Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1900-05-03
Instantaneous.
Mastery Address Delivered BY Hon.
John J. LentZ.
IN COMMEMORATION OF JEFFER-
SONS BIRTHDAY.

(Hun. John J. Lentz, Of Ohio,
member Of Congress from the
Columbus District, addressed the
Wood county Democratic Club, at
Parkersburg, on the l+th, 10 COM
incarceration Of Jefferson's birthday
April 18th. To the Petersburg
Sentinel we are indebted for the fol-
lowing report Of this admirable adj
dress, which we feel assured all will
read with interest and profit. In
these days when Imperialism is as.
sailing the constitution and boldly
prUclaimiug that We have 0utgrown
the great principles Of liberty aud
| Justice 81 admirably expressed by
Jefferson in the American Declare
ton Of Independence, it is we'll to
recur to the teachings of this apostle
of Democracy, tho prOfOupdest
thinker and the ablest and most dis
tinguished Of all American states
men, EDITOR.
Mr.. Lentz sail there had never been
character in the worlds history
who has caused so much thought, so
much good to man a. Thomas Jetfer-
son, who, surrounded by all which
would tend to make him an ariSto-
rrat, became the great American
rnmlnouer. He held rs o fuudameu-
tai principle that all men were born
equal and that the only way to main
tain that equality was through the
means Of education. To him is due
the great public school system Of
| America. When in 1869 Thomas
Jefferson introduced Into the House
of BurgesSes Of Virginia bill pro
vidiug that slave owners might give
freedom to their slaves he did more
to liberate the slave than any other
man had ever doue or has done
since. The bill was defeated, but it
started the agitation of the slavery
question and in 1865, in four years
less than century later, in the same
old Virginia, the question he then
aroused WAS determined.
| You can build, said Mr.. LentZ,
stone wall which a l3inch gun will not
pierce but there can never be wall,
be it Of stone or superstition, Of big
Otry or intolerance, which the force
Of an idea can not crush into powder
if it but have the right behind it.
Aud this accounts for Jetferson's in
Huence upon the nation. Not q good
thing has been douo in this nation
since lTI6 that was not due to him ;
not reform has been made that he
did not begin. Nor is his work done
yet, for his influence is still felt and
will be felt for ages to come. He
WAS the originator Of the doctrine Of
equal rights to all, special privileges
to none. He it was who separated
church and state. He did away with
the atrocious law Of primogeniture
He was the father Of the Single
Takers. He was opposed to mo-
nOpOly in every form. He held tha
great men were not those brought
up in luxury or idleness, but are
those who toll. Said Mr.. Lent
God has never yet been able tC
make a great man or a good woman
except by persistent work" Hi;
master stroke was the education o
the masses. He knew that this alone
would bring the people up to a plane
where they could not be imposed
upon by political demagogues.
He said We have new school o
philosophers to-day, trying to teaci
us that we have outgrown the con
stitution. Every nation that be
} comes corrupt will fall. Three hun
} dred years before the treaty of Pari
that same Philip II for whom tn
Philippines were named, said tn
sun never set on Spain's possessions
That same Spain is to-day so humili
ated, SO low, that even the dogs vii
not stop to lick it's sores. Ifthe prin
ciples Of Jefferson are departed from
4 this nation will disintegrate. Jane
: Russell Lowell rightly answere'
Guizot, who asked how long tn
American government would last
when he said "Only so loug as W
adhere to the principles of its fouu
ders." These principles are eS
pressed in the Declaration Of Inde
pendence, the Constitution and tn
Monroe Doctrine. Thomas Jefferso
wrote the Declaration of Independ
aud moulded the tho ught that wa
crystallized in the other two.
Speaking Of the trusts he said tbs
while the blacks we're free, tn