it
displays itself sufficient for any writing. Mr. Coolidge must
do me the favor of accepting this. Its imaginary value will
increase with the years. If he lives till my age, he may see it
carried in the procession of our nation's birthday."

So this is how the famous desk went to New England and was finally sent
to the State Department in Washington by the Coolidges in 1876.

When Thomas Jefferson was an old man, he began to carry out his dream,
one which he had had for a long time, to build a university. All his
life he had loved to draw plans and he carefully made his own
blueprints. He drew plans for lovely Monticello when he was twenty-eight
years old. His friends came from far and near to get him to draw plans
for their homes. Ashlawn, Montpelier and others are monuments to this
master builder. He had his own ideas about educating the young men of
Virginia. He wanted to see them fitted to be fine citizens by having a
good education, for he knew it was through good citizens that a good
government would be realized. But first he had to educate his friends
along this line. Many of them still thought a tutor in the family was
the best way. Many did not believe in "mass education." For ten long
years he worked to get a bill through the Legislature which called for
the establishment of the University of Virginia. At last, in 1825 the
school was opened. But many years passed before Jefferson could get the
buildings he had dreamed of and had planned. Then when he was
eighty-two, his dream came true.

[Illustration:--_Courtesy Virginia State Chamber of Commerce_

ROTUNDA OF UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA]

Today one may see his university, set on a sloping hill. The buildings
are models of architecture and Jefferson himself superintended the
construction of them. It is told that he often watched the carpenters
from Monticello through a telescope. Jefferson also planned those early
courses of study and helped in the selection of the faculty. The spirit
of Jefferson is still felt there today and each generation of students
has been enriched by it and the noble traditions of the school.

Many famous students have gone there. Edgar Allan Poe wrote "The Raven"
and "Anabel Lee" there. An Arctic explorer from the University was
Elisha Kane. Walter Reed studied medicine and, as we know, won the fight
against yellow fever by his heroic experiments. Each year, men go out
from this great old school who help to buil