DISCOURSE ON THE Character and Services OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, MORE ESPECIALLY AS A PROMOTER OF NATURAL AND PHYSICAL Pronounced, by request, before the New-York Lyceum of Natural BY SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, A Supporter of his Administration, three years in the House of Representatives, and ave cester and Nashville; Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society at New-York; President of the Association for Dumb, &c. &c. New-York: PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CARVILL. 1826. SIR, Lyceum of Natural History, In compliance with a Resolution of this Society, we have been appointed a Committee to solicit a copy of your Eulogy upon Mr. Jefferson for publication. A DISCOURSE, &c. &c. GENTLEMEN, THE removal by death of a citizen who had been elected an honorary associate of this Society, in 1817, has served as a warning to the surviving members. They have determined, in the spirit of good feeling, to perform an act of respect toward THOMAS JEFFERSON. His name is registered in our book, with those departed worthies Haüy and Correa; in honour of whom, with all their virtues and merits, we have decreed no ceremonial. Indeed, occurrences of this solemn kind are so frequent that, if funereal discourses were to be pronounced upon every defunct individual, the time and talent of the living would be too much devoted to the deceased. The wisest course, therefore, seems to be, to let the multitude go and rest in their long homes, without expending upon them unnecessary words. There are, nevertheless, exceptions to the general remark ; Persons now and then exist, whose lives and actions afford materials for the instruction and amendment of the human race. To those who have ceased to be inhabitants of this world it is, probably, a matter of no moment whether the biographer shall celebrate them, or not. Still there is a tribute due to their worth. A good name is part, and a most important one too, of a family inheritance. The hope |