by such other testimonials as the occasion called for. Various societies, of which Washington was a member, appointed eulogists. Fisher Ames and George R. Minot were among the orators in Boston. It is worth remarking, that the general sentiment of respect and affection for this eminent man was so exalted, that few of the orators did, or could, come up to the demand. The feeling of these public speakers was, and must have been, that of deep veneration, a feeling not adapted to bring forth the touching expressions which would be grateful to a numerous audience. Washington's character was rather to be contemplated, than talked of. He was to be estimated by comparison with other men, and an eulogy does not permit of this. His eminent worth was to be found in no one brilliant act, nor in any remarkable achievements, but in a whole life of useful, dignified and honorable service. Most of the eulogists were compelled to resort to biographical sketches, which do not admit of much eloquence. Even Mr. Ames did not succeed, in this effort, so well as the undefined expectation of his audience required. The enthusiasm of the French better adapts oratory to funeral eulogy, than the good sense and sobriety of Englishmen, or Americans. Such efforts are rarely attempted in England, though common in France.

In Congress, a resolve was passed to raise a monument in the city of Washington, and application was made to Mrs. Washington for permission to deposit beneath it the remains of her husband. This lady assented. But the resolve itself, is the only monument hitherto raised; and the remains of Washington repose in the family tomb at Mount Vernon, and are there to remain, so far as can now be discerned. The more lengthened the remove from Washington's lifetime, the less, it is feared, will Washington be remembered. Probably a large proportion of the adult population of the United States hardly know who, or what he was; and there may be some voters who know not that there ever was such The intelligent people of other countries seem to know more of Washington, and to respect his character more, than is com

a man.

mon among his own countrymen. His military and civil example, and his eminent virtues as a man, have given him a rank in foreign estimation, which make mankind proud of him. If his own countrymen have forgotten him, or if certain self-stamped patriots so misunderstand his character, as to call themselves his disciples, it is grateful to know that the intelligent of other countries are better informed.

It might have been expected, that a grateful nation would have demanded of Congress, to adorn the city that bears the name of Washington, with such a monument as would illustrate the sense of his merits. Since March 4, 1801, that assembly have had too much business of their own to attend to, to think much of that which is purely public, and free from party. Marshall has raised one monument by his able pen. Another is preparing through the indefatigable industry of Mr. Sparks. The latter is a judicious selection from the voluminous writings of Washington, designed to show the state of his own thoughts, in the most eventful and interesting periods of his life. Five volumes, the 2d to the 6th, have appeared, and are understood to have satisfied the public wishes, and to have fully sustained the high reputation of Mr. Sparks. But these are monuments for readers. The national monument should rise for every eye, and that all who behold it, may be reminded of him to whom they are far more indebted, than to any other man, for civil liberty; and which may keep alive the desire to know under what circumstances, and for what purposes, he lived. The marble is now submitted to the masterly genius of Greenough, and the Capitol may be adorned with it in time to save the country from the charge of ingratitude.*

The statue now stands temporarily in the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington.

LETTER XXXII.

MAY 27, 1833.

MR. JEFFERSON left the office of Secretary of State, December 31, 1793, and remained at Monticello, till called to the Vice Presidency, in March, 1797; although in retirement, he was not inattentive to the transactions at the seat of government. The proof of this is found in the letter written by him to an Italian, named Mazzei, under date of 24th of April, 1796. This Italian had come over to America, under the expectation of being able to cultivate the vine in Virginia, and had chosen Mr. Jefferson's neighborhood for his purpose. An intimacy appears to have grown up; and Mazzei having returned to Florence, Mr. Jefferson wrote to him, as may be presumed, in the utmost confidence; and discloses his own views of Washington's administration. This letter appears to have been carefully, not to say studiedly, written. Whether the writer intended it should be published or not, it is not easy to decide. Perhaps he intended it should be, and to take the good or evil of the publication. Its contents, when compared with the animadversions which appeared in Freneau's paper, and also in Bache's, very clearly prove, that these must have had Mr. Jefferson's hearty concurrence. This letter was published in the Moniteur of Paris, on the 25th of January, 1798, with many commentaries. Thence it came to this country, and was published here. It excited great attention among both parties. The partisans of Mr. Jefferson were not so far devoted to France, as to relish so unqualified a denunciation of the administration of their own country. They had no resource but to consider it a malignant forgery, designed to disparage Mr. Jefferson. From him, nothing was heard on the subject. The federal party had no doubt of the authenticity of the letter. They understood well, the views and purposes of this gentleman,

and saw in this letter a perfect accordance therewith. The letter was as follows:*

(From the Paris Moniteur, a French official paper, of the 25th of January, 1798.†)

"DEAR SIR,

"Monticello, April 24, 1796.

"Our political situation is prodigiously changed since you left us. Instead of that noble love of liberty, and that republican government, which carried us through the dangers of the war, an Anglo-Monarchic-Aristocratic party has arisen. Their avowed object is to impose on us the substance, as they have already given us the form, of the British government. Nevertheless, the principal body of our citizens remain faithful to republican principles, and also the men of talents. We have against us (republicans) the EXECUTIVE power and the JUDICIARY; (two of the three branches of our government;) ALL the OFFICERS of government, all who are seeking for offices, all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty; the British merchants, and the Americans who trade on British capital, the speculators, persons interested in the bank and public funds: [Establishments invented with views of corruption, and to assimilate us to the British model, in its corrupt parts.]

Since this page was written, a very able analysis of Mr. Jefferson's attempts to explain away this Mazzei letter, has appeared in the "History of the Hartford Convention," by Theodore Dwight; see pages 23 to 25. This attempt at explanation was not published in Mr. Jefferson's lifetime, but is found in his volumes. Whoever reads Mr. Dwight's analysis will be satisfied, that Mr. Jefferson's effort on this occasion, to preserve his fame as a fair, plain-dealing man, has been very far from successful; and that if he intended his letter should find its way to the press, he made a blunder; and if he did not, he was chagrined by the publication.

This letter, literally translated, is addressed to Mazzei, author of Researches, Historical and Political, upon the United States of America, resident in Tuscany. It does not appear when Mazzei came, nor when he left the United States. It is probable, from the tenor of this letter, that both these events happened before the adoption of the Constitution. If so, it shows that Mr. Jefferson preferred the condition antecedent to the adoption.

"I should give you a fever if I should name the APOSTATES who have embraced these heresies, men who were Solomons in council, and Samsons in combat, but whose hair has been cut off by the whore of England. They would wrest from us that liberty, which we have obtained by so much labor and peril; but we shall preserve it. Our mass of weight and riches is so powerful, that we have nothing to fear from any attempt against us by force. It is sufficient that we guard ourselves, and that we break the LILLIPUTIAN TIES by which they have bound us, in the first slumbers that succeeded our labors. It suffices that we arrest the progress of that system of ingratitude and injustice towards France, from which they would alienate us, to bring us under British influence."

It is obvious, that in 1796, while Mr. Jefferson was a private citizen, he had no means of keeping himself in view, but by private conversation and correspondence. This letter, compared with others of his, seems to have been written for effect; the concluding paragraph, especially, was adapted to the meridian of Paris, and there it may have been intended to go, and there it did go. Would any gentleman have ventured to make such a letter public, without some intimation from the writer, that such use of it would be agreeable to him?

Yet it seems that the publication of this letter greatly disconcerted Mr. Jefferson. He shows his trouble in a communication to his friend, Mr. Madison. Now as Mr. Jefferson takes the greatest pains to prove that he always retained the good will of Washington, whose honorable fame he had not been able to demolish, but had found it necessary to sustain his own by showing that Washington thought well of him, it was indiscreet to publish this letter to Mr. Madison. In truth, it is wonderful that Mr. Jefferson should have prepared such matters for publication as his volumes contain; more wonderful, that his surviving friends should have published from his own pen, a confirmation of all the political blunders which federalists charged him with. Nor of such blunders only; for as to the true character of the man, these volumes contain the