Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-05-24
LECTURE BIZ HON. GEORGE DIXON.

LECTURE BIZ HON. GEORGE DIXON
Many of the leading citizens of Memphis
have addressed letter TO Judge Dixon re
questing him to deliver a lecture at Fret
Trade Hall, on ANY subject he might selec
as suitable to his taste. The CORE sponde nee
published in the APPEAL yesterday an.
n1unces that he has accepted the invitation
aud selected "Thomas Jefferson" as the sub.
Jet. The lecture will be delivered on Fri.
day evening next, and it can be truthfully
said that no orator could have a more in
spring theme. The people of Memphis
have never cultivated taste for public lee
lures on religious, moral, scientific or gov
ornamental subjects. They flock by thou
sands to witness the disgusting performances
OF ignorant pedestrians inspired by the low
and groveling ambition to show to the world
that they possess the physical endurance of
the mule. But they shun the Iecture-room
as If it were penthouse. We cannot, there
fore, predict for Judge Dixon large audi
ence, but we know that his lecture will be
chaste, reflective, scholarly and worthy of a
large attendance, and the matches genius
Of Americas greatest statesman. Thomas
Jefferson is peerless in the history of
our country. After the lapse of
nearly hundred years the Ameri-
can people turn to his memory with in
creased reverence for his unrivaled ability,
his lofty patriotism, his sagacious states
manship and his unequsled services. Great
as his work appeared in his own time, it
appears still greater in ours. 1t was not
until our day that it found its crowning test
He endowed the constitution with national
principles, and his utterances, prophecies
and warnings emphasize his mightiness and
his glory. 1t was his sagacity that breathed
the breath of real organic life into the
was marvellous. In intellectual breadth and
power he was the greatest man of his age
Washington was unapproachable in moral
majesty and grandeur; Adams was called the
Colossus of the Revolution, and embodied its
ardent enthusiasm; Hamilton was associated
with many shining events; but neither Ham
ilton nor Adams matched the wise, far-reach-
ing statesm anship or the creative genius of
Thomas Jefferson. He was at once patriot,
writer, politician, statesman and diplomatist,
and pre-eminent in every realm. Washing
ton placed the highest estimate upon his
patriotism and ability. As a writer, his
papers are models of finished and forcible
composition. AS a politician, he was the
foremost man of his day. In statesmanship,
he mounted to that loftiest achievement
which organizes nations and creates en-
pires. He belongs to the highest rank of
intellect, which gave Shakespeare to the |
drama, Bacon to philosophy, Richelieu
TO statecraft and a Napoleon to war. His
life was not apotheosizsd with some heroic |
episode, as others were; he was not one of |
the people in the same sense that franklin
was. But his work for his country was of
deep and elemental character. With tire
less energy he traced principles back to their |
sources and forward to their conclusions.
That he was human AMI committed errors is |
the background which brings out in holder |
relief the simplicity and integrity of his |
character and the greatness of his |
mind. In the death of Washington the |
young Republic was csnsoled by the re-
Election that Jefferson still lived. We are
almost too near him to fully take IN the vast
dimensions of his wisdom and genius. Time,
like distance, can alone display the msgni-
Iude and hight OF his works and thoughts,
He believed that the States had reserved
rights that were to be held inviolate and in
violable, and expressed an utter adherence |
for consolidated government which had no
respect for the rights of the States. The
political tyros, who twice voted for Grant
and supported his administration for eight
Years, take malicious delight in sneering
1t d. Webster, III. Clay, G. Washington, A. |
aokson and T. Jefferson. But thoughtful |
patriots had rather follow the teachings of |
hose wise statesmen than the examples of |
uch modern burlesques as Grant, Logan, |
Blaine and Cameron. As the
mariner pauses in his onward course to take |
reckoning, SO should the American people |
recur to the teachings of the |
ounders of the Republic. About a year
sgo the friends of Alexander Hamilton
his statue in New York city, |
and in doing so they availed themselves OF |
he occasion to indorse his teachings and to |
extol his public services, and the same re-
spect should be paid to the memory of the |
Two great men who are derisively called "a |
Jackson" and st. Jefferson" The theme |
which the Hon. George Dixon has selected |
or his lecture on Friday night is favorable
,men. 1t indicates that we still cherish the |
of the founders of the government
which we hold up as model for the civil
lied world, and that we should occasionally |
recur to fundamental principles if we wish |
10 perpetuate the Rspub bic in its original
purity. We bespeak for Judge Dixon
arge audience. He makes no pretensions to
rhetorical splendor and glittering eloquence.
But he is gentleman of solid talents, great
,eading, and his lecture on Thomas Jeffer-
ION will be the solid and interesting tribute
If fervid admirer OF the matches great
ness of Americas matchless genius.