Thomas Jefferson

    Caption: "Portrait of Thomas Jefferson (1743--1826)'': Founding Father of the United States.

    There is a quote attributed to the 3rd President of the United States apropos reports of the Weston meteorite (1807 Dec14):

      Gentlemen, I would rather believe that two Yankee professors would lie than believe that stones fall from Heaven.

        ---attributed to Thomas Jefferson (1743--1826), quote from Anna Berkes, 2008.

    However, what he really said apropos of said meteorite was:

      A thousand phenomena present themselves daily which we cannot explain, but where facts are suggested, bearing no analogy with the laws of nature as yet known to us, their verity needs proofs proportioned to their difficulty. A cautious mind will weigh well the opposition of the phenomenon to everything hitherto observed, the strength of the testimony by which it is supported, and the errors and misconceptions to which even our senses are liable. It may be very difficult to explain how the stone you possess came into the position in which it was found. But is it easier to explain how it got into the clouds from whence it is supposed to have fallen? The actual fact however is the thing to be established, and this I hope will be done by those whose situations and qualifications enable them to do it.
        ---Thomas Jefferson (1743--1826), quote from Anna Berkes, 2008.

    An example of the writing style of the principle author of the Declaration of Independence---and to see how that document was written, view the archival footage video 1776 - But Mr. Adams Clip | 6:28 in the insert below (local link / general link: benjamin_franklin_videos.html).

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    Credit/Permission:     Rembrandt Peale (1778--1860), 1800 (uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Brian Wolff (AKA User::Bawolff), 2007) / Public domain.
    Image link: Wikipedia: File:Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800.jpg.
    Local file: local link: thomas_jefferson.html.
    File: Art file: thomas_jefferson.html.