El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-04-11
Famous Loves of Famous Americans

pledge that he would obey her wish.
When she died the great, strong man,
who never before had been known to
lose control Of himself, felfl in a sWOOn.
He was unconscious for long time and
then he became i'll. For a month he
would see no one. All his philosophy
have deserted him in this time of his
supreme sorrow
WidOyver at Forty.
jefferson was less than 40 when Mrs
jefferson died. CORVALLIS had surren-
dered and the Revolution was in It's
last stages Wnen ne was aroused from
his lethargy- His friends besOught him
to busy himself with public affairs as
much to take his mind off his grief as
to serve the public interest. He was
named as one of the commissioners To
go to Europe and negotiate for yeace.
He declined 1t was nearly a year after
his wife had died before the counsel of
his friends prevailed Much OF that
year he devoted to study, to the broad
ening Of his mind, and to the investi-
cations in science, in agriculture, and
in physics in which he found sOlace
and benefit.
When at last he was prevailed upon
to accept an appointment abroad, he
discovered that ne was ranked as one
of the immOrtals. France acclaimed him
next to Washington as the greatest
American. France just then was seeth-
ing with unrest He spent five years
abrOad-fiVe- years that did much to
flower his intellect-and in those five
years he did a great deal in the negoti-
alton of treaties W lille there he pub
lished his Notes on Virginia" which II
little short of a classic
When he returned he assumed the
leadership Of the Democratic party, or,
as it was then known, the Republican
party Washington made him his sec
rotary Of state, and as everyone knows.
he became the third president OF the
United States.
Pledge Jefferson Never Broke.
Few men have done more for their
country than jefferson did in the eight
years that ne was az the mead OF the
nation With all the incense and all the
honor that Was shown to him. he re-
NAMED the great cOmmOner, one Of the
INTEL ectuals, the most influential man
Of his time. He had any number OF
opportunities to marry and to marry
well, but he never broke the pledge
that he made to his dying wife. With
her passing, all romance went out OF
He was a silly. absurd creature in his
early loves. a glorious example Of the
devoted lover and husband when real
loFe dlG enter ms lie, and ne was a
sage and philosopher extraordinary in
the flower period Of his career.
He lived for nearly half century az
ter the death Of his wife HOnors and
glOries came to him as have been the
portion OF but few men. When he died
It was at his beloved Monticello, and,
by an extraordinary coincidence he
passed beyond exactly so years to the
day from the signing of the declaration
Of independence which he drafted and
which has been classed as the greatest
document from the pen Of man for the
government Of man.
be was great cOmmOner as he lived,
and a great cOmmOner as he died. He
wrote his own epitaph- 1t simply cred
its him with his name, his authorship
of the declaration Of independence. and
the fact that he gave religious liberty
to the people of Virginia He might
q
president. but that he would have
thought a vanity. And he might have
recorded the fact that he was the first
great American to advocate the abOli-
ton Of slavery And he might. too,
have set down the fact that. greaa
statesman though he was. he never
made a Copyright 1914, by the
Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.
Next week: The Love story Of Edgar
Allen Poe and Virginia GLENN