For years I have presented classes, speeches, and presentations about the Founding Fathers of our United States of America. I love to do it. I suppose during one of my speeches, I had become a little too enthusiastic and bombastic. One attendee came up to me afterwards to tell me as much!
I was a little like Dr. Seuss described:
“You did it! Hooray!
You ought to be proud!
You ought to get boisterous,
Noisterous, and loud!”
(Yes, he made up the word “noisterous.” But it sounds good in context!
When John Adams was still a young attorney, the Boston Massacre took place. No lawyer wanted to defend the British soldiers that were accused of murder in the case. John Adams eventually learned that the whole matter would probably end with the British being found guilty. Because his cousin Sam Adams was there, John knew some of the facts. He also knew that no one would defend the soldiers.
Some say that whatever a man has decided to have placed on his tombstone says a lot about what that man considered to be of greatest importance in his life. Knowing that you would think that a man who accomplished as much in his life as did Thomas Jefferson would need a large grave marker. Or perhaps he’d need several tombstones to give the full story.
An anonymous descendent of Jefferson’s recently made a gift to Monticello of Jefferson’s obelisk clock. Jefferson had a carved shelf inside of his alcove bed. He designed an obelisk clock which was engineered and built by Parisian clockmaker, Louis Chantrot. It’s quite a work of art in itself. When Tom could see the time on the clock as it sat on this shelf in the morning sunlight, that’s when he would arise and start the day.
It was quite a night last night! My wife and I attended a special “coming out” event for the Universal Model. I couldn’t help but think how proud Thomas Jefferson would be of Dean Sessions, the man behind this new model. It is all about the scientific method. Dean, a friend of mine, kept asking himself questions and then seeking the answers.
We don’t give much attention to Thomas Paine these days. He was from England and had tried to make a living alternatively as a grocer, a Methodist preacher, an excise officer, an English teacher and a writer. He wasn’t much of a businessman as you can see, and he had a difficult time relating to others. However, he was a creative and imaginative literary mastermind.
It was so interesting to read a report in the newspaper today about Philadelphia and the Mormons. You may know that the true name of the Mormon Church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. They are referred to as the Mormons because they believe in a New Testament of Jesus Christ which is titled The Book of Mormon.