THOMAS JEFFERSON Library Edition CONTAINING HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY, NOTES ON VIRGINIA, PARLIA- PUBLISHED IN THEIR ENTIRETY FOR THE FIRST TIME ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS, DEPOSITED IN THE DEPARTMENT JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICAL INDEX ANDREW A. LIPSCOMB, Chairman Board of Governors EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ALBERT ELLERY BERGH MANAGING EDITOR VOL. VIII. ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D. C. THE STATUTE FOR ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. Jefferson was a political philosopher, and thought far in advance of his time. And yet he differed in one essential particular from the philosophers who do not live to see the triumph of their ideas. He proclaimed great living truths, and then he applied those truths to the questions with which he had to deal. Some have contented themselves with laying down abstract principles, and have not sought to give them vitality in the present day; but Jefferson not only saw the future but he saw the present, and we have this great advantage in the study of the principles of Jefferson, that he gave us those principles embodied in legislation. I have been more and more surprised as I have studied the questions with which we have to deal, to find that there is no subject with which our people grapple to-day that he did not consider in principle. Take the questions that are subjects of controversy and you will find that he stated principles and applied principles at that time that apply to the questions at this time; and to-day we do not have to go beyond his writings to find principles that will solve aright the problems of today. He saw great fundamental truths, self-evident truths, if you please; and I am coming to believe that there are not only self-evident truths but that all truth is self-evident-that the best service that a man can render to a truth is to state it so that it can be understood. Jefferson had the power of statement, and he stated the truths so that they could be understood. I do not mean to speak lightly of the work of Jefferson in purchasing the Louisiana territory, but if that territory had not been bought then it would have been bought afterward, for it was there, and it was necessary that it should become United States territory. I cannot believe that the purchase of that land-dull, inanimate matter can be compared with the proclamation of immortal truth. I place far above any purchase of acres or square miles, the utterance of those truths upon which human liberty must rest. Philosophy is above geography. Jefferson rightly measured his own work when he looked back over a long and eventful life, and, ignoring the foot-hills of honor, saw only the mountain-peaks of service. He gave to us proof that the Bible is right when it fixes service as the measure of greatness. You will remember that when there was a controversy as to which should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and the question was brought to the Master, He said: "Let him who would be chiefest among you be the servant of all." So Jefferson, when he looked back over his life, saw, not the things that he had received, but the things that he had given to the world; not the things men had done for him, but the things he had done for mankind. I have been asked to write about the Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, and enacted by the State of Virginia in 1786, about eight years after it was drafted. Let me quote you the statute: 'That the General Assembly do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent, or support, any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." The conciseness of Jefferson's style is well illustrated in this statute. Read it over. There is not a superfluous word, and yet there is enough to guard religious liberty. It is not strange that this doctrine, so well set forth by Jefferson more than a century ago, is now a part of the Constitution and Bill of Rights of every State of this Union. Not only is that to-day the law of this land, but it is spreading throughout the world. It was only a short time ago that the Czar of Russia issued a decree in which he acknowledged the right of all the subjects of his |