human
Madam, said he, when finally he stood at the side of the mistress of Locust Hall,
gpt
It has come at last, said the mother of Meriwether Lewis.
human
The wilderness has him, as I knew it would! I told him, here at this place, when he was a boy, that at last the load would weigh him down.
gpt
The rumor is that he died by his own hand. I find it difficult to believe. It is far more likely that some enemy or robber was guilty of the deed.
human
Whom had he ever harmed?
gpt
None in the world, with intent; but he had enemies. Whether by his own hand or that of another, he died a gallant gentleman. He would not think of himself alone. But listen--bear with me if I tell you that could your son send out the news himself, perhaps he might say 'twas by his own hand he perished, and not by that of another!
human
Never, Mr. Jefferson, never will I believe that! It was not in his nature!
gpt
I agree with you. But when we take the last wishes of the dead, we take what is the law for us. And the law of your son was the law of honor. Suppose, my dear madam, there were a woman concerned in this matter?
human
He never wronged a woman in his life----
gpt
Precisely, nor in his death would he wrong one! Do you begin to see?
human
Did he ever speak to you of her?
gpt
It was impossible that he should; but I knew them both. I knew their secret. Were it in his power to do so, I am sure that he carried his secret with him, so that it might never be shared by any. That secret he has guarded in death as in life.
human
But shall I let that stain rest on his name?
gpt
Do not I love him also? I am speaking now only of his own wish--not ours. I know that he would shield her at any cost--nay, I know he did shield her at any cost. May not we shield him--and her--no matter what the cost to us? If he laid that wish on us, ought we not to respect it? Madam, I shall frame a letter which will serve to appease the criticism of the public in regard to your son. If it be not the exact truth--and who shall tell the exact truth?--it will at least be accepted as truth, and it will forever silence any talk. What should the public know of a life such as his? There are some lives which are tragically large, and such was his. He lived with honor, and he could not die without it. What was in his heart we shall not ask to know. If ever he sinned, he is purged of any sin.
human
He shall have a monument, madam, he went on.
gpt
It shall mark his grave in yonder wilderness. They shall name at least a county for him, and hold it his sacred grave-place--there in Tennessee, by the old Indian road. Let him lie there under the trees--that is as he would wish. He shall have some monument--yes, but how futile is all that! His greatest monument will be in the vast new country which he has brought to us. He was a man of a natural greatness not surpassed by any of his time.