The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-04-14

Rather. what did he not do? lie was one
OF them. he loved them, he trusted them,
ne guided them. he chccred them, he
comforted them. ne led them. he was
true TO thcm. So much for generalities.
II is true as said by the Cicero OF Massa-
chusotts. Edward Everett. that there rests
on jefferson the impcrishable renown OF
having pcnned the Declaration OF lnde-
pcndonce. But had he never pcnned
syllable OF IL he would be immortal IL
is true that he raised his hand against
the Established Church, threw himself
against the great landed proprietors ana
powerful party leaders. and brought iorth
the first statute Of religious freedom
that adorned the new worlds history.
Imporishabe rcnown IN that, but without
II he would have been immortal. IL Is
true that he negotiated the territory OF
Louisiana from Napoleon the Great by
purchase. gaining kingdom for a song
securing the Mississippi to the free navi-
cation OF tho swarming mutitudes That
now thrive upon its banks. and adding
the great West and Southwest TO the
Union-the greatest region ever won by
man without drop OF blood. But with
out this he would have been immortal.
1t is true that after long years OF con-
fct he lifted little academy into
great university. YOn1cr IL is "Jefier-
but wero there no university jefferson
would bs immortal 1t is true that he
drew. as chairman of a committee OF
Congress, the famous "ordinnace Of the
Northwestern Territory" and his report
made in his own handwriting. is stll in
the archives OF the State Department
at Washington, ty which Virginia coded
the area which now embraces Ohio. In
diana. Illinois Michigan. and Wisconsin.
Hs therein Cl1ngo
that neither slavery nor involuntary ser
vtude should exist therein after 800"
Renown enough In this, indeed. But with
out II jefferson would have been immor-
tai. II Is true that he broke down and
abolished the old English system of pri-
mogeniture, which gave the land of the
dead owner 10 his eldest son and left
the daughters and younger sons home
less and landless. 1t is true that he de-
stroyed the old English system OF en-
tails that tied up the land for generations
in single line. preventing Its sale and
diffusion, promoting it's barrenness and
decay.
out in Ohio n few years ago 1 spoke
with a distinguished statesman Of the
West at the celebration of the settlement
Of The Northwest territory held at Ma
rietta, ana that gentleman claimed that
the Ohio settlers had broken up the
land~monopoly which had existed in Nir-
cinla. But reminded him that that bust
ness had been effectually attended to
long before the settlers landed In the
Buckeye State, attended 20 both for Nir-
ginia and all her children of the great
Northwest by the statute drawn hy
Thomas Jefferson which gave them their
liberties ready-made. His state papers
would make him immortal oai he done
nothing but write them. His measures
would make him immortal had he done
nothing but frame them. But rhe thOus-
and labors Of his sixty years OF service
had clothed him with Immortality. had no
such papers ever been w'i;ten end no
such measures ever been framed by him.
HIS SIXTY YEARS OF WORK.
What did jefferson do for the people?
Webster's dictionary unabridged would
seem brief were | to tell half OF that
long story.
He poured into their laps the fruits o.
sixty years Of arduous and unrcmitting
toif-tOil in almost every department VI
human science ana endeavOr. lie set
before them the highest examples OF man
hood. the flpest ideals of government the
purest models Of excellence in ali Things.
Constitutions. laws, seeds plants, books, |
machinery, arts. houses; domestic ant
mails. whatever would help them; ne
wanted and would have the best for them.
And he stirred their hearts with the
noblest aspirations that ever quickened |
the human breast, for he was a dreamer
OF great dreams, and nearly every dream
came true.
lie was the most accomplished man |
that America ever produced-"the Ad- |
mirable Crichton" of the new world-and |
defeating TO mankind his gifts from |
heaven, he labOred for them harder |
than the horniest hand tor its daily
bread" Books he devoured. as a hungry
man might devour the dainties OF a ban
quet, but he chewed and digesteu them.
He could have talked history with Ihu-
cydides, Tacitus. Niebuhr. Hume, or Glib
bon. he could have discussed Greek and |
Latin roots with Puffendorf, or "Old /
Gass." Scion, Justinian, Coke, Black
stone, Montesqueu, Nattel, or Marshall |
would have found him a ripe companion |
on any point Of municipal constitutional, |
common, statute, or international law. |
Talk TO him of geography. and you would |
think that he had wandered win Nolrey |
over the ruins OF ancient empires, and |
travelled with Captain Cook 10 the can |
nibal Islands Socrates or Plato would |
have hung upon his discourse about the |
destiny Of man and the immortality of the |
SOUL had he sat with them upon the |
porticos of Athens. Did you bring up |
natural science. you would ind that "a |
Cuvier, a Button. an Agassiz. or Oar |
win might learn from him the secrets Of |
nature about plants, ANIMALS, trees, fos-
sis, or flowers. His exquisite genius |
drank in with JOY the beauties OF poesy |
Homer and Shakespeare. Moliere. Tasso, |
Dante, Dryden, Pope, Milton, whether |
the dulcct melody or the lofty strain, nc |
quaffed them all as the gods might |
quaff nectar, ION their hills recl,ned." |
And had you called at Monticello just |
after the Revolution. you might have |
found the author OF the declaration en- [
gagged with that accomplished french |
visitor. Major-General, the Marquis de |
ChestelleuX, in rec!ting TO each other the |
poems of Ossion over the hOsDitablc |
punch bowl.
For hospitable man was JEFFERSON.
As many as fifty guests were someumes |
around his board and they ate ana drank !
him out of house and home.
a PRACTICAL AND SUCCESSFUL
MAN.
But Jcfferson's mind was practical and |
CT that kind that brings things 10 ac-
count. lie loved the mathematics, and /
no superstition or bcatihc vision could
ever lead him from the bedrock notion
that two and two make four. world with
cut end. lie was as precise IN detail
as he was broad and accurate III gen
eral!zatiOn. Ills nina was like the eie-
plants trunk, that eau pick up pm |
or knock down a lion. When be was
President, he went regularly 10 market,
and he kept IN his journal year after
year the date on which the early Vege-
tables and fruits appeared, and the pre-