This heart-rending thought
does not allow me to commend my memory to you; labor, then, to make
it pure in proving that a life which has been devoted to the service
of the country, and to the triumph of liberty and equality, must
punish that abominable slanderer, especially when he comes from a
suspicious class of men. But this labor must be postponed; for in
the storms of revolution, a great people, struggling to reduce its
chains to dust, must of necessity surround itself with suspicion,
and be more afraid to forget a guilty man than to put an innocent
one to death.
"I will die with that calmness which allows man to feel emotion at
the thought of his dearest inclinations--I will die with that
courage which is the distinctive feature of a free man, of a clear
conscience, of an exalted soul, whose highest wishes are the
prosperity and growth of the republic.
"Farewell, my friend; gather consolation from my children; derive
comfort in educating them, in teaching them that, by their virtues
and their devotion to their country, they obliterate the memory of
my execution, and recall to national gratitude my services and my
claims.
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