CONTENTS
[ THOMAS JEFFERSON A CHARACTER SKETCH By Edward Ellis ]
[ THOMAS JEFFERSON. (1743-1826), By G. Mercer Adam ]
[ THOMAS JEFFERSON'S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS—1801. ]
[ THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, By Isidore A. Zacharias. ]
[ ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF JEFFERSON. ]
[ JEFFERSON'S BRIDAL JOURNEY. ]
[ WOULD MAKE NO PROMISES FOR THE PRESIDENCY. ]
[ JEFFERSON AND PATRICK HENRY. ]
[ INFLUENCE OF PROF. SMALL ON JEFFERSON. ]
[ JEFFERSON AND THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. ]
[ THE FINANCIAL DIARY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. ]
[ HORSE BACK RIDING TO INAUGURATION. ]
[ TITLES OF HONOR AND OFFICE. ]
[ THE TERM OF THE PRESIDENCY. ]
[ THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AND LAWYERS. ]
[ THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. ]
[ JEFFERSON AND THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. ]
[ JEFFERSON AND BENEDICT ARNOLD. ]
[ NEITHER ORATOR NOR GOOD TALKER. ]
[ THE INFLUENCE OF JEFFERSON'S SISTER. ]
[ RECONCILIATION WITH JOHN ADAMS. ]
[ EDUCATING AMERICAN BOYS ABROAD. ]
[ SAYINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON ]
[ TEN CANONS FOR PRACTICAL LIFE. ]
THOMAS JEFFERSON A CHARACTER SKETCH By Edward S. Ellis
No golden eagle, warm from the stamping press of the mint, is more sharply impressed with its image and superscription than was the formative period of our government by the genius and personality of Thomas Jefferson.
Standing on the threshold of the nineteenth century, no one who attempted to peer down the shadowy vista, saw more clearly than he the possibilities, the perils, the pitfalls and the achievements that were within the grasp of the Nation. None was inspired by purer patriotism. None was more sagacious, wise and prudent, and none understood his countrymen better.
By birth an aristocrat, by nature he was a democrat. The most learned man that ever sat in the president's chair, his tastes were the simple ones of a farmer. Surrounded by the pomp and ceremony of Washington and Adams' courts, his dress was homely. He despised titles, and preferred severe plainness of speech and the sober garb of the Quakers.
"What is the date of your birth, Mr. President?" asked an admirer.
"Of what possible concern is that to you?" queried the President in turn.