one o’clock, P.M., resigning “his soul to God, and his child to his country”—having, through the whole course of a long life, done all that literature, science, and philanthropy could enable one individual to do for “his country and mankind.” On the same day, at six o’clock, P.M. John Adams, also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, (which he neither aided to draw nor approved,) breathed his last. He was an indefatigable promoter and advocate of the resolution of Independence, and, without doubt, earnestly desired an eternal separation from the mother country; but his subsequent acts and writings render it doubtful whether he was truly imbued with the great free principles of that holy instrument, the Declaration of Independence.
The remarkable coincidence in the death of these distinguished men, on the Jubilee Festival of their country’s greatness, has called forth in every quarter of the nation, join applause of their deeds, and mourning for their deaths; so true is it that Death covers with her mantle the infirmities of all—unless it be those of a tyrant who has attained the object of his ambition, and satiated his revenge on his opponents. He goes down with the curses of his contemporaries, and the annunciation of his death excites electric joy throughout the land.
Meditating on these things, and seeing that joint eulogies are every where, with but few exceptions, pronounced on these distinguished citizens, although they acted together in their whole lives only on one point, and were arrayed, in an important period of their country’s history, in direct hostility; I desired Heaven to enlighten me, that I might see for what wise purpose the Author of all Things, the Friend and Father of all Men, had allowed such a strange coincidence in their deaths. Deeply wrought upon, my mind surcharged with grief at the loss to his country, and particularly to Virginia, “the blessed mother of us all,” of the great, the good, the true Republican, Jefferson, my eyes suffused in tears, my soul depressed with sorrow—I was suddenly aroused from my despondence by a vision of the Goddess of Liberty, who with a look of benignity thus addressed me: “Child of sorrow, your prayer for light has been heard. The Great Author of all Things, the bountiful protector and friend of man, on whom his image has been impressed, has long since informed your mind that death is the inevitable doom of all your race—the soul’s dark cottage, whether the abode of virtue or the mansion of vice; whether tenanted by philosophy, philanthropy, and benevolence, or by ignorance, bigotry, and misanthropy; must moulder and decay—and its humble, destitute, naked, and exposed tenant, must wing its way, whether with its virtues shining, or its vices exposed, into the presence of its Creator!—there to receive, in the presence of departed souls, the approval or condemnation of its various acts and desires in life, and to be employed in other worlds to the glory of its Creator. It is true, thou worshipper of truth, that the extraordinary coincidence of the deaths of your Jefferson, admired through life, and of Adams, admired for his zeal for independence in the days of 1776—unites their names and their history for ever. In the kindness with which the Deity looked upon their joint efforts in that glorious day, the 4th of July, ’76, when the Charter of Liberty and Equality, so long withheld, was promulgated to an admiring world—that Charter which was then given to be a beacon-fire to nations, “to some sooner, to others later, but finally to all”—it was promised in Heaven that they both should live to witness the Jubilee of their country, and that at the lapse of fifty years of glorious experiment in self-government by the People, they should be called away, full of years, amidst the eulogies of their country.
It is allowed to departed spirits, when purified, to rejoice with each other over their great deeds for the benefit of man done in this life. All the signers of the Declaration of Independence who were present at its discussion and adoption, excepting only Jefferson and Adams, had gone home. They, together with the immortal Washington, and other heroes and sages of the revolution, with a select few of the philosophers and wise men of other times, were rejoicing in my presence, with nectar and manna, over their country’s greatness and prosperity, when the spirit of my lamented Jefferson, released from its mortal mansion below, was ushered purified, direct from the body, to partake of celestial life and gladness with the companions of his early manhood, and the sages and philosophers of other times, there to conclude the celebration of the jubilee which in spirit he had commenced on earth. The spirit of Adams winged its way; but not until the celebration in heaven was over; neither was it, as that of Jefferson, purified from the body; but for the errors of his political life subsequent to the revolution, for his writings in favor of monarchy, and his approval of the Alien and Sedition acts, he has to be purified in the purgatory of politicians for the space of a year from the time of his death; when, on my next festival, he will be permitted to take his seat amid the spirits of the departed worthies of his country, and of other times; over whom, at their annual festivals hereafter, the immortal Washington, aided by the illustrious Jefferson, will preside, all sitting in my presence.
But, thou child of sorrow, as they heart is well known to me, and thy country’s good is what thou most desirest, I will continue my visits to thee. For the present, I will only recommend that thou takes thy resolutions and keepest them. If thou canst become industrious and persevering, and forsake those things which thou knows it is for thee to shun, all thy wishes and desires my age fulfilled.” As she spoke the last words, the heavenly goddess disappeared; I determined to record and publish her communications, and to observe and keep her admonitions.
TIMOLEON.