Life, 1883-02-08 · page 12 of 16
Life — February 8, 1883 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Influence of Matter Over Mind" This two-panel cartoon satirizes how physical circumstances override rational discourse. The left panel shows someone arriving with a horsewhip to attack a newspaper editor. The right panel depicts the editor calmly redirecting the aggressor to a larger office—suggesting violence requires more space than the editor's current room. The accompanying text mocks a controversy over Thomas Jefferson's monument design. A government engineer proposed combining Jefferson's coat of arms with a Christian cross. The current owner of Monticello—described as a Jewish gentleman—objected that Jefferson was Christian and Democratic, making the design inappropriate. The satirical point: despite his logical argument about historical accuracy, the Jewish owner's protest was ignored, and the cross-and-coronet design proceeded anyway. The cartoon's title suggests that physical/material considerations (needing a bigger room for violence; a Christian cross on Jefferson's grave) overpower reasoned objection.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE INFLUENCE OF MATTER OVER MIND. I HAVE COME TO HORSEWHIP THE EDITOR OF THIS PAPER, SIR—WHERE WILL I FIND HIM? PUTTING UP A JOB ON THOMAS JEFFERSON. H ERE isa tale that comes to us from Washington. The late Thomas Jefferson, having neglected to make suitable provisions for the construction of a trophy over his bones, Congress lately took the matter in hand and Passed a bill appro- priating a sum of money for the decoration of the burial-place at Monticello, and for a monument. The Chief of Engineers was entrusted to carry out the proposed improvements, and he directed an officer of his department to make suitable designs. This gentleman, after duly casting about in his mind, devised an iron fence of great beauty to enclose the lot, and then paused to consider what would be a proper stone, Upon investigation he discovered that there was no design so revalent over the departed asa cross ; and seeking something Farther, and more especially commemorative of the iudividual, he got from a memoir of the second president the Jefferson coat of arms. Combining these two emblems, he produced a design of merit, which was favorably regarded by the head of his depart- ment, who submitted it for approval to the Secretary of State. Mr, Frelinghuysen viewed it only to admire, and, as a matter of courtesy, sent it to New York to be further approved by the owner of the Monticello property. But this last gentleman happens to be of the Jewish faith and race, and when he observed the cross in the design, he packed his portmanteau, and went to Washington the shortest way. I AM THE EDITOR, SIR. Won’T YOU PLEASE STEP INTO THE MAIN OFFICE WHERE YOU WILL HAVE MORE ROOM FOR IT? is as distinctly a matter of history,” he is reported to have said, ‘‘ that Mr. Jefferson was ofa Christian and that he was a democrat," and he proceeded to demonstrate the wonderful im- propriety of the design that had been submitted. But the Secretary of State is no chicken ; and he knew what was due to Mr. Jefferson asa respectable gentleman. And ac- cordingly we are informed that a cross and a coronet are to give an exemplary tone to Thomas Jefferson's grave. In the list of vice-presidents of the late Cooper Institute meet- ing, we were surprised not to find the name of an eminent protectionist, whose specialty is se//-protection and whose able discourse on that subject before Justice Gardner was widely pub- lished in the newspapers. How was it that the venerable Peter Cooper was not supported by Mr. James Mace? THERE is seldom a dispute so great that a table-cloth will not cover it. THE Ottoman Empire is supposed to be~so called for being so frequently sat upon. comicbooks.com