The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-02-11
,iOus Principles
No. |.

l'"' ~ |
In view Of the tact that the moral
and pult,cal intr- rity ol Thomas JET
crsou were unimpeachahle, the enc
,nirs OF Democracy. in the memorable
Presidential contest in the year $500,
endcavoIed to prejudice the minds ct
the people and insure his defeat. 10y
charging him with inf lefty and
atheism. The experiment, however.
was unsuccessful. The people Of that
day were wise IN their generation and
regarded u mas conduct in the VA
rious relations of life IS the hest crit"-
rion ly which to determine the parity
Of his religious creed.
Ii NAV lie int, resting, however, 10
,our rralcr,, to look into this matter
and see what his philosophy and re-
!iglon were, rs philosophy and religion
are inseparanly connected. All pm
IOsoplirrs, ii is ,rnr, are not reiISlonisls
10 the COMMON arcsptatlon OF the
tern: bnt all reii.iunl>ts belong to on"
OF the two grand divisions OF p%lllo,"'
ph,-llat is to say, they are material
lists or immatcri alisls. MaterlaliSm i
the philosophy OF those who heIIev"
in the resurrection of the body and the
doctrine OF the Millennium, hut who
deny that u mortal man possesses an
immortal soul; while Inmatrriallsm
is tie philosophy of those who believe
IN the ium ,rtnlity ui the soul, the eX
~l,tcnce Of spiritual beings which do
not ill Que particle OF space, and The
oil doctrine OF Patio, that there is u
heaven for the righteous and "A hell for
the wicked, where the one will be nap
py aud Tie other miserable throughout
the countless ages Of eternity.
Now. concerning the philosophy OF
jefferson, Garland says that to him
1.-THE spiritual had no existence. De
voted to the natural sciences, las meta
physics savored q MateriuAsm. Locke 5
PHILOSOPHY ui tue senses bounded hl'
conceptions of the human understand:
ny. lie was IL holL, free thinker
Uounl to no school
When Jefferson appeared in the
Legislature of Virginia. his Service
were needed there. The laws OF Eng
, md and Virginia denounced terrible
penalties AGAINST Atheists, Unitarians
Pok tbcist,, etc. And not only 81
tut the people were compelled 10y las
to support the established religion
whether they were professors "t tina
religion or not. Under these clrcum
stances, Jefferson appeared as til
champion of religious liberation III
hill that he i%ntroducc'i tor the eStat
= Ilsnmenl Of religious freedom VIII eve
remain Il monument To MS memory
In the preamble 10 that bill II IS sal
' that
The opini Ms AMI belief of men dc
pend not IN Their W VIII, but ioll"'
I%nvDfuntarily the evidence proposed I
lir,r minds. That the opinion
ui~mrn are not the object of civil gov
eminent, nor under its Jurisdiction
That the inpiuus presumption "l leSiS
luturs and rulers, civil rs we'll IA &c
: I'll, siaslival. 10th established and mann
laiuci false religious over the 2r"atrs
part af the void, and through all time
That our civil ri lit, have M depend
= rnrc on our religious principles. IN.
more Than our OPINIONS IN physics u
Y geometry. That therefore the pre-
scrlhing any citizen as unworthy III
public conf ience hy laying upon hi
an lncapari,y of helng called /" office
l. 1T trust and emolumcni, unless he pro
\ Tess or rrnouurp this or tina religion
y, niiulnn. IS drpriviny him ininri"usl
Of those privileges aud advantages L
, Which. IN common with his fellow citi
L zrns, he has natural right. And tina
all attempts to inf ience the mind ',
temporal puni .hnncntS or bnr'ic1s. %
~ cI,il IN expectations. tend only t.
mscl habits Of hypocrisy and mcad
ne,s, and corrupt the principles OF tina
ser, religion it i, meant To encOnra2,
I nv briliny with n monopoly of worldly
, nonurs aud emolumentS those who vii
externally profess AMI conform to It.
The separation Of Church AMI Stat
was ctlrcle.i, and the principle estah
Z lisiiei that every man hat a tight t.,
ms own opinion or all subjects. BIZ
this great work was not accomplislle,
without ~ tremendous struggle" Il II
to none OF our public men are we more
indebted for the religious liberty W,
enjpy than to Thomas Jefferson, I'll,
tree thinker. whose philosophy ''savor
ed 0i ma'rrialism.'
In my next communication ] viii
ens!euvor to show what jefferson
thought Of Jesus aud his doctrines.
j. X. B