JEFFERSON AS A GEOGRAPHER 
269 
identif}’ tlie springs of the James, to “ find an easy passage over 
tliat great ridge of mountains (the Blue Ridge') hitherto deemed 
impassable,” and then he fancied the problem solved, and be- 
lieved himself within easy reacli of the streams which fed lake 
Erie and her vast sisters. AVe know now that he was misled by 
the Indians and deceived himself; that the great valle}" of Vir- 
ginia stretched before him untraversed ; that beyond lay the 
unsealed heights of the Alleghanies, and then the broad prairies 
of the Xorthwest. It was far from being such an easy matter, 
as Spottswood thought, thus to gain possession of these lakes. 
But the daring and martial spirit which such wild-wood adven- 
tures fostered in Virginian breasts was the spirit which sixty 
years later reared on American soil an everlasting altar to free- 
dom ; which thrilled Virginia’s great orator when he cried, “ I 
know not what other men may do ; but as for me, give me 
liberty or give me death ; ” which inspired Massachusetts’ noble 
statesman, when he swore to abide by the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, “ sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish.” To 
recall this spirit and all that aided to nurture and strengthen it 
seems not inappropriate here beneath the roof of the author of 
that declaration, in sight of his cradle at Shadwell, and with the 
birthplace of George Rogers Clarke, the hei’o of Kaskaskia and 
Vincennes, at our feet; for it was left for this hardy warrior to 
perfect in battle and in march the work which Spottswood’s 
genial and jovial company had ])urposed peacefully to begin. 
JEFFERSON AS A GEOGRAPHER 
By General A. W. Greely, 
Chief Signal Officer, Eniled Slates Armij 
It is a forlorn liope that I am undertaking, to answer an unde- 
livered si)ccch, to speak but three minutes, and to say something 
of interest. I will at least say that the reasons which make 
Monticello one of America’s shrines are too well known to need 
e.xtended comment from me. As long as a love of liberty abides 
in American hearts, as long as a <lesire for knowledge stirs youth- 
ful minds, so long will the name of Thomas .lefh'rson he lu;re 
cherished. He was a man worthy of honor, whether consideiasl 
as an individual founding the University of Virginia, as a Vir- 
18 
