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Show Iff J Nameo IS 1 rLi me"ca s Greatest J II t -mm BJ m w " I ' I One of the first documents with n which the Amcrlcnn student becomes J 'familiar la tho Declaration of Into- I . jpendence. Ho henrs It ronil, In hid S mK ichlldhood, upon those redletter occu- 8 Islons, the vlllngo Fourth of 'uly cole t jbrutlons; ho peruses It In 1 when he fnmlllnrl7.es himself w his- i 'tory of his country; and, Inou H him for critical study In connection A 1 with his rhetoric. J The author of this wonderful com- w position was a strange comhluntlon of jtl' simplicity mid astuteness. In somo H things ho wns Imprnctlcnl anil vision- at nry In tho extreme; In others his Juds- B incnt wns unerring nud his foresight Q rcmnrknhltic. . He wns nn opponent of shivery, eon- .'. Sending Hint the continuance of the ? (traffic In humanity would result in I Jtrotiblo and bloodshed. He went so fur t fas to Incorporate In tho Declaration , of Independence nu nrllrlu denouncing , George HI for imcournglng the slnvn 5 " j. trnde. This was one of the clauses .Hint wns stricken out hy the revising .committee. Ijiter, when In the house ! of burgesses of Virginia, he attenjpted J to eccuro tho enactment of a Inw tj L the effect Hint after n ccrtnln dnto all negroes horn of slave parents wore lo 1,1)0 free. The act wns defeated. In ,hls autobiography, written In 1821, ho says: "The day Is not far dlstnnt when II Tnust ndopt It, or worse will follow. Nothing Is more certainly written In ' 1 itho book of fate than these peoplo are , ;to be free." As n contrast to these prophetic istatemcnts, lUtcn to what he had to say relative to yellow fever: t "Most evils nro tho means of producing pro-ducing somo good. Tho yellow fovur Iwlll dlBcournge tho growth of great idtles In our nation, and I view great cltles as pestilential to tho morals, f health and liberties of man." I-nter C jho wroto: i 1 ' "Cultlvntors of the enrth aro the J nost vigorous, tho most virtuous, tho ' inost Independent. I consider artificers j as panders of vice and tho Instruments by which tho liberties of a country aro generally overturned. Were I to In-jdulge In-jdulge in my own theories, I shouuld Jwlsh the States to practice neither .commerce nor navigation." I J Jefferson came from an old Ameri can family, his ancestors having preceded pre-ceded the Plymouth Pilgrims. He first t saw the light of day April 13, 1743. He was sensibly brought up, received a fair education, and was not remiss in physical culture. Ho entered the William Will-iam and Mary college at tho age of 17, and continued therein until he graduated. He then rend law In tho office of George Wythe, began tho practice of law In 17C7. and mnrriod ( . the young widow of Bathurst Skolton, :Jnn. 1, 1772. Jefferson was twice elect-ed elect-ed to the house of burgesses of Vlr-.glnln,' Vlr-.glnln,' and then became a member of 'tho Colonial congress, In which body jho was chosen lo draft the reply of Virginia to Lord North's conciliatory propositions. He also drafted the manifesto nfter the battlo of Hunker allll, congress' reply to I-ord North, vnto life, though not Innctlvlty. It was during this period of retirement that he wroto his "Notes on Virginia." A large pnrt of this work was dono under tho shelter of n peculiar rock, which still Btnnds, and which has been known, since that time, as "Jefferson's Itock." In 1782 death took from him his be-, loved wife, and to divert his mind from his sorrow ho accepted n mission to France. In 1783 he retrncd to servo another term In congress, nnd later returned nfaln to Franco, spending sovoral yenrs there ns tho representative representa-tive of this nation. Ho returned to become a member of Washington's cabinet, In tho capacity of secretary of state. It 3 a rcmnrknhlo coincidence that the close of tho llfo of tho author of the document that gave this country 1 tho Fourth to celebrute should occur on July 4, but such wns the case. Ills health began fulling him In the winter of 182(!. Ho continued to decline de-cline throughout the spring nud the early summer months, nnd It wns evident evi-dent to nil, himself Included, that ho wns nenrlng his end. Ho expressed an earnest desire to llvo till July 4, the nnnlversary of tho signing of tho Montlcello, the country seat of Jefferson. Declaration of Independence, and his wish was realized. At 1 o'clock on that memornblo dny ho breathed his last. In Qulncy, Mass., upon that day, nn-. other ex-presldent was bidding farewell fare-well to this world. John Adams hail been counting the hours of his life till this patriotic day should arrive, nnd ho died with these words upon his lips: "Thomas Jefferson still! lives." Los Angeles Times. i t r , ' Jefferson Rock. nnd later was mado chairman of the 'eommlttco appointed to draw up a Dec-Juration Dec-Juration of Independence, f After serving two terms In congress, I land declining to servo n third term , to which ho had been elected, he at 1 .'tempted to retire to prlvute llfo, but j (was persundod to cuter n third tlmo ,the houso of hurgesscs of Virginia, j After serving (ho state In this capncl- i !ty, ho was elected governor of the M I jstatc. 4 ' It was (i tgrbulent period In tho his rS itory or thatcommonwealth, and at the g , of bis term ho again Bought prV KL BaBaBaB3fLJ', . |