El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-12
Jefferson's Birthday


on another sheet of paper. The pens
had to be trimmed frequently and both
Of them must be kept mixed Jefferson
wrote thousands OF letters with this
unwieldy machine
Wrote Own Epitnph.
When he died it was found that he
had written his own epitaph, and it is
now carved on the stone which marks
his tomb: Here was buried Thomas
Jefferson, author Of the Declaration Of
Independence, of the statutes of Vfr-
GINA for religious freedom. and father
of the University of Virginia"
There is not word to show that he
was twice president of the United
States. that ne was vice president and
secretary of state, that he was gov
ernor of Virginia. that he had been
honored in many ways by the people OF
his state and Of the new nation which
he had helped 10 bring into existence
No mention IS made on that bit of
stone of the fact that It was Jefferson
who obtained the abolition Of the laws
Of primogeniture and entail in land
tenures. thus solving more than a cen
fury ago in America the problems
which are bringing on starvation and
revolution in England today. There IS
not a word to say that the man bur-
led there was he who. as the head or
an infant republic in the new world,
went across seas and broke the power
/ OF the Barbary pirates to whom Eu-
rope mad paid tribute for centuries.
There is no word TO tell that 1t was
he who opened up the great west by
the purchase of Louisiana and the dis
patch of the Lewis and Clark expe-
dition to Oregon. There is nothing to
say that the man buried there was he
who drafted a charter for the first re-
public Of France. or that 1t was he who
led the fight against the alien and sedi-
ton laws which sought to throttle and
destroy cree institutions in the very be-
ginning OF the history of the nation
Nor is there a word TO tell that II was
jefferson who wrote the Kentucky reso-
buttons which put into words doctrine
that. years afterward. was TO drench
the land he loved with the blood Of /
brethren.
Invented the PIow.
That epitaph does not record the fact
that the man buried beneath it was the
Thomas Jefferson who invented the
plow now used by every civilized tiller
OF the soil, nor that ii was ne who laid
the foundations Of the science of me-
teorology now OF such incalculable
benefit to mankind. Nor is there
word
less mechanical inventions upon which
he wasted money and time But that
stone might truthfully say that Jeffer
son was the father Of the idea which
resulted in the invention of the reaper
He wrote long letters. outlining his
idea. TO a blacksmith in Virginia named
Mccormick. That blacksmith's son,
Cyrus Mccormick, perfected the me-
chanical reaper and, as Jefferson pre-
dicted. It revolutionized agricultural
. life in all the civilized world
Nor does that epitaph hint of the bit
ter quarrels which kept his life in tur-
MOL. the political plots and confer
plots. the war of wits with his great
adversary. Hamilton and the compro
misses which they made a part of the
written and unwritten law OF the fed
, eraI government. The capital Of the
United States is at Washington because
Jefferson drove a sharp political bar
gain. The states of Ohio. Indiana, Illi-
nois. and others Of the northwest terri
tory are a legacy from another po-
litical plot of Jenersons'.
Believed In People.
Politician inventor, amateur Scien-
fist, linguist fiddler. mathematician,
. he was above everything else the great
democratic statesman who believed sin
cerely and absolutely in the people and
their right to rule themselves Yet
he was, himself. of the aristOcracy and
not even IN his most violent demo-
cratic days would he wholly forget his
birth and social station In his old age
the party which he had founded raised
up a leader from among the people.
Andrew Jackson. and no man was more
afraid than the aged Jefferson.
When he was 33 years old Thomas
jefferson wrote the Declaration of In
dependence, being selected as the
chairman OF the committee because he
was young and had taken no part in
the congressional quarrels and jealous
les He wrote with words OF fire that
great declaration of human rights and
Indictment OF monarchic government
! Congress struck out the anti-slavery
portions of the document. but it was
adopted practically as Jefferson wrote
it and thus the United States Of Amer
lea came into existence as free ma
ton.
Many men in his day did not agree
with Jefferson. and many believed him
to be a demagog. Many men still hold
these views. Others. then and now.
hail him as the great apostle Of true
political democracy. But all men must
agree that he was one OF the ablest
and greatest of the able a, great gen
Grafton which ushered the great re-
public into the council OF the nations.
Tomorrow-Baseb Writers.