A CHARACTER SKETCH BY EDWARD S. ELLIS, A.M. AUTHOR OF "The People's Standard History of the United States," "The Electic Primary History WITH ANECDOTES, CHARACTERISTICS AND SAYINGS CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION Association Building THOMAS JEFFERSON BY EDWARD S. ELLIS, A. M., Author of "The People's Standard History of the United States," Etc. N° 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. (Copyright 1898, by The University Association.) |