MR. DERBIGNY’S EULOGIUM
(Translated from the French.)
*Fellow Citizens—
The voice of our afflicted country has convened us round this funeral pile, to pay a solemn homage to the memory of two great men, whose loss has left an immense chasm in the midst of the nation. History, whilst it perpetuates the remembrance of their glorious and useful lives, should also transmit to posterity our veneration for their virtues and our gratitude for the signal services they have rendered to their country. Founders both of our Republic; both intrepid defenders of our liberties; both indefatigable promoters of our prosperity, they had equal rights to our affection: they ought to be united in the expression of our regret.
Companions first in the same noble career; afterwards rivals, though not enemies; equally zealous for the good of their country, notwithstanding the divergency of their opinions; they shewed the same courage, the same virtues, the same patriotism. Let us then offer to their manes the same tribute of respect. Let us proclaim at the same time the praises which they both deserve. And if more eloquent tongues succeed to cast greater lustre on their actions, may at least the sincerity of our sentiments give some value to our words.
Amidst the accents of National grief, you do not expect from me, fellow citizens, a biography of the two great men, whose loss we deplore. Such details belong to the pen of the historian: they can find no place in the effusions of the panegyrist. To be in accordance with your feelings at this moment of solemn affliction, I will only call your attention to the principal features of the characters of these two excellent citizens; to the most remarkable situations of their lives, and particularly to the actions by which they have merited the gratitude of their country.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, the first of the two who paid his tribute to nature, was born in Virginia of a respectable family. He was gifted with one of those happy organizations which render men capable of the highest conceptions. The liberal education which he received, promptly developed those dispositions. His successes at College were such as could foretell his future abilities. He applied himself afterwards to the study of jurisprudence, in which his progress was equally rapid; but as he did not find in the profession of the law sufficient scope for the exertions of his genius, he early entered the career of politics. Shortly after he came of age, he was sent to the Legislature of his Province. The germ of the memorable revolution, in which he since performed so conspicuous a part was then discernible. The English Colonies, who had enjoyed, since their establishment, the privilege of taxing themselves, were now about to be bereaved of that right by parliament. Other vexations committed by the English Vice Roys, had likewise excited much discontent, and caused considerable fermentation. The Virginia Legislature had already set the example of resistance, by adopting energetic resolutions against the stamp-act. In that generous school did Thomas Jefferson learn to exercise his strength against arbitrary power. He was soon conspicuous for firmness and the love of freedom; for we see him, shortly after, representing his province in that celebrated convention which, under the name of Continental Congress, gave so great an example to nations and so awful a lesson to tyrants.
He here met JOHN ADAMS, one of the deputies from Massachusetts, with whom he soon contracted a friendship, which survived their political rivality. John Adams brought to Congress talents equal to those of Thomas Jefferson, and had over him the advantage of being an eloquent orator. Like Thomas Jefferson, he was gifted with an intellect of the first order; like him, he had improved it by study; like him, he had tried his strength in the legislature of his province against the abuse of power; like him he was looked upon as a citizen on whose courage his country might depend in the days of trial which were then approaching.
Here begins the high reputation which will henceforward accompany these two great men through their long life, and transmit their illustrious names to the most remote times.
Let us penetrate with them into the bosom of that magnanimous assembly where the deputies from the thirteen English Provinces are about to constitute them into Independent States. There a spectacle worthy of the admiration of all ages presents itself! The humble vassals of a proud monarch overburdened with vexation and injustice, have assumed an attitude which speaks their irrevocable determination to shake off the yoke of their oppressors. Feeble adversaries of a formidable power, they behold without fear the unequal contest in which they are about to engage.—Their force is in their energy; their resources are in their devotedness. They have no army—no navy—no money: they possess nothing but their patriotism. If they fail in their attempt, they will be treated as rebels, and will die on the scaffold.—But their cause is the cause of justice and liberty! They nobly resolve to dare all dangers for the conquest of their Independence.
In such a momentous and awful situation the proposal was made in that intrepid assembly to proclaim to the world the motives which induced them to dissolve their connexion with the mother country. A declaration of such importance was to be entrusted to skillful hands. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were both appointed members of the committee to whom that honorable task was confided. It was the energetic pen of Thomas Jefferson which erected that immortal monument of wisdom, of reason, of courage and of magnanimity.
But, if to him belongs the lory of having written that noble instrument, John Adams claims the honor of having carried it through the deliberations of Congress. In those gloomy times, when the generous men who devoted themselves for their country, had before their eyes the gibbet on which they were to expiate their rebellion, if they failed in their enterprise, it required great oratory powers to pacify the timid and persuade the prudent. John Adams was gifted with that forcible eloquence. Impelled by a courage equal to his talents, he communicated to the minds of his colleagues the fire which animated him: the Declaration of Independence was decreed!
Eternal glory to your name, noble and generous patriots! It was you who inflicted the first wounds on the hydra of tyranny, and showed your fellow sufferers that the monster is not invulnerable. Your war song has resounded through the world: It5 has cheered the oppressed and appalled the oppressors. The nations are now alive to their rights: and if we have to fear that their emancipation be only the dream of philanthropy, we may at least hope that their dominators will see that it is dangerous to exasperate them, and will govern them with more moderation and justice, to preserve their thrones.
Shortly after the glorious day on which the Independence of the United States was proclaimed, John Adams was sent by Congress to Europe, to solicit succours in men and money. He remained there until the close of the war, constantly employed in that important mission.
Thomas Jefferson, having assumed the political rank to which he was called by his talents, returned to his native State, where he continued to employ himself in the useful work of social regeneration. He was chosen with two other jurists to collect into one code all the laws of Virginia, comprehending the ancient English statutes, the acts of the legislature and a part of the common law. That mass of matter was carefully elaborated, and came out of their hands, purified, as much as possible, of the antiquated doctrines which were no longer in harmony with the new institutions. Among the important ameliorations which are due more particularly to Thomas Jefferson, are the abolition of the right of primogeniture and the establishment of religious freedom.
Thomas Jefferson had long been convinced that a Republican Government cannot exist without a perfect civil equality, and that there is in fact no real equality, where rights are suffered to subsist in favor of some which are prejudicial to others. It was necessary to remove those remains of feodal architecture which still disfigured the new political building. That reform was not obtained without difficulty. It is so natural for those in possession of privileges, to endeavour to maintain them, that the law which leveled the rights of all heirs, necessarily met with much opposition.
But the innovation which more than any other tried the patience and perseverance of Thomas Jefferson & his associates, was that which had for its object the abolition of a predominant religion and the free exercise of all rites. Owing to a singular biass of the human mind, it has happened at all times and in all countries, that the most fruitful source of discord is one from which they should derive their purest sentiments of fraternity. In vain does religion teach them that they are all equal before the Supreme Being; fanaticism, stronger than religion, lays hold of their passions, and persuades them that their mode of worship is the only one agreable to God, and that all others displease and offend him. That religious intolerance, which has caused so much evil on earth, and which is excited by those who feed on human credulity, was yet deeply rooted in the British Provinces: it could be eradicated only by degrees; it even required constant efforts during several years; before it could be entirely destroyed.
Thomas Jefferson, who had so long toiled in the service of his native country, had a claim upon its gratitude. He was elected Governor of Virginia; and in those critical times, he succeeded to discharge the duties of that office so satisfactorily as to merit the approbation of the legislature in the most honorable terms.
On leaving the first office of the State, he was again sent to the General Assembly, and then once more to Congress, where he continued to shew himself worthy of the high reputation which he had acquired.
About that time John Adams was commissioned, jointly with three other distinguished citizens to negociate with Great Britain, a treaty of peace, the success of which had been rendered highly probable from the late victories obtained by the American arms. He participated in the honor of signing the act which recognised the Independence of the United States; and it is not saying too much to his praise, that the talents which he displayed in those delicate circumstances did powerfully contribute to the happy termination of that great negociation.
After the ratification of that glorious treaty, he was the first Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of England. He occupied that important post several years, and until he was called to fill in his country a still higher station.
While he was so employed in England, Thos. Jefferson was sent to discharge similar duties at the Court of France. These two men, whom a similar destiny was conducting through life, returned from Europe nearly at the same time. The Constitution of the United States had recently been adopted. Washington, by the unanimous voice of his fellow-citizens was called to the first magistracy of the republic; John Adams was elected to the second; Thomas Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State. During the eight years, which Washington consented to pass at the head of the government, John Adams occupied the vice-presidency. The confidence which the father of the country placed in him, and the influence which his advice had on the measures of the administration, had created between him and Thomas Jefferson a beginning of political misunderstanding. Those two men, thought with equally good intentions, entertained opinions which did not always agree. One was for giving an almost unbounded latitude to freedom; the other thought it prudent to circumscribe it within narrower boundaries, to prevent its running into license. It is a question often agitated but not easily solved, to know at what distance the line of demarcation should be drawn. One might then be a sincere republican, as John Adams always was, and yet doubt the wisdom of placing the destinies of the country at the mercy of popular commotions. However that be, the disgust which this division caused to Thomas Jefferson, induced him to withdraw from the administration and return to private life about the time of Washington’s second election.
Four years later, when that great man signified his intention to spend in retirement the remainder of his glorious life, and it became necessary to think of his successor, John Adams and Thos. Jefferson, appeared at the same time on the political stage as candidates for that high office. John Adams was elected, and Thomas Jefferson who had, next to him, the greatest number of votes, found himself promoted to the vice-presidency, according to the constitutional law as it then stood; and thus were again placed near each other two men who differed in opinion and were at the head of two most violently opposite parties. But to their praise be it said; whatever was the animosity of their respective adherents, they stood in presence of each other calm and dignified; and such is the privilege of virtue! they never ceased to be friends. Each followed in good faith the way which appeared to him the safest, and believed the other actuated by the same sentiments.
John Adams was assuming the exercise of his high functions in very critical times. Party spirit, which for so many years divided the nation, was then in all its activity. The Treaty of commerce concluded with Great Britain towards the end of Washington’s administration, was the firebrand which had spread the conflagration. The opposition saw or pretended to see in that measure a marked partiality in favor of England and an hostile disposition towards France. On the other side, the partisans of the administration charged the opposition with being devoted to the interest of the French Republic. Time, which calms the storms of passion and dissipates the clouds which conceal truth, has shown the injustice of those reciprocal imputations, and re-established harmony among the citizens. When we now quietly consider the conduct of the government under the presidency of John Adams, we are compelled to do homage to his wisdom, his rectitude and his firmness. The misunderstanding which subsisted sometime between the United States & France, and which was near bursting into a war, had no other cause than the supercilious and threatening attitude which France, then governed by the directory, had assumed towards the United States. John Adams employed all means to conjure the storm, save that which would have dishonored us, submission. And so, as soon as the change which took place in the French government permitted to expect less hostile dispositions on its part, the negociations were renewed, and a treaty was concluded which reconciled the two powers.
The administration of John Adams has been censured for the enactment of some laws which his enemies represented as attempts against freedom, particularly the sedition act. But without accusing that excellent citizen of an intention to destroy his own work by endeavouring to shackle liberty, would it not have been more just to believe him actuated only by a wise foresight of the abuses, which may lead to anarchy? Ought he, who had displayed such zeal and such courage for the destruction of arbitrary power, to be suspected of entertaining a wish to reestablish it? Besides, should it not be kept in view that the conduct of the Chief Magistrate is always subordinate to the to the will of the representatives of the people, and that nothing is more unjust than to make him bear the blame of the faults which they may commit.
One of the most striking features of the character of John Adams was frankness and sincerity. He disdained to practise intrigue, and despised the intriguers. Too independent to be ruled by either of the parties which divided the nation, he was but feebly supported by those who had once elected him to the presidency. At the expiration of the four years of his administration, he had no longer a majority of suffrages.
Here the political career of this great man terminates. Retired henceforward into the bosom of his family, he will be an example of all domestic virtues, as he has exhibited in public life all the qualities of the citizen. Before we bid him an eternal adieu, let us take a further view of the destinies of his colleague.
The elevation of Thomas Jefferson to the first magistracy of the United States, satisfied that numerous part of the nation, who wished to give a permanent strength to a pure and unmixed democratic government. No person was better qualified than Thomas Jefferson to execute that great work. As simple in his manners as he was eminent for his talents, his conduct alone was the satire of aristocracy. Accessible to everybody, at almost any hour, without aught of ceremonials or formalities, he shewed in all its purity the beautiful character of the true republican. Before the modest mien of the chief magistrate, ostentation of any sort appeared burlesque and ridiculous; and it was soon acquiesced in, that real dignity is to be found only in a decent simplicity.
Thomas Jefferson always remained the steady supporter of the principles which he had adopted. He knew that in government nothing is more to be feared than the incroachments of power; and that the excesses which the people may momentally indulge in, are not so fatal to liberty as the usurpations of aristocracy. Thus did he himself set the example of the most philosophic resignation to the insults which were heaped upon him by the writers of the anti-democratic party. No person ever was more grossly calumniated: no person ever endured calumny with more longanimity. Strong in the testimony of of his conscience, he let the vain clamors of his enemies dash themselves against his impassibility. He might have exclaimed with Timoleon: “My wishes are accomplished! for I had always prayed the Gods so to establish liberty, that any body might with impunity say what he pleased of an other.” Time has disposed of these outrages as they deserved; there is no person now who refuses to Thomas Jefferson the tribute of respect due to his virtues.
The administration of Thomas Jefferson, as it is ever the case, was applauded by some and censured by others. While Europe was in fire he was apprehensive lest the conflagration would extend to his country, and spared no exertions to avert the evil. It is not easy to judge whether the measures then adopted to maintain the national dignity, were sufficient and proper. But what cannot be the subject of a doubt is that Thomas Jefferson, in this as in all other circumstances, was influenced by no other consideration than the good of his country.
One of the most important acts of his administration was the acquisition of Louisiana. The prosperity of the western States required that the high road which led them to the sea should be free from all incumbrance. The day was to come, when it would be necessary to hazard a war for conquering its possession. Thomas Jefferson, as a skilful politician, seized the opportunity of acquiring it by purchase. The time has passed away, when this measure has met with detraction. All the world is convinced that the negociation which put the Mississippi into the domain of the United States, was a great and useful transaction.
As to us, fellow citizens, it was an event as happy as it was unexpected. Before we had fought for liberty we were called to participate in its blessings. That Independence, which a brave nation had conquered, at the price of its blood, from proud and powerful masters; that Independence, which had cost the United States seven years of war, toil and perseverance; to which so many heroes had paid the tribute of their lives and fortunes, we were admitted to enjoy it, before it had cost us the least sacrifice. Thus can we never forget, without being guilty of ingratitude, that to Thomas Jefferson we are principally indebted for that boon. We owe him still more, fellow citizens; while he gave us political existence, he conceived for us a truly paternal affection. At that memorable epoch when the inhabitants of Louisiana signalized their courage in repelling the formidable foe who had invaded their territory, and shewed themselves the worthy companions of the ancient citizens of the United States; when the illustrious General, who had led them to victory visited the venerable Thomas Jefferson: “Come,” exclaimed he with tears in his eyes, “let me embrace the great Captain who has rescued my darling child from the hands of a ravisher.” Kind and tender words, which ought to resound in our hearts and inspire us with a filial respect for that virtuous man.
Thomas Jefferson, after having fulled during eight years the functions of President of the United States in the most distinguished, and above all in the purest manner, imitated the noble example set by Washington: he made known his determination to retire to private life, and thus consecrated the commendable usage of that kind of patriotic abdication, which has been since followed by his successors.
Thomas Jefferson brought in his retirement blessings which could make it happy and comfortable, the benedictions of his fellow citizens, glorious recollections, and a fund of knowledge extending to every branch of science. He enjoyed during many years that calm and philosophic existence, so conformable to his taste, cultivating the arts and sciences together with his lands, and yet finding time for making himself useful to his country by attending zealously to the administration of the University, of which he was one of the principal founders.
Here again we are struck with the similitude of his fate with that of his eminent colleague. Both withdrawn from the theatre of the world, they allow nearly the same kind of life. They have the same philosophy, the same knowledge, probably the same occupation. The same consideration surrounds both; the same attentions are paid them; they are equally the objects of the veneration of their fellow citizens and of the homage of foreigners attracted by their renown.
Thus lived peacably, on the soil which they had enfranchised, those two venerable men, environned by the filial love of a whole nation. They were approaching the boundaries which nature has fixed to human life; but sage habits had preserved their health, and might still prolong their existence. The fiftieth year of the glorious era which they had founded, was drawing near. Feeling their strength sensibly declining, they thanked providence for having lived long enough to see the national jubilee. At last the half century is revolved! the sun has poured its rays on the fiftieth anniversary of our independence! The sound of the public rejoicings has struck the ear of the patriarchs of liberty, and their heart has palpitated with joy!—But oh wonder! Oh coincidence, which seizes with religious astonishment! It seems as if their souls were awaiting that moment, to fly to heaven! Both have breathed their last on that solemn day, amidst patriotic acclamations!
Was this fortuitous? or was it by the will of God that so strange an event has happened? It is indeed in the order of nature. But who is there among us who does not hear a secret voice whisper to him: that the supreme ruler of the worlds has deigned so to dispose it, to show man that social institutions founded on reason and virtue, are agreeable to his sight, and that those who have employed their lives in promoting the happiness, of their fellow men, have deserved well of his justice.
Yes, revered manes, illustrious shades, you now occupy among the celestial intelligences, that place which is assigned to the benefactors of mankind! You receive the recompense of all the good you have done! and (if you ever doubted it) you are now convinced that genius and virtue do not perish with matter. If it be true that the Sovereign Lord of the Universe permits those intelligences sometime to watch over the destinies of mortals, spread through the country, which once was yours, the influence of your wisdom; and in-instil into the minds of its citizens those sentiments of justice which always guided your conduct on earth!
And you, mortal remains of our fathers; sacred relicks! rest in peace on the land of freedom, in the midst of a grateful people. Your tombs, not unlike those which have been consecrated as holy by religious enthusiasm, will be resorted to by votaries of liberty as objects of patriotic worship; and may they ever inspire them with a desire to imitate the virtues of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.