Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1851-08-14

| appointed to draft Declaration of Inde-
/ pendence, he was chosen one Of the members.
Although the youngest member OF the COM
mittee, he was appointed chairman, and was
I requested by the others to draw up the instru-
ment, which he did, and his draft was
adopted, with very few verbal amend
/ ments, on the fourth of July, 1776. This in
strument forms an everlasting monument to
/ his memory, and gives, by far, wider range
4 to the fame Of his talents and patriotism, than
eloquent.panegyric or sculptured epitaph.
During the summer of I776, he was cleo
/ ted to a seat IN the Virginia Assembly, and
+ desirous of serving his own : cate, he resigned
/ his seat in Congress and returned 10 Virginia
lie was soon afterwards appointed a joint
! commissioner with DR.. Franklin and Silas
Deane, for negotiating treaties with France,
! but circumstances caused him 10 decline the
acceptance Of the preferred honor, and he
continued in Virginia during the remaining
period Of the Revolution, actively engaged in
the service of his State. He received third
I election to Congress. but declined it. and was
succeeded by Benjamin Harrison, the father
Of the late President.
From the early part Of lT77 to the middle
of IT'S, Mr.. Jefferson was assiduously en-
ployed, conformity with George Wythe and
Edmund Pendleton, on a commission for re-
vising the laws of Virginia. The duty was
a most ardous one; and to Mr.. Jefferson be-
longs the impeTIshable honor of being the
first to propose in the Legislature Of Virginia
the laws forbidding the importation of Slaves;
converting estates tail into fee simple annu-
ling the rights Of primogeniture establish
ing schools for general education and con-
irming the rights Of freedom in religious
opinion.
Congress having resolved not to suffer the
the prisoners captured at Saratoga, under
BuTgoyre, to leave the United States until
the CON- rention, entered into by Gates and
Burgoyne, should be ratified by the British
government. they were divided, and sent TO
the different States, to be provided for during
the interval A division Of them was sent
early in 1879, into the interior of Virginia,
near the residence of Mr.. Jefferson and his
benevolent feelings were strongly exhibited
by his sympathy for these enemies of his
country. The prisoners We're in great dis
/ tresS. and Mr.. Jefferson and his freindS did
all in their power to alleviate their sufferings.
An apprehended scarcity of provisions, de-
termined Governor Patrick Henry to remove
them to another part of the State, or out Of
it entirely. AT this the officers and men were
greatly distressed, and Mr.. Jefferson WROTE a
touching appeal to the governor in their be-
half. and they were allowed to remain.
In June 1879, Mr.. Jefferson succeeded Mr..
| Henry as governor of Virginia, and at the
close of his administration was a period Of
great difficulty and danger His State be-
came the theatre of predatory warfare, the in
famous Arnold having entered it with British
and tory troops, and commenced spreading
. desolation with fire and sword along the
+ James river Richmond the capital was
partly destroyed, and Jefferson and his coun-
ell narrowly escaped capture. He tried, but
in vain, TO get possession Of the person Of
Arnold, but the willy traitor was too cautious
for him.
Very soon after his retirement to private
life. Tarleton, who attempted TO capture the
members of the Legislature convened at Char
/ l9t;sville, short distance from Jetlerson's 5
residence, came very near taking him prison.
cr. Jefferson had sent his family away in
his carriage, and remained to attend to some
matters in his dwelling, when he saw cav
airy ascending a hill toward his house. He
o mounted a fleet horse, dashed through the
woods, and reached his family in safety.
NJ. de Marbojs, secretary Of the French le-
: cation in the United States, having question
s ed Mr. Jefferson respecting the resources. &c,
of his native State, he wrote, in 1871, his Gel
e eb1ated work entitled % Notes on Virginia" :"
a The great amoRnt Of information which it con-
tans, and the simple peTspicuity Of It's style,
made its author exceedingly popular in En-
D gland as writer and man Of science, in ad-
dition to his character as statesman.
: In 1882, he was appointed minister pleni-
+ potentiary to assist others in negotiating a
I treaty Of peace with Great Britain but in
d formation Of the preiiminares having been
y signed, reached Congress before his dcpar-
;, ture, and he did not 90. He was soon af-
/, ter elected a delegate to Congress, and was
Il chairman Of the committee in 1888, to whom
e the treaty Of great Britain was referred. On
{ their report, The treaty was unanimously rat
= fled.
s In 1884, he wrote an essay on coinage and
4 Ill. ] I l.
Q are indebted for the convenient denominations
e OF our Federal money, the dollar as unit,
e and the system Of Gecimals.
- In May OF this year. he was appointed,
II with Adams and Franklin, minister To me-
e potiate treaties Of commerce with foreign ma
tioe. In company with his eldest daughter
e he reached Paris in August. DR.. Franklin
e having Obtained leave 10 return home, Mr..
a Jefferson vas appointed to succeed him as
e minister al The French Court, and ne remain
J ed in France, until October, 1889. While
}: there, he became popular among the literati,
: and his society was courted by the leading
r writers Of the day.
$ During his absence the constitution had
= been formed, and under 1t Washington had
d been elected and lnauEerated President Of the
! United States. His visit home was under
5 leave of absence. but W ashington offered him
e q seat in his cabinet as secretary of state, and
a gave him his choice 10 remain in that capacI-
?, " or -eturn To France. lie chose to remain.
1t and ae was one of the most efficient aids to
e the President during the stormy period of his
first administration. He differed in opinion
n with " hington respecting the kindiing rev.
J olution in France, bat RE agreed with him on
: the question of the neutrality Of the Uni ed
d States His bold avowal of democratic sen
i timents, and his expressed sympathies with
d the struggling populace of France IN their as
Z pirations for repubIicanism, made him the
e leader of the democratic party here. opposed
: to the federal administration of Washington
: and in 1898 he resigned his seat in the cabi-
a net.
In 1896, he was the republican candidate
) for President, in opposition to John Adams.