Part 29 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Opera House. It occupies the ground of the bank and other buildings burnt at the bombardment, December 11, 1862. (See page 269)]

”The statute of descents in Virginia was drawn by him--a statute which has justice and 'natural right' in every line, and so clear and perspicuous is it, that in all these years only one serious question has been raised regarding it, calling for a decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

”Jefferson gave an impetus to public education which is felt at this time.

He proposed to the General a.s.sembly of Virginia three bills: the first, establis.h.i.+ng elementary free schools for all children; the second, for colleges; and the third, for the highest grade of sciences. Only the first of these was pa.s.sed by the a.s.sembly, and before this was done it was so amended that it could not be operative unless the county courts so decided. Now, as the justices who presided over these courts, while among the most honorable and talented men in Virginia, were generally of a cla.s.s who did not care to bear the taxes necessarily entailed upon them by the adoption of the system, no free schools were established in any county within the Commonwealth under this act, with possibly the exception of one county.

”It was a fact that our ancestors, especially when under the English system of government, did not favor education at public expense, and the royal Governors, as a rule, threw the weight of their influence against it. But after the Revolutionary war had closed, and the government of the States was made a government by the people, Virginians, like Jefferson, proceeded on the theory that to have a good government, the people--the sovereigns--must be educated, so that they would take, not only a deeper interest in the affairs of State, but would do so with intelligence--the more knowledge disseminated the better would be the government, and the less danger there would be of its falling into the hands of a favored and exclusive cla.s.s.

”The principle of free education, however, so earnestly forced to the front by Jefferson, eventually bore fruit, though the ripening was slow.

It was gradually adopted by the people of Virginia, until now a system, backed by a sound public sentiment, is established in every county and city in the State, and the doors of the colleges are open to those who have not been favored with fortune. It may be safely predicted that when the State shall have fully recovered from the wreck and havoc of the Civil war, that a complete and thorough system will be established, such as that which was first proposed by Jefferson, and the people of the State will rejoice to see it done.

”No more important measure was proposed to the committee which met in Fredericksburg, on the 13th of January, 1777, than that of Jefferson's for the establishment of religious freedom, just as it now appears, with slight modifications in the preamble, in the statute books to-day. The fact that this act was written in Fredericksburg, we have never heard questioned; and the people of this city have the same right to claim that this 'second declaration' had its birth here, that the people of Philadelphia have to claim that city as the birth-place of the first. It was, however, a long time before its advocates were able to secure its pa.s.sage by the Legislature. Having been written in 1777, it did not become the law of the land until 1785.

”In making his fight for religious freedom, the courage, the persistence and the power of this statesman shone in all their splendor. We consider this as his most difficult task, but it is his crowning glory. He had arrayed against him the advocates of a long cherished policy, sustained by law; one around which tradition had woven a peculiar sanct.i.ty, and he who would lift his hand against it was deemed guilty of sacrilege. There, too, were the clergy, strong in resistance, backed, as they were, by a wealthy and powerful cla.s.s, Jefferson himself belonging to a family whose members, though loyal in exacting faithful obedience to changes in existing conditions, loved this church and wors.h.i.+pped in its sacred, but State protected walls; yet, in spite of all of this, believing that freedom of conscience was one of the 'inalienable and natural rights,' with a boldness, which all must commend; with a persistence, which all must admire, he headed the forces which took the last citadels of monarchial inst.i.tutions and leveled them to the ground, thus forever separating church and State and eliminating the combination of political policy and religion, so that henceforth no man could be 'compelled to frequent or support any religious wors.h.i.+p, place or ministry, but all men shall be free to profess, and by argument maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or effect their civil capacity.'

”In justice to those who were adherents to the established church, it must be said that some supported Jefferson, and after the change came, none were more devoted in maintaining the statute, and all others of kindred import; many being in positions charged with their proper enforcement, gave them sound judicial interpretation in exact conformity to all theories of the newly formed government.

”This act for the establishment of religious freedom is not only a monument to him, as a liberator of men, but its elegant diction, its easy and smoothly flowing style, show his genius as a writer. It is worthy of note, its preamble contains over five hundred words, yet it is but one sentence; only finished in the body of the act itself, where the first period appears; and, although he says this preamble was somewhat mutilated by others, there is nothing doubtful or uncertain as to its meaning, purpose and scope.

”To do full justice to the subject in hand would require a volume, but we must content ourselves with what has been written to show in part the wonderful and rapid changes then made in old and settled conditions, and the powerful influence this section had in moulding a government based on 'natural rights and justice,' and in shaping its destinies.”

WAs.h.i.+NGTON GAINS INDEPENDENCE.

It was George Was.h.i.+ngton, a native of Westmoreland county, raised in Fredericksburg, who led the American armies in the Revolutionary war and gained American independence. He was called the ”Great and Good Was.h.i.+ngton.” He was truly great. He was great in the eyes of Americans; he was great in the eyes of his opposing enemies; he was great in the eyes of the world. He was an uncrowned king, because he refused to be crowned. We cannot properly appreciate his greatness, because he was so great we have no one to compare him with.

It is said a famous scholar has written a long essay in which he argued that the ”traditional Was.h.i.+ngton” must give place to the new Was.h.i.+ngton.

Referring to this, Senator Lodge says: ”This is true in one sense. A new idea of Was.h.i.+ngton comes up in the mind of each generation, as it learns the story of the father of this country; but in another sense, the idea of a new Was.h.i.+ngton is wrong. He cannot be discovered anew, because there never was but one Was.h.i.+ngton.”

As to the esteem in which Was.h.i.+ngton is held all over the world, Senator Lodge says: ”Even Englishmen, the most unsparing critics of us, have done homage to Was.h.i.+ngton from the time of Byron and Fox to the present day.

France has always revered his name. In distant lands, people who have hardly heard of the United States know the name of Was.h.i.+ngton. Nothing could better show the regard of the world for this great giver of liberty to the people than the way in which contributions came from all nations to his monument in Was.h.i.+ngton. There are stones from Greece, fragments of the Parthenon. There are stones from Brazil, Turkey, j.a.pan, Switzerland, Siam and India. In sending her tribute, China said: 'In devising plans, Was.h.i.+ngton was more decided than Ching s.h.i.+ng or Woo Kw.a.n.g; in winning a country, he was braver than Tsau Tsau or Ling Po. Wielding his four-footed falchion, he extended the frontiers, and refused to accept the royal dignity. The sentiments of the three dynasties have reappeared in him. Can any man of ancient or modern times fail to p.r.o.nounce Was.h.i.+ngton peerless?'

These comparisons, which are so strange to our ears, and which sound stranger still when used in comparison with Was.h.i.+ngton, show that his name has reached further than we can comprehend.”

Speaking of the Declaration of Independence, Maury says:

”From beginning to end it was the work of Virginia. A Virginia planter (Mason) conceived it; a Virginia lawyer (Jefferson) drafted it; and a Virginia soldier (Was.h.i.+ngton) defended it and made it a living reality.”

FIRST FLAG RAISED BY JOHN PAUL JONES.

It was John Paul Jones, a Fredericksburg man, who raised the first flag over our infant navy, and the first to throw our National flag--the Stars and Stripes--to the breeze of heaven. The National Portrait Gallery, volume 1, giving a short sketch of Jones's life, says: ”On the organization of the infant navy of the United States, in 1775, John Paul Jones received the appointment of first of the first lieutenants in the service, in which, in his station on the flag-s.h.i.+p Alfred, he claimed the honor of being the foremost on the approach of the Commander-in-Chief, Commodore Hopkins, to raise the new American flag. This was the old device of a rattlesnake coiled on a yellow ground, with the motto, '_Don't tread on me_,' which is yet partially retained in the seal of the war-office. *

* * By the resolution of June 14, 1777, he was appointed to the Ranger, newly built at Portsmouth--a second instance of the kind--had the honor of hoisting for the first time the new flag of the Stars and Stripes.”

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