Show g e 0 mon kello fa it was at monticello that jefferson prepared the draught of instructions Instruct iona for virginia s delegation to the congress which met at philadelphia his activity in tile the cause of the colonies brought him into special disfavor with V ith the british and it was planned to t 0 capture jefferson at monticello AS ral raiders ders jefferson was tagvor t I 1 never lemy 1111 was com ing t lie 10 sent his family ff yat escaped on hors bors verl everl at monticell Mon 10 01 t ti orders escaped ser sarrosa au pillage or damage though the house itself was dered or burned the rest of jeffersons property suffered severely at the hands bands of the enemy all the stock and farm products Ahat might be of service aa off the rest being wantonly destroyed es troyed when jefferson resigned from the washington cabinet in 1704 he be returned to monticello to enjoy a retirement which he be Ip intended tended should last ninny many years 13 but al t this was not to be he was elected vice president in in 1800 he be was chosen president in match march 1809 jefferson after afier a nearly continuous public service of forty tour four years retired to 10 lo and to private life b but ut he was so seriously impoverished that he was not sure buee of being allowed to leave washington without arrest by his creditors but this fortunately ho he was able to prevent toward the close of his life however he be became distressingly embarrassed in his circumstances in 1814 he be sold his library to congress for but through in dorsing a note nota for a friend he was completely ruined and was in danger of being compelled led to surrender mon cicello and seek shelter for his last days in another abode but wealthy friends f lem a s came to his assistance with a c considerable 0 sid erable sum of money no cent of this lle he wrote wrung from the taxpayer it Is the pure and unsolicited offering of love in the last seventeen years yeara of his life jefferson lived like a patriarch among hla his admiring friends the sage of monticello tl ti was the most prominent man in private life in the country even to the year of his bis death he was a great moral force in the land As the former president the purchaser of louisiana the ellas chastiser tiser of the barbary pirates the founder of th eURI varsity of virginia as the scholar the philosopher and the savant ho he was klao wn tho the world over every day for at least eight months in the year b rought its contingent of bt guests to monticello mo n cicello ti cello people of wealth fashion men of office professional men military and civil lawyers doctors tors protestant clergy catholic priests members of congress foreign ministers missionaries indian agents tourists artists strangers strap gers friends some came from affection and respect some from curiosity some to give or receive advise advis eor or instruction Instruct io n some from idleness some because others set the example and everybody every pody who could not visit the sage cage of monti cello at least gave thought to the great retired man of the nation jefferson retained his health nearly to his last days and had the happiness of living to the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of independence he died at monticello at 1240 p m on july 4 1826 he was buried in hla his own graveyard at monticello beneath a stone upon which was engraved an inscription prepared by his own hand here Is burled buried thomas jefferson author of the declaration of independence of the statute of virginia for religious liberty and father of the university of virginia the sage of monticello stands to day next to the father of his country in the esteem of the united states and this Is as it should be for his wise counsel helped to ahls nation as firmly as did the arms and statesmanship of george washington |