The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1907-04-07

Prof. T. c. McCorvey of the Univer-
sity Of Alabama, cast his vote for Wash
ington, Jefferson and Lee. His letter
was as follows: a
ITO the Editor of The New York
Times:
"I do not think that 1t is entirely the
bias of Southern ancestry. birth. and
rearing that turned my thoughts at
once, when asked to name the three
greatest figures in American history. to
Washington, the founder of the Re-
public: to Jefferson. the political phi
losopher and practical statesman. and
to Robert e. Lee. the peerless soldier
and faultless gentleman.
There will probably be no question as
to washington's place at the head or
the American pantheon. for the i'm
mortal words of Henry Lee on the death
OF his great chieftain. First in war.
first in peace. and first in the hearts of
his countrymen,' are as true now as
when they were uttered in December
1899.
But there will be no such universal
assent to the place which Is here as
signed to Jefferson. AS the great
leader Of the popular party OF his day,
he bittesly antagonized the opposing
artstocratic party. and the animosity
of the Federalists was handed down
to their later day successors the Wings
and the Republicans. Few. however.
will attempt to deny that II was JET
Persons influence which made possible
the future Characterization of our gov
eminent by another great American.
as one of the people, by the people
for the people Aside from his influ-
ence in democratizing the government.
his greatest service probably to his
country and to mankind was In check
ing the baleful Influence of priestcraft
in notifies AS the author OF the sta
tute Of virginia for religious freedom,
he struck a death blow to the union
Of Church and State, for that act was
the historical forerunner OF the pro-
vision embodied In the first amendment
70 the Constitution that Congress shall
make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion. or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof He himself recog-
nized the Importance OF this work
when he put 1t In his epitaph along
with the authorship of the Declaration
of Independence and the founding OF
the University of Vfrginia--tn which
institution his ideas OF freedom were
made vital even in accidents life. But
there were great services of Jefferson
in the field of practical craftsmanship
that probably he himself did not fully
appreciate. The amount OF litigation
and bloodshed which he averted by
the wild lands of the west cannot be
overestimated. Again. the time and la
Dor which he saved for all future gen.
erations of his countrymen by the pro-
posal of our decimal system of coin
age Is beyond computation. But to
catalogue all of Jeffersons great bene-
factions to his country would carry
this opinion far beyond its allotted
space.
THE spontaneous outburst of appre-
ciative utterances that marked the re-
cent centenary of Lees FORTHCOMING
from all sections of the country. as
freely almost from the North as from
the South-afforded abundant proof of
the high place which his memory now
holds in the esteem of his countrymen
of all creeds and parties. and is
prophecy of the still greater pride
which all future Americans will feel
in his achievements and character. AS
the passions of men are cooled by time,
his former enemies can see, as his
friends have always seen, his marvel
Gus genius for war and the loftiness of
his soul in defeat,
The American people, as a whole,
are beginning to recognize, what a
distinguished Englishman saw more
than four decades ago, that Lee was
made of finer clay than any of his con-
temporaries. If he was great in the
field when beating back, with his thin,
gaunt lines, the overwhelming numbers
of his foes, he was greater still in the
dignity and majesty with which he