of Georgia, then he went back to Philadelphia as a member of Congress,
where he stayed until October, 1781. In December, 1778, he became
Colonel in the First Regiment of Foot Militia for the defence of
Georgia. The British were then bent on capturing Savannah. Col. Walton
with one hundred men was posted on the South Common to guard the
approach to Great Ogeeche Ferry. General Robert Howe was in command
of the American forces, and Colonel Walton had informed him of a pass
through the swamp by which the enemy could attack them in rear, but
General Howe paid no attention to this. The result was this pass being
left unguarded, the British made their way to the rear of the American
forces and fell upon them with great disaster. Col. Walton was shot
in the thigh, the bone being broken; and falling from his horse, was
captured by the British. The enemy entered Savannah and held that city
captive. Col. Walton was taken prisoner to Sunbury, where he was well
cared for until his recovery. He never, however, regained complete use
of his leg, for he limped the rest of his life. He was exchanged for a
Captain of the British Navy and proceeded to Augusta. Soon after his
return to Augusta he was made Governor of Georgia, but the state being
so over-run by British, he had little to do.
Peace came to the colonists in 1782, and the British withdrew from
Savannah. America was free and the states independent in 1783. George
Walton was made Chief Justice of Georgia, and for seven years was
a beloved judge in all parts of Georgia. In 1789 he was again made
Governor of Georgia for a term of one year. While he was governor he
received a copy of the Constitution of the United States which had been
framed by the delegates from all the states.
In 1795 and 1796, George Walton was sent as a Senator to the Congress
of the United States. For many years, and up to the time of his death
he was judge of the middle circuit of Georgia. During the latter part
of his life, his home was near Augusta at a beautiful country place
named Meadow Garden. The house is still standing, and was bought by the
Daughters of the American Revolution, and is being preserved by them
as a memorial to George Walton. He died February 2nd, 1804, at Meadow
Garden, in the fifty-fifth year of his life. He was buried several
miles from Augusta, at Rosney, here his body rested until 1848, when it
was reinterred, being brought to Augusta and placed under the monument
on Greene Street, in front of court house, the body of Lyman Hall being
placed there at the same time. The grave of Button Gwinnett could not
be found; so only two of the signers of the Declaration rest under this
stately memorial.
Few men have received as many honors as George Walton. He was six times
elected representative to Congress, twice Governor of Georgia, once a
Senator of the United States, four times Judge of the Superior Court,
once the Chief Justice of the state. He was a Commissioner to treat
with the Indians, often in the State Legislature, a member of nearly
every important committee on public affairs during his life. His name
occurs in the State's Annals for over thirty years of eventful and
formative history.--_Compiled from "Men of Mark of Georgia."_
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
In writing of a man like Jefferson, whose name has been a household
word since the birth of the Nation, it is well-nigh impossible to avoid
being commonplace; so that in the beginning, I ask you indulgence, if
in reviewing his life, I should recount facts that are as familiar to
you as the Decalogue.
Yet, in studying that life, I find such a richness of achievement, such
an abundance of attainment, such a world of interest, that I am at a
loss how to prepare a paper that will not require an extra session for
its reading.
Thomas Jefferson was the eldest child of a seemingly strange union; the
father, an uneducated pioneer, surveyor, and Indian fighter, living
in the mountains of Virginia--the mother, Jane Randolph, coming from
the best blood of that blue blooded commonwealth. I think we need dig
no further around Jefferson's family tree in order to understand how
a gentleman of education, culture, and aristocratic instincts could
affect a dress so different from men of his class, and could so deeply
and sincerely love the masses as to spend his life in their behalf. And
this he certainly did. He worked, thought, planned, and accomplished
for them--yet, throughout his life, his associations were always with
the upper classes.
He began life in 1743, in the small village of Shadwell, Va., where
he spent his childhood and youth among the freedom of the hills.
Afterwards, whenever he escaped from public duty, it was to retire to
this same neighborhood, for it was on one of his ancestral hills that
Monticello was built.
Thanks to his mother, he was carefully educated at William and Mary
College, from which he graduated at the age of eighteen. The Brittanica
draws the following picture of him as a young man:
"He was an expert musician, a good dancer, a dashing rider, proficient
in all manly exercises; a hard student; tall, straight, slim, with
hazel eyes, sandy hair, delicate skin, ruddy complexion; frank,
earnest, sympathetic, cordial, full of confidence in men, and sanguine
in his views of life." Is not that a pleasing portrait?
Being the eldest son, his father's death, while he was at college, left
him heir to his estate of nineteen hundred acres, so that he could live
very comfortably. Jefferson lived in a day when a man's wealth was
measured in great part by the land he owned. It is indicative of his
thrift and energy that his nineteen hundred acres soon grew to five
thousand--"all paid for," we are told. Indeed, he was strictly honest
in paying his debts.
He was a born farmer, and to the end of his life retained his love for
that mode of existence.
However, he chose the law for his profession. That he did not have to
watch his practice grow through a long season of painful probation is
shown by the record of sixty-eight cases before the chief court of the
Province during the first year after his admission to the Bar, and
nearly twice that many the second year.
Although, as I said, he loved a farmer's life, he was allowed little
leisure to follow it, serving in succession as member of the Virginia
House of Burgesses, member of Congress, Governor of Virginia, member of
Congress again, Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice-President,
and President.
Perhaps many other men have served the public for as long a term, but I
challenge history to find another who has accomplished so much for his
country.
From the founding of Jamestown to the present day, no man, Washington
not excepted, has had the influence over the nation that Jefferson
wielded.
To have been the author of the great Declaration, it would seem, were
fame enough for one American, but for him that was only the beginning.
Independence achieved, he set about making his own state really free
and introduced into the Virginia Legislature bill after bill which cut
off the excresences of a monarchial system, lingering in the practices
of a new-born nation. These bills were not all carried when he proposed
them, by any means, but hear what, in the end they gave to Virginia,
and remember that these things came through the efforts of one man:
religious freedom, the fight for which began in '76 and continued
till 1785; the system of entails broken up; the importation of slaves
prohibited, and primo-geniture discontinued.
Jefferson was not a fluent speaker, but a clear thinker. Besides this,
he had a great antipathy to appearing in print. Therefore, when it was
necessary to say or do anything, he had only to tell somebody what to
say or do, and the thing was accomplished.
Leicester Ford, who has compiled a very thorough Life of Jefferson,
says that "he influenced American thought more than any other person,
yet boasted that he never wrote for the press. By means of others, he
promulgated that mars of doctrine, nowhere formulated, known as The
Jeffersonian Principles." The doctrine that goes by the name of Monroe
was probably his also.
That the principles of the Democratic Party have remained unchanged
from his day to ours only shows the clearness and correctness of his
logic. Not only is this true, but he thoroughly and conscientiously
believed in the things he taught, the theory of States Rights being a
child of his own brain.
During his two terms as President, and throughout the remainder of his
life, such was the faith of his party in his wisdom, foresight, and
political integrity, that he had only to express a wish, and it became,
unquestioned, the law of the land.
After his retirement, his party proposed no measure until a visit was
first made to the "Sage of Monticello," and his opinion obtained.
President followed President, Jefferson became old and infirm, but to
the day of his death, he was undisputed leader of the American nation.
Did he not deserve the name of seer? Years before the Revolution, he
warned the people against slavery, declaring that "nothing is more
certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be
free." He owned the slaves that came to him from his father and his
wife, but is said never to have purchased any.
Among the things accomplished during his presidency are the
extermination of the Mediterranean pirates, the exploration of the
West, public debt diminished, emigration of Indians beyond the
Mississippi promoted, and the wonderful Louisiana purchase.
Though his second term was clouded by constant war in Europe, and the
continued depredations on American commerce, at its close, he was urged
to serve for the third term, the Legislatures of five States requesting
it, showing that he was not held responsible for the condition of
affairs.
His was a many sided nature. Great statesman that he was, great
political scientist, his ability did not stop there. His interest in
commerce, agriculture, literature, history, music, education, and the
natural sciences was unbounded, and his private collections, perhaps,
were unexcelled at that time.
No man has done more for the cause of education among us than he.
He it was who proposed a bill for "the free training of all free
children, male and female." This was ten years before the admission
of girls to the common schools of Boston. His reason for wanting good
schools in Virginia was unique--he said he objected to being a beggar
for the crumbs that fell from the tables of the North. He pleaded for
nonsectarian schools, and was, therefore, called by many atheistic.
This was one of the obstacles that he had to overcome in his fight
for the University of Virginia. Princeton was then sectarian--William
and Mary was controlled by the Episcopal Church. The result of all
this thought and desire exists for us today in the University of
Virginia--the first real University in America.
Thomas Nelson Page says, "No stranger story of self sacrifice and
devotion to a high ideal in the face of trials, which to lesser genius
might have appeared insurmountable, and of disappointments which to
less courage must have proved fatal, has ever been written than that
which recounts the devotion of the last twenty years of the life of
Thomas Jefferson to the establishment of a great university." The
corner stone of Central College, which was afterwards enlarged to the
University of Virginia, was laid in 1816 by President Monroe, in the
presence of Jefferson and Madison, ex-presidents.
Not only did Jefferson see the need for this school, and work to carry
it through, but he actually drew the plans for the buildings, modelling
them after those of ancient Greece and Rome.
Page says, to quote from the same author--and, if you want to read an
interesting book, read his "Old Dominion"--"If any pile of buildings
in the world is fitted by its beauty to be the abode of philosophy it
is this. * * * * The University has excelled in scholastic results any
similar institution in the country. She has a larger representation in
Congress than any other, a larger representation on the bench and a
larger representation in the medical departments of both army and navy.
This has been accomplished on an income less than that of many second
rate colleges."
This result, and the high standard prevailing in the University today,
have more than justified Jefferson for all his labor. His constant
refrain was, "We are working for posterity."
The project was in his brain five years before he began work on it. One
of his proudest titles is "Father of the University of Virginia."
Jefferson's writings consist mostly of letters and addresses, besides
"A Summary View of the Rights of British America," written before the
Revolution, circulated in England, and attributed to Burke, and the
well known and valuable "Notes on Virginia."
He loved his home and his family, and seems to have been peculiarly
blessed in them. He married a rich young widow--Martha Skelton--though
it does not appear that he did so because she was rich.
Of several children only two grew to maturity, and only one survived
him. His wife lived just ten years after their marriage, and almost
with her last breath begged him not to give her children a step-mother.
He made and kept the promise.
I know I have given a rose-colored account of him, yet some shadow
belongs to the portrayal. No one could do the things that he did and
not have enemies. Particularly do politicians not handle each other
with gloves. Jefferson has been called all the ugly names in man's
vocabulary, but very little, if any, real evidence can be adduced to
support any of this.
With all his gifts, he was unfitted to lead a people in the trying time
of war; consequently, his governorship of Virginia, occurring during
the Revolution, and his second term as President were not eminently
successful. No one can deny the bitter emnity between him and Hamilton
any more than any one can prove that the former was more to blame than
the latter. Admit that he was often theoretical and visionary, yet
the work he accomplished proves that he was even more practical and
farsighted.
That he was not free from idiosyncrasies is shown by the manner in
which he went to his first inauguration, and the fact that he always
dressed as a farmer--never as a President.
All this was to prove his steadfastness of faith in democratic ways
and institutions. He would not indulge in making a formal speech at
the opening of Congress, but wrote and sent his "message" by hand--a
practice followed by every President since, with the exception of
President Wilson, 1913.
In all things he was a strict constructionist. But none of these things
can detract much from the name and fame of a man who has put such
foundation stones in our civilization.
I have drawn my data mostly from the writings of one who holds the
opposite political tenets--yet I find it recorded that "Jefferson's
personal animosities were few"--that he couldn't long hold anger in his
heart--that "to this day the multitude cherish and revere his memory,
and in so doing, pay a just debt of gratitude to a friend, who not only
served them, as many have done, but who honored and respected them, as
very few have done."
His hospitality and the public desire to see him were so great that
his home was for many years a kind of unprofitable hotel, because
everything was free of charge. It was always full, and sometimes his
housekeeper had to provide fifty beds. This great expense, added to
some security debts, left him a poor man. In fact, he was in need, but
when the public found it out, money came in in sufficient quantities to
enable him to continue his mode of life.
Like Shakespeare, he wrote his own epitaph, any one item of which
would entitle him to the love of posterity: "Here was buried Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of
the Statute of Virginia, for religious freedom, and Father of the
University of Virginia."
I fear I have been tedious, I know I have been trite--yet I beg you to
read for yourselves the history and letters of this great man.
That his death occurred on the 4th day of July, 1826, just fifty years
from the day when the wonderful Declaration was made, and coincident
with that of his former colleague, another ex-president, seems a
fitting close to a most remarkable career.
ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
MISS SUSIE GENTRY, _Vice State Regent, Tennessee_.
Time, the artificer, makes men, as well as things, for their day and
use.
The Revolution was the evolution of an idea--one inherent in all
humanity--Liberty!
First, was the thought of a home, the most sacred and best of
man's sanctuaries. These pioneer Colonists, fleeing from religious
persecution, debt and poverty, often came to an untrodden wilderness of
limitless forest and plain, to form a local habitation and a name.
After the establishment of the home, education and its application
followed, through the teaching and oratory of the pulpit to the white
man and Indian. Next in order was self-government. The Revolutionary
period was productive not only of the general and soldier, but the
statesman and orator, who set forth the "grievances of the people" in
most glowing and convincing terms. The term "orator" has two specific
meanings--in common language, one who delivers an oration, a public
speaker; and technically, one who prays for relief, a petitioner. The
orators of the Revolutionary period were both in one. The true orator
is the poet of the practical. He must be an enthusiast; he must be
sincere; he must be fearless, and as simple as a child; he must be warm
and earnest, able to play upon the emotions, as a skillful musician
his instrument that responds to his every touch, be it ever so light
and delicate. So shall his words descend upon the people like cloven
tongues of fire, inspiring, sanctifying, beautifying and convincing;
for an orator's words are designed for immediate effect.
When the "Stamp Act" was repealed, March 18, 1766, Jonathan Mayhew
delivered a thrilling speech, known as "A Patriot's Thanksgiving," in
which he said: "The repeal has restored things to order. The course of
justice is no longer obstructed. All lovers of liberty have reason
to rejoice. Blessed revolution! How great are our obligations to the
Supreme Governor of the world!"
Even the conservatives, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington,
take of the promethean fire of patriotism; it is seen in Franklin's
writings, in Washington's "Farewell Address"--his masterpiece of
prophetic admonition, delivered in the style and diction of a gifted
orator. A long and faithful career of usefulness, and the very human
touch he had gained as a soldier and general, particularly during that
terrible year of 1777, developed the hitherto unknown gift.
Of the men who composed the Second Colonial and First Continental
Congress, which met at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, William Pitt
said in his speech to the House of Lords: "History has always been my
favorite study, and in the celebrated writings of antiquity I have
often admired the patriotism of Greece and Rome, but, my lords, I
must avow that in the master states of the world I know not a people
or senate who can stand in preference to the delegates of America
assembled in general congress at Philadelphia."
Samuel Adams was one of the foremost orators and patriots of America,
and was of Massachusetts' famous bouquet--James Otis, Joseph Warren,
Josiah Quincy, John and John Quincy Adams--and left his work on the
history of America as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
James Otis, next in chronological order, was a bold, commanding orator,
and the first to speak against the taxing of the colonies. He was
called "the silver-tongued orator" and "a flame of fire." His death was
as unusual as his gift--he was killed by a stroke of lightning May,
1772.
Joseph Warren and Josiah Quincy were both men of great talents and
power, Warren was elected twice to deliver the oration in commemoration
of the massacre of the fifth of March; he rendered efficient service by
both his writing and addresses; and was distinguished as a physician,
especially in the treatment of smallpox. He was killed while fighting
as a volunteer at Bunker Hill.
Josiah Quincy's powers as an orator were of a very high order. It is
sad to think that he died the very day he reached his native land,
after a voyage to Europe in the interest of the colonies. One does not
wonder that John Adams possessed influence, when in voting for the
Declaration of Independence he exclaimed: "Sink or swim, live or die,
survive or perish, I give my heart and hand to this vote;" nor that
the son of such a father was called "The Old Man Eloquent" and the
"Champion of the Rights of Petition," who thought "no man's vote lost
which is cast for the right."
John Adams is the one man who remembered liberty and the people, for
when he died July 4, 1826, his last words were, "It is the glorious
Fourth of July! God bless it--God bless you all!"
From this cursory glance of the orators of Massachusetts, we can well
understand how, like the "alabaster box" of old, the perfume of their
noble deeds for the cause of right still lingers.
Alexander Hamilton was an orator that accomplished much for the
colonies with his forceful, facile and brilliant pen, as did Madison
and Jay, in the "Federalist." Patrick Henry, the red feather, of
the Revolutionary period, as is E. W. Carmack of to-day--is by the
South regarded the Magna Stella of that marvelous galaxy of stars.
It is probable that his oratory was not as much a product of nature
as was thought at the time when it was so effective. It was somewhat
an inheritance, as he was the great-nephew of the Scotch historian
Robertson, and the nephew of William Winston who was regarded as an
eloquent speaker in his day.
Patrick, after six weeks study of law, we are told, commenced the
practice of law (having the incumbrance of a family and poverty) and
with what success, all the world knows. It was in the celebrated
"Parson's case" that he won his spurs, and the epithet of "the orator
of Nature;" also his election to the House of Burgesses, of Virginia.
Nine years after he made his famous speech in which he told George III
he might profit by the examples of Caesar and Charles I, he delivered
his greatest effort of oratory--in which he said, "I know not what
course others may take, but give me liberty, or give me death!"
Thomas Jefferson was the father of that instrument, the Declaration
of Independence--that gives us "life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness," in so far as we trespass not on the moral and civil rights
of our neighbor--and was persuasive and eloquent, as well as an acute
politician. He was the acknowledged head of his party; and his work
was of the uttermost importance to both the colonies and states. No
one politician and orator has left a more indelible impression upon
succeeding generations than he.
Thomas Paine also did his quota as an orator and writer; and great
were the results accomplished by his "Common Sense" and the first
"Crisis." Paine was not only a writer and orator, but a soldier. Under
General Nathaniel Greene he rendered such efficient and valuable
service that he was called the "hero of Fort Mifflin." Although he
was an Englishman, who came to America and espoused the cause of the
Continentals, the English nation are glad to own him. William Cobbett
(the English statesman) says "whoever wrote the Declaration, Paine was
its author."
Paine was one of the most noted orators, if we remember that an "orator
is one who prays for relief--a petitioner," whether it be viva voce or
with the pen. We wish it were possible in the time allotted to us to
give extracts from the speeches and writings of these orators of the
Revolution. How grateful we should be, and what a debt of gratitude
we owe each of them, for their labors that have long since received
the encomium from God and man--"well done, thou good and faithful
servant."--_American Monthly._
THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY.
The flag of our country, how proudly it waves
In the darkness of night, in the light of the sun,
In silence it watches our patriots' graves,
In splendor it tells of their victories won!
It waves, as it waved in the brave days of old,
An emblem of glory, of hope, and of life;
A pledge to the world in each star and each fold
Of a love that endures through all danger and strife.
Of love that is deep as the sea 'neath its blue;
Of a love that is pure as the light of each star;
O, flag of our country, the brave and the true
Await thee, and greet thee, and bless thee afar!
The flag of our country, the flag of the free,
The hope of the weary, the joy of the sad,
May our eyes at the last, still thy bright promise see
That each slave shall know thee, arise and be glad!
The flag of our country, the flag of our love,
Our hearts are aflame with thy red, white and blue;
May thy glory increase while thy stars shine above,
To thy promise and pledge may the children be true.
O, the red, white and blue! O, the flag of the free!
Sweet liberty calls to the nations afar,
Thy glory illumines the land and the sea,
O, flag of our country, earth's beautiful star!