Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-03-30
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

1t was both timely and patriotic
thing for Mr.. "Sunset" Cox to do
yesterday, to introduce a bill into
the House of Representatives to
erect monument over the grave of
Thomas Jefferson. While we are
busily spending money by tens of
thousands for equestrian Statues
concentrating the services of Gen
erals and Colonels of our civil war,
the author of the Declaration of
Independence" lies in an obscure
grave, without decent stone to
mark his last resting place. The
only bronze statue in existence of
Mr.. Jefferson was for many years
suffered to stand unnoticed and unr
cared for In the grounds surround
ing the White House, exposed to
the rains and winds, and covered
with verdigris which had already
eaten into and completely destroyed
the inscription (Which is the famous
"Declaration") upon the bronze
parchment he is represented as
holding in his hand and it is only
within the last year or two that
Congress made an appropriation to
restore it, and had it removed to
i'SeulptuFe Hail." or old Hall of
Representatives, where it now
stands, side by side with Immortal
George" Yet, his grave was suffer-
ed to remain neglected, in the
midst of BRAN bles and thistles at
his old and now dismanteled home
stead of Monticello. Last summer,
on my way back to Washington
from the Virginia Watering Places,
/ stopped at Monticello for the pur-
pose of paying homage at the tomb
of the greatest American Statesman
that had ever died, and the author
of the most famous American docu-
ment ever written ; but it was with
difficulty that could find the place.
A crumbling stone, the inscription
upon which was almost completely
Obliterated, was all, and this was
surrounded by shattered and broken
slabs Of sandstone, marking the
the graves of his relatives. BY dint
of hard labor, after first removing
the dirt from the face of the stone,
and tracing the faint outline of such
of the letters as could not be read,
with my fingers, | made out the
following inscription: ef .sa5a
f fHere was buried Sac. $500
THOMAS JEFFERSON, ss, 81
Author of the Declaration of independence,
of the State of Virginia.
For Religious Freedom, and the Father of
the University of Virginia"
Upon the base of the stOneI traced
the following: ata.tf..IE
"Born April 2, I74s, o. S.
. Died July q, 1896"
There ls no doubt that the House
will promptly pass the bill and
make an appropriation of the ne
elected graves, which, with the UNI
finished Washington Monoment,
has stood for so many years a sad
and significant commentary upon
the charge so often made by mon
archists that "Republics are migrate
ful!'
Washington Is rarely ever with
out an Indian delegation of some
sort and for the last three weeks
our street urchins have been amuse-
ing themselves, when not engaged
in the more laudable and lucrative
employment of selling newspapers
and backing boots, by running
after and crying GLOW! % to Mr..
John ID. Bemo, real live, wild,
Indian from the Indian Territory,
with a Christian, and pronouncable
name. His name, however, is not
his only difference from other In
dlansi q still more marked peculi-
arity Of his was, that he brought
with him a real skin trunk con-