"Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia," was the inscription which Thomas Jefferson left among his papers as one suitable for his own tomb. In another catalogue of things accom plished, drawn up by his own hand, we find the following: °Separated the church and state in Virginia; put an end to entails; prohibited the importation of slaves, and drafted the Declara tion of Mr. Jefferson was the wisest read, the most accomplished of the Presidents, the intellectual of them all; the first, if not the greatest, Democrat in American politics. Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln are the three Presidents who, in practice as well as in theory, by nature as well as by conviction, believed so profoundly in popular government and the sim plicity and freedom involved therein that it be came to them a religion, a source of unfailing enthusiasm. These three belonged to the peo ple and found their highest inspiration in the purpose to serve them. The opinions of no other President ever received such prompt re spect at home and abroad as those of Thomas Jefferson, and his official utterances occupy a place in literature as well as in the history of statesmanship unparalleled by the deliverances of any other President of the United States, save Lincoln.
Jefferson's devotion to civil liberty led to, or sprang from, his freedom in religious thought, in which he was notoriously unorthodox. He was deeply versed in the writings of French philosophers and the events that led up to the Revolution, and was sufficiently grounded in the philosophy of liberty to be able to give at short range the true estimate of that atmo sphere-clearing storm which all clear thinkers at longer range are able to give it. He was a confidant and friend of Thomas Paine, and the principles laid down in The Rights of Man' and (Common Sense' were not only familiar but congenial to him and probably had a direct influence upon his work. These documents, to gether with the life of the much-maligned and cruelly misunderstood author, should be closely studied in connection with the subject at hand.
At the first Congress, systematically con vened at Philadelphia in 1774, Thomas Jefferson was chairman of the committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, which in due time was offered in his own handwriting, essentially as it now stands; a clause censuring slave trade was suppressed. He regretted the first draft of the Constitution as adopted be cause he feared the liberties of the citizens were not sufficiently safeguarded; it contained no precaution against monopolies and standing armies; the freedom of conscience and of re ligion were not sufficiently guaranteed; the rights of habeas corpus were not adequately secured, and no limitation was set to the time one person could occupy the Presidency, which, unguarded, as he feared, might grow into an absolutism more or less complete; in short, because it had no °Bill of Rights.* Says one of his later biographers: In his day, Mr. Jefferson combated a greater number of laws which were oppressive, customs which were stale.
tendencies which were undemocratic, and fixed opinions whichcked were popular than any other man in pubiclife. He atta systems and creeds where they were most sensitive. He aroused vested interests which were the most powerful, and which, when alarmed. were the most vindictive. Yet never once in all his long life did be falter, surrender, or apostatize.
He took the unpopular side of slavery, and held to it. He defied the religious bigotry of his times, and continued to defy it. He challenged the organized power of land monopoly and dam rule in his own State and overthrew it.
The first session of Congress after the adop tion of the Constitution in 1789 adopted 12 amendments, most of them looking toward the relieving of the above anxieties expressed by Mr. Jefferson; the first amendment providing for the religious freedom of all the citizens and the unequivocal separation of Church and State. The constitution of nearly every State in the Union now has its ((Bill of Rights." Most of these bills incorporate the exact phraseology of the Declaration of Independence concerning the °inalienable rights to life and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.* This guarantee of re ligious liberty is somewhat modified by the fol lowing States: Maryland declares a person incompetent as a witness or juror who does not believe in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for bin acts, and be rewarded or punished therefor in this world or the world to The law of Maryland provides that °a belief in the existence of God* is a necessary quali fication any offi_e of profit or trust in this State." And also: That every gift, sale or devise of land to any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the gospel, as such, or to any religious sect, order or denomination, or to or for the support, use, or benefit of, or in trust for, any minister. public teacher, or preacner of the gospel. as such, or any religious sect, order, or denomination; and every gift or sale of goods, or chattels, to go in succession, or to take place after the death of the seller or donor, to or for such support, use or benefit; and also every devise of goods or chattels to or for the support, use qr benefit of any minister, public teacher or preacher of the gospel, as such, or any religious sect, order ar denomination, without the prior or subsequent sanction of the Legislature, shall be void; except always, any tale, gift, lease or devise of any quantity of land, not exceeding five acres, for a church, meeting house, or other house of worship, a parsonage, or burying ground, which shall be improved, enjoyed, or used be void. only for such purpose; or such sale, gift, lease, or devise shall Mississippi provides that °The Holy Bible shall not be excluded from use in any public school of this State"; and makes a six months' residence a sufficient qualification for voting to a minister of the gospel, while two years' resi dence is required for a layman.