Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-08-19

ed with great and original minds.---Though
: born of family in easy circumstances, his
Education was not superior to that which the
colonies then afforded to her citizens at large;
by which, however, he pro6ted to the full ex-
tent which an active spirit, and good abilities,
would admit. But if his mind was not sub
United to as exquisite cultivation as is to be
obtained in the colleges and schools of the Old
World, neither was it shackled by their forms.
Attwenty-six years of age, he had mastered
1.-THE difficulties of the law, and SO far distin-
guished himself in its practice as to be elected
a member Of the House Of Burgesses from the
county of Albemarle; and the degree to which
his opinions were already formed, and his en-
ergies developed, is remarked by his being
Joined in one of tho first overt acts of indepen-
dence with Washington, Randolph, Henry,
Lee, &C.; all of them men destined to take
the lead in their country's affairs, and make
for themselves an Immortality in their coun-
Itrys gratitude. Letters written by Jefferson
mot moro than five or six years before this time,
and preserved in the volumes before us, exhb-
it few marks ofthis intellectual precocity, and
are not much better, either in style or matter,
than any idle young men might indtc to one
of his own standing and condition.
His sudden arrival at clear perception of
dies thev required the principles on which
these depended, partakes very largely Of the
nature OF intuition. Throughout the entire re-
volu,ioa, and down nearly to the last moments
of his existence, Jefferson was in advance of
his ags and the opposition he was destined to
encounter in his political career, arose almost
exclusively fromhis attempts lead forward his
colleagues to consequences, then in conradic
ton toreceived prejuGices, but now generally
by thepeople as political axiom. His leading
characteristics, were the daring independence
Of his mind, and the vigor and clearness Of
his intellect which enabled him to embrace
combinations in their Wilderness, and to dis
entangle affairs from those petty incidents
which arc the parents Of petty reasons and pet
Ity volitions. In discussions, he rarely went
beside his subject to embarrass himself with
what was extrinsic, inconsistent, or indifferent
to it; but, penetrating at once into the essence,
Inc adopted truth with all its consequences;
and what he saw distinctly, he willed firmly
and pertnaciously. Men of this calibre and
temperament (and in their different kind and
degree they abounded in the American cities OF
that hy,) were essential to the success OF a
revolution, where every thing was to be crca-
ted on the spur Of the occasion. Political the
,ory, it is true, must have been cultivated be-
fore hand; for the struggle for dominion be-
tween the colonies and the mother country,
was not of yesterday; but so it was, also, In
I France before its revolution. The writings OF
the philosophers Of the eighteenth century had
/ famiarized mems minds with the elemental
~ ideas of right, and had given some consld-
cradle insight into the true basis of a free and
prosperous society; but if the proceedings of
the respective legislatures be compared, and
the results to which these led, consldered---a
/ wide difference will be perceived in the intel
ectual resources and creative powers OF the
old and new people. Between the great men
of the American revolution, and those OF the
earlier period of the Long Parliament, there
lis greater similarity. The same simplicity
Of manncrs---the same grandeur OF soul---thc
same firmness of determination, and perspcu-
lily of intellect, are to be found in each; and 1t
an equal success did not attend both causes,it
was because the unhappiness OF the age IN
England had mingled politics intimately with
religion; and that religion then was no better
than an Indifferent and blind fanaticism.
From the contemplation of such times and
stcl, men, we arc clearly taught, that. for the
conduct OF a nations affairs in moments OF cri-
Isis, the one thing essential in its leaders, is
character; that great views are the products of
great passions: and that without those exalted
virtues, which lift men out of the miro fcom-
mon life, requirements and abilities, however
defensive, will have no necessary connexion
with wisdom or design, of fixity OF purpose.
But though Jefferson, being early called to
take prominent share in the multliarous bu-
siness of a troublous time, could have had lit
tie leisure, or opportunity for continued study,
he contrived to make himself familiar with the
outlines at least, of the great branches Of sci
! ence ,;,nlch interested and occupied the age IN
which he lived. He was no heaven-born say
age, but man Of cultivated tastes, and ele-
giant requirements, no less than OF solid IN
formation; and it is impossible to pcrnsc his
correspondence, in which he pours forth his
clear and precise views on almost all subjects,
without profound admiration of his industry,
and for the happy facility with which ne APP
Ipropriated the ideas of others, and made them
his own. 1t Is in his correspondence that the
man is to be seen at large; and this brings us
back to the memoir before us---which is little
more than a biographical history of the revo-
luton, and the subsequent story OF the rege-
nerated people. tits, in truth, political de-
fonce Of Jefferson against party imputations,
man, and by far the more valuable insights
which it gives into his individual character, OBJ
tanned from an examination of the extensive
collection Of Jellerson's letters, with which
tho world is already generally acquainted. To
the rising generation in England, to whom the
American story is less familiar, this review
of the time and its pathological, will be found
deeply interesting; and it IS further valuable,
for the frequent occasions it affords for enter.
ing on the discussion Of first principles, and
by fixing attention on an elevated and ennoblng
range Of subjects. The life ofJcfierson, how
ever written, must be one of those books which
set men thinking--and thinking tothe best OF
purposes. There is, moreover, vlsor ana