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FROM-THE- LIBRARY-OF
TRINITYCOLLEGETORDNTO

FROM THE LIBRARY
OF TH E LATE

COLONEL HENRY T. BROCK

DONATED NOVEMBER. 1933

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This edition is largely based upon the
complete works of THOMAS JEFFERSON,
published under the auspices of the JEF-
FERSOX MEMORIAL SOCIETY, that text hav
ing been followed in making the extracts,
and the publishers gratefully acknowledge
the courtesy of the SOCIETY in permit-
tin" them to utilize this valuable material.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON

EDITED BY

WILLIAM B. PARKER

Lecturer in English, Columbia University

JONAS VILES

Assistant Professor of History, University of Missouri

NEW YORK
A. WESSELS COMPANY

1907

PRESS OF

BRAUNWORTH & CO.

BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

CONTENTS

PAGE:

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 7

JEFFERSON'S INSCRIPTION FOR HIS TOMBSTONE .... 290

LIFE OF JEFFERSON 291

THE STORY OF THE BOOK 29-1

NOTES ON THE TEXT 296

LIST OF AUTHORITIES 309

INDEX . . 310

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

On a Juvenile Experience

To John Page

FAIRFIELD, December 25, 1762.

Dear Page: This very day, to others the day of greatest
mirth and jollity, sees me overwhelmed with more and
greater misfortunes than have befallen a descendant of
Adam for these thousand years past, I am sure; and per
haps, after excepting Job, since the creation of the world.
I think his misfortunes were somewhat greater than mine;
for, although we may be pretty nearly on a level in other
respects, yet, I thank my God, I have the advantage of
brother Job in this, that Satan has not as yet put forth his
hand to load me with bodily afflictions. You must know,
dear Page, that I am now in a house surrounded with ene
mies, who take counsel together against my soul; and when
I lay me down to rest, they say among themselves, come let
us destroy him. I am sure if there is such a thing as a
Devil in this world, he must have been here last night and
have had some hand in contriving what happened to me.
Do you think the cursed rats (at his instigation, I sup
pose) did not eat up my pocket-book, which was in my
pocket, within a foot of my head? And not contented with
plenty for the present, they carried away my jemmy-
worked silk garters, and half a dozen new minuets I had
just got, to serve, I suppose, as provision for the winter.
But of this I should not have accused the Devil, (because,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

you know rats will be rats, and hunger, without the addi
tion of his instigations, might have urged them to do this),
if something worse, and from a different quarter, had not
happened. You know it rained last night, or if you do not
know it, I am sure I do. When I went to bed, I laid my
watch in the usual place, and going to take her up after I
arose this morning, I found her in the same place, it's true,
but Quantum mutatus ab illo! all afloat in water, let in at
a leak in the roof of the house, and as silent and still as
the rats that had eat my pocket-book. Now, you know,
if chance had had anything to do in this matter, there were
a thousand other spots where it might have chanced to
leak as well as at this one, which was perpendicularly over
my watch. But I'll tell you, it's my opinion that the Devil
came and bored the hole over it on purpose. Well, as I
was saying, my poor watch had lost her speech. I should
not have cared much for this, but something worse at
tended it; the subtle particles of the water with which the
case was filled, had, by their penetration, so overcome the
cohesion of the particles of the paper, of which my dear
picture and watch-paper were composed, that, in attempt
ing to take them out to dry them, good God ! Mem horret
referre! My cursed fingers gave them such a rent, as I
fear I never shall get over. This, cried I, was the last
stroke Satan had in reserve for me ; he knew I cared not for
anything else he could do to me, and was determined to
try his last most fatal expedient. "Multis fortunes vulneri-
bus percussus, huic uni me imparem sensi, et penitus suc-
cubui!" I would have cried bitterly, but I thought it be
neath the dignity of a man, and a man too, who had read
rwv OJ/TWV, TO. fj,fv €<j>7jfj,iv, TO. 8' e.K f<f>i)fjLiv. However, what
ever misfortunes may attend the picture or lover, my hearty
prayers shall be, that all the health and happiness which
Heaven can send may be the portion of the original, and

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

that so much goodness may ever meet with what may be
most agreeable in this world, as I am sure it must be in the
next. And now, although the picture be defaced, there is
so lively an image of her imprinted in my mind, that I shall
think of her too often, I fear, for my peace of mind; and
too often, I am sure, to get through old Coke this winter;
for God knows I have not seen him since I packed him up
in my trunk in Williamsburg. Well, Page, I do wish the
Devil had old Coke, for I am sure I never was so tired of
an old dull scoundrel in my life. What ! are there so few
inquietudes tacked to this momentary life of ours, that we
must need be loading ourselves with a thousand more? Or,
as brother Job says, (who, by the by, I think began to
whine a little under his afflictions), "Are not my days few?
Cease then, that I may take comfort a little before I go
whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and
the shadow of death." But the old fellows say we must
read to gain knowledge, and gain knowledge to make us
happy and admired. Mere jargon! Is there any such
thing as happiness in this world? No. And as for ad
miration, I am sure the man who powders most, perfumes
most, embroiders most, and talks most nonsense, is most
admired. Though to be candid, there are some who have
too much good sense to esteem such monkey-like animals
as these, in whose formation, as the saying is, the tailors
and barbers go halves with God Almighty; and since these
are the only persons whose esteem is worth a wish, I do not
know but that, upon the whole, the advice of these old
fellows may be worth following.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

On an ~Affair of the Heart

To John Page

SHADWELL, July 15, 1763.

Dear Page: Yours of May 30th came safe to hand. The
rival you mentioned I know not whether to think formida
ble or not, as there has been so great an opening for him
during my absence. I say has been, because I expect there
is one no longer. Since you have undertaken to act as my
attorney, you advise me to go immediately and lay siege
in form. You certainly did not think, at the time you wrote
this, of that paragraph in my letter wherein I mentioned
to you my resolution of going to Britain. And to begin
an affair of that kind now, and carry it on so long a time
in form, is by no means a proper plan. No, no, Page;
whatever assurances I may give her in private of my es
teem for her, or whatever assurances I may ask in return
from her, depend on it — they must be kept in private. Ne
cessity will oblige me to proceed in a method which is not
generally thought fair; that of treating with a ward before
obtaining the approbation of her guardian. I say necessity
will oblige me to it, because I never can bear to remain in
suspense so long a time. If I am to succeed, the sooner
I know it, the less uneasiness I shall have to go through.
If I am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know
it, the more of life I shall have to wear it off; and if I do
meet with one, I hope in God, and verily believe, it will be
the last. I assure you, that I almost envy you your pres
ent freedom; and if Belinda will not accept of my service,
it shall never be offered to another. That she may, I pray
most sincerely; but that she will, she never gave me reason
to hope. With regard to my not proceeding in form, I do

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

not know how she may like it. I am afraid not much. That
her guardians would not, if they should know of it, is very
certain. But I should think that if they were consulted
after I return, it would be sufficient. The greatest incon
venience would be my not having the liberty of visiting
so freely. This is a subject worth your talking over with
her; and I wish you would, and would transmit to me your
whole confab at length. I should be scared to death at
making her so unreasonable a proposal as that of waiting
until I return from Britain, unless she could first be pre
pared for it. I am afraid it will make my chance of suc
ceeding considerably worse. But the event at last must be
this, that if she consents, I shall be happy; if she does not,
I must endeavor to be as much so as possible. I have
thought a good deal on your case, and as mine may perhaps
be similar, I must endeavor to look on it in the same light
in which I have often advised you to look on yours. Per
fect happiness, I believe, was never intended by the Deity
to be the lot of one of his creatures in this world; but that
he has very much put in our power the nearness of our ap
proaches to it, is what I have steadfastly believed.

The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life,
frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may
greatly afflict us ; and, to fortify our minds against the
attacks of these calamities and misfortunes, should be one
of the principal studies and endeavors of our lives. The
only method of doing this is to assume a perfect resignation
to the Divine will, to consider that whatever does happen,
must happen; and that, by our uneasiness, we cannot pre
vent the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its
force after it has fallen. These considerations, and others
such as these, may enable us in some measure to surmount
the difficulties thrown in our way ; to bear up with a toler
able degree of patience under this burthen of life; and to

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

proceed with a pious and unshaken resignation, till we ar
rive at our journey's end, when we may deliver up our trust
into the hands of Him who gave it, and receive such reward
as to him shall seem proportioned to our merit. Such, dear
Page, will be the language of the man who considers his
situation in this life, and such should be the language of
every man who would wish to render that situation as easy
as the nature of it will admit. Few things will disturb him
at all: nothing will disturb him much.

On Books

To Robert Skiptvith

AUGUST 3, 1771.

We never reflect whether the story we read be truth or
fiction. If the painting be lively, and a tolerable picture
of nature, we are thrown into a reverie, from which if we
awaken it is the fault of the writer. I appeal to every
reader of feeling and sentiment whether the fictitious mur
der of Duncan by Macbeth in Shakespeare does not excite
in him as great a horror of villainy, as the real one of
Henry IV. by Ravaillac as related by Davila? And
whether the fidelity of Nelson and generosity of Blandford
in Marmontel do not dilate his breast and elevate his sen
timents as much as any similar incident which real history
can furnish ? Does he not, in fact, feel himself a better man
while reading them, and privately covenant to copy the fair
example? We neither know nor care whether Laurence
Sterne really went to France, whether he was there ac
costed by the Franciscan, at first rebuked him unkindly,
and then gave him a peace-offering ; or whether the whole
be not fiction. In either case we equally are sorrowful at

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the rebuke, and secretly resolve rve will never do so; we are
pleased with the subsequent atonement, and view with emu
lation a soul candidly acknowledging its fault and making
a just reparation. Considering history as a moral exercise,
her lessons would be too infrequent if confined to real life.
Of those recorded by historians few incidents have been
attended with such circumstances as to excite in any high
degree this sympathetic emotion of virtue. We are, there
fore, wisely framed to be as warmly interested for a ficti
tious as for a real personage. The field of imagination is
thus laid open to our use and lessons may be formed to il
lustrate and carry home to the heart every moral rule of life.
Thus a lively and lasting sense of filial duty is more effect
ually impressed on the mind of a son or daughter by reading
King Lear, than by all the dry volumes of ethics, and divin
ity that ever were written.

Jefferson's Opinion of Ossian

To Chas. McPherson

ALBEMARLE, IN VIRGINIA, February 25, 1778.
Dear Sir: Encouraged by the small acquaintance which
I had the pleasure of having contracted with you during
your residence in this country, I take the liberty of making
the present application to you. I understood you were re
lated to the gentleman of your name (Mr. James McPher
son), to whom the world is so much indebted for the ele
gant collection, arrangement, and translation of Ossian's
poems. These pieces have been and will, I think, during
my life, continue to be to me the sources of daily and ex
alted pleasures. The tender and the sublime emotions of
the mind were never before so wrought up by the human

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

hand. I am not ashamed to own that I think this rude bard
of the North the greatest poet that has ever existed. Merely
for the pleasure of reading his works, I am become desir
ous of learning the language in which he sung, and of pos
sessing his songs in their original form. Mr. McPhersor,
I think, informs us he is possessed of the originals. In
deed, a gentleman has lately told me he had seen them in
print; but I am afraid he has mistaken a specimen from
"Temora," annexed to some of the editions of the transln-
tion, for the whole works. If they are printed, it
will abridge my request and your trouble, to the send
ing me a printed copy; but if there be more such,
my petition is, that you would be so good as to use your
interest with Mr. McPherson to obtain leave to take a.
manuscript copy of them, and procure it to be done. I
would choose it in a fair, round hand, on fine paper, with
a good margin, bound in parchments as elegantly as
possible, lettered on the back, and marbled or gilt on
the edges of the leaves. I would not regard expense
in doing this. I would further beg the favor of you
to give me a catalogue of the books written in that
language, and to send me such of them as may be neces
sary for learning it. These will, of course, include a
grammar and dictionary. The cost of these, as well as the
copy of Ossian, will be (for me), on demand, answered by
Mr. Alexander McCaul, sometime of Virginia, merchant,
but now of Glasgow, or by your friend Mr. Ninian Minzees,
of Richmond, in Virginia, to whose care the books may be
sent. You can, perhaps, tell me whether we may ever
hope to see any more of those Celtic pieces published.
Manuscript copies of any which are in print, it would at
any time give me the greatest happiness to receive. The
glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than mone}7.
I hear with pleasure from your friend that your path

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

through life is likely to be smoothed by success. I wish
the business and the pleasures of your situation would admit
leisure now and then to scribble a line to one who wishes
you every felicity, and would willingly merit the appella
tion of, dear sir,

Your friend and humble servant.

^Attitude toward England

To John Randolph

PHILADELPHIA, November 29, 1775.

Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British empire a
man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain
than I do. But by the God that made me, I will cease to
exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the
British Parliament propose ; and in this, I think I speak the
sentiments of America. We want neither inducement nor
power, to declare and assert a separation. It is will, alone,
which is wanting, and that is growing apace under the fos
tering hand of our King. One bloody campaign will prob
ably decide, everlastingly, our future course; and I am
sorry to find a bloody campaign is decided on. If our
winds and waters should not combine to rescue their shores
from slavery, and General Howe's re-enforcements should
arrive in safety, we have hopes he will be inspirited to come
out of Boston and take another drubbing; and we must
drub him soundly, before the sceptred tyrant will know
we are not mere brutes, to crouch under his hand, and kiss
the rod with which he designs to scourge us.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

Declaration of Independence1

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States
of America, in General Congress assembled

JUNE 20, 1776.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes neces
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which
have connected them witli another, and to assume among
the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them,
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that
they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
[inherent and] certain inalienable rights; that among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to se
cure these rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov
erned; that whenever any form of government becomes de
structive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter
or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its
foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers
in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that governments long established should not be changed
for light and transient causes; and accordingly all expe
rience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abol-

1 The passages in brackets [ ] were included in the original draft, but
omitted by the Committee or by Congress ; those in italics, not in the
original, were inserted by the same authorities. The last two para
graphs are printed in full in both their original and final form.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

ishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when
a long train of abuses and usurpations, [begun at a dis
tinguished period and] pursuing invariably the same object,
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism,
it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such govern
ment, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and
such is now the necessity which constrains them to [ex
punge] alter their former systems of government. The
history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of
[unremitting] repeated injuries and usurpations, [among
which appears no solitary fact to contradict the uniform
tenor of the rest, but all have] all having in direct object
the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world [for
the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by false
hood.]

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome
and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their
operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation
of large districts of people, unless those people would re
linquish the right of representation in the legislature, a
right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places un
usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of
their public records, for the sole purpose of f atiguing them
into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly [and
continually] for opposing with manly firmness his invasions
on the rights of the people.

IT;

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to
cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers,
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at
large for their exercise, the state remaining, in the mean
time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without
and convulsions within.

He lias endeavored to prevent the population of these
states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturaliza
tion of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage
their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new
appropriations of lands.

He has [suffered] obstructed the administration of jus
tice [totally to cease in some of these states] by refusing
his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made [our] judges dependent on his will alone
for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment
of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, [by a self-
assumed power] and sent hither swarms of new officers to
harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies
[and ships of war] without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of,
and superior to, the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdic
tion foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our
laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation
for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; for
protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of
these states ; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the
world; for imposing taxes on us without our consent; for
depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury;
for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

offences; for abolishing the free system of English laws in
a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it
at once an example and tit instrument for introducing the
same absolute rule into these [states] colonies; for taking
away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and
altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; for
suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what
soever.

He has abdicated government here [withdrawing his gov
ernors, and declaring us out of his allegiance and protec
tion] by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war
against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and
tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on
the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become
the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall
themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is
an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and condi
tions [of existence].

[He has incited treasonable insurrections of our fellow-
citizens, with the allurements of forfeiture and confiscation
of our property.

He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, vio-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

Inting its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the per
sons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating
and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to
incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This
piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the
warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. Deter
mined to keep open a market where men should be bought
and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing
every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this
execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors
might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting
those very people to rise in arms among us, and to pur
chase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by mur
dering the people on whom he also obtruded them : thus
paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of
one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit
against the lives of another.]

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned
for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions
have been answered only by repeated injuries.

A prince whose character is thus marked by every act
which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free
people [who mean to be free. Future ages will scarcely
believe that the hardiness of one man adventured, within
the short compass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation
so broad and so undisguised for tyranny over a people fos
tered and fixed in principles of freedom].

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of at
tempts by their legislature to extend [a] an unwarrantable
jurisdiction over [these our states] us. We have reminded
them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement
here, [no one of which could warrant so strange a preten
sion; that these were effected at the expense of our own

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

blood and treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the strength
of Great Britain; that in constituting indeed our several
forms of government, we had adopted one common king,
thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league and amity
with them; but that submission to their parliament was no
part of our constitution, nor ever in idea, if history may be
credited; and,] we have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity [as well as to] and we have conjured them by
the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations
which [were likely to] would inevitably interrupt our con
nection and correspondence. They too have been deaf to
the voice of justice and of consanguinity, [and when occa
sions have been given them, by the regular course of their
laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our
harmony, they have, by their free election, re-established
them in power. At this very time too, they are permitting
their chief magistrate to send over not only soldiers of our
common blood, but Scotch and foreign mercenaries to invade
and destroy us. These facts have given the last stab to ago
nizing affection, and manly spirit bids us to renounce for
ever these unfeeling brethren. We must endeavor to forget
our former love for them, and hold them as we hold the rest
of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. We might
have been a free and a great people together; but a com
munication of grandeur and of freedom, it seems, is below
their dignity. Be it so, since they will have it. The road
to happiness and to glory is open to us, too. We will tread
it apart from them, and] rve must therefore acquiesce in
the necessity which denounces our [eternal] separation
and hold them as rve hold the rest of mankind, enemies in
war, in peace friends.

We therefore the representatives of the United States of
America in General Congress assembled, do in the name,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

and by the authority of the good people of these [states re
ject and renounce all allegiance and subjection to the kings
of Great Britain and all others who may hereafter claim
by, through, or under them; we utterly dissolve all political
connection which may heretofore have subsisted between us
and the people or parliament of Great Britain; and finally
we do assert and declare these colonies to be free and inde
pendent states,] and that as free and independent states,
they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which independent states may of right do.

And for the support of this declaration, we mutually
pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of
America in General Congress assembled, appealing to the
supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our inten
tions, do in the name, and by the authority of the good peo
ple of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that
these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and
independent states; that they are absolved from all alle
giance to the British crown, and that all political connection
between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought
to be, totally dissolved; and that as free and independent
states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace,
contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other
acts and things which independent states may of right do.

And for the support of this declaration, with a firm re
liance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually
pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
On Retiring from Public Life

To Colonel James Monroe

MONTICELLO, May 20, 1782.

Before I ventured to declare to my countrymen my de
termination to retire from public employment, I examined
well my heart to know whether it were thoroughly cured
of every principle of political ambition, whether no lurking
particle remained which might leave me uneasy, when
reduced within the limits of mere private life. I became sat
isfied that every fibre of that passion was thoroughly eradi
cated. I examined also, in other views, my right to with
draw. I considered that I had been thirteen years engaged
in public service — that, during that time, I had so totally
abandoned all attention to my private affairs as to permit
them to run into great disorder and ruin — that I had now a
family advanced to years which require my attention and
instruction — that, to these, was added the hopeful offspring
of a deceased friend, whose memory must be forever dear
to me, and who have no other reliance for being rendered
useful to themselves or their country — that by a constant
sacrifice of time, labor, parental and friendly duties, I had,
so far from gaining the affection of my countrymen, which
was the only reward I ever asked or could have felt, even
lost the small estimation I had before possessed.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
On 'American Genius

From Notes on Virginia

(1782)

"America has not yet produced one good poet." When
we shall have existed as a people as long as the Greeks
did before they produced a Homer, the Romans a Virgil,
the Frencli a Racine and Voltaire, the English a Shake
speare and Milton, should this reproach be still true, we
will inquire from what unfriendly causes it has proceeded,
that the other countries of Europe and quarters of the
earth shall not have inscribed any name in the roll of
poets. But neither has America produced "one able math
ematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single
science." In war we have produced a Washington, whose
memory will be adored while liberty shall have votaries,
whose name shall triumph over time, and will in future
ages assume its just station among the most celebrated
worthies of the world, when that Avretched philosophy
shall be forgotten which would have arranged him among
the degeneracies of nature. In physics we have produced
a Franklin, than whom no one of the present age has made
more important discoveries, nor has enriched philosophy
with more, or more ingenious solutions of the phenomena
of nature. We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to
no astronomer living; that in genius he must be the first,
because he is self taught. As an artist he has exhibited
as great a proof of mechanical genius as the world has
ever produced. He has not indeed made a world; but
he has by imitation approached nearer its Maker than
any man who has lived from the creation to this day. As
in philosophy and war, so in government, in oratory, in

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

painting, in the plastic art, we might show that America,
though but a child of yesterday, has already given hopeful
proofs of genius, as well as of the nobler kinds, which
arouse the best feelings of man, which call him into ac
tion, which substantiate his freedom, and conduct him to
happiness, as of the subordinate, which serve to amuse
him only. We therefore suppose that this reproach is as
unjust as it is unkind; and that, of the geniuses which
adorn the present age, America contributes its full share.

On Slavery

Proposed Revision of Constitution of Virginia
From Notes on Virginia

To establish religious freedom on the broadest bottom.

To emancipate all slaves born after the passing the act.
The bill reported by the revisers does not itself contain this
proposition ; but an amendment containing it was prepared,
to be offered to the legislature whenever the bill should be
taken up, and further directing, that they should continue
with their parents to a certain age, then to be brought up,
at the public expense, to tillage, arts, or sciences, according
to their geniuses, till the females should be eighteen, and
the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be
colonized to such place as the circumstances of the time
should render most proper, sending them out with arms,
implements of household and of the handicraft arts, seeds,
pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c., to declare them a
free and independent people, and extend to them our al
liance and protection, till they have acquired strength; and
to send vessels at the same time to other parts of the world
for an equal number of white inhabitants; to induce them
to migrate hither proper encouragements were to be pro-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

posed. It will probably be asked, Why not retain and
incorporate the blacks into the State, and thus save the ex
pense of supplying by importation of white settlers, the va
cancies they will leave? Deep-rooted prejudices enter
tained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the
blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provoca
tions ; the real distinctions which nature has made ; and
many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and
produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in
the extermination of the one or the other race. To these ob
jections, which are political, may be added others, which
are physical and moral.

. . . They seem to require less sleep. A black, after
hard labor through the day, will be induced by the slightest
amusements to sit up till midnight, or later, though know
ing he must be out with the first dawn of the morning.
They are at least as brave, and more adventuresome. But
this may perhaps proceed from a want of forethought,
which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present.
When present, they do not go through it with more coolness
or steadiness than the whites. . . . Love seems with them
to be more an eager desire, than a tender, delicate mixt
ure of sentiment and sensation. Their griefs are transient.
Those numberless afflictions, which render it doubtful wheth
er Heaven has given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less
felt, and sooner forgotten with them. In general, their ex
istence appears to participate more of sensation than re
flection. To this must be ascribed their disposition to sleep
when abstracted from their diversions, and unemployed in
labor. An animal whose body is at rest, and who does not
reflect must be disposed to sleep of course. Comparing
them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination,
it appears to me that in memory they are equal to the
whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarce-

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

ly be found capable of tracing and comprehending the in
vestigations of Euclid; and that in imagination they are
dull, tasteless, and anomalous. . . . Never yet
could I find that a black had uttered a thought above
the level of plain narration; never saw even an ele
mentary trait of painting or sculpture. In music they
are more generally gifted than the whites with accurate
ears for tune and time, and they have been found capa
ble of imagining a small catch. Whether they will be
equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody,
or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved. Misery is
often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry.
Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no
poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their
love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagi
nation. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phyllis Whately;
but it could not produce a poet.

On Slavery

From Notes on Virginia

There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the t
manners of our people produced by the existence of slavery '
among us. The whole commerce between master and slave I
is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the /
most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading
submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn
to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This quality
is the germ of all education in him. From his cradle to his
grave he is learning to do what he sees others do. If a par
ent could find no motive either in his philanthropy or his
self-love, for restraining the intemperance of passion tow
ard his slave, it should always be a sufficient one that his

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

child is present. But generally it is not sufficient. The par
ent storms, the child looks on,, catches the lineaments of
wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller slaves,
gives a loose to the worst of passions, and thus nursed, edu
cated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped
by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy
who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such
circumstances. And with what execration should the states
man be loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus
to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into
despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the
one part, and the amor patrice of the other. For if a
slave can have a country in this world, it must be any other
in preference to that in which he is born to live and labor
for another; in which he must lock up the faculties of his
nature, contribute as far as depends on his individual en
deavors to the evanishment of the human race, or entail his
own miserable condition on the endless generations proceed
ing from him. With the morals of the people, their indus
try also is destroyed. For in a warm climate, no man will
labor for himself who can make another labor for him.
This is so true, that of the proprietors of slaves a very small
proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. And can the lib
erties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed
their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people
that these liberties are of the gift of God ? That they are
not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble
for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his
justice cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers, nat
ure and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of
fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events ;
that it may become probable by supernatural interference !
The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us
in such a contest. But it is impossible to be temperate and

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

to pursue this subject through the various considerations of
policy, of morals, of history natural and civil. We must be
contented to hope they will force their way into every one's
mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin
of the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abat
ing, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition
mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices
of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is dis
posed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the
masters, rather than by their extirpation.

On Religion

From Notes on Virginia

The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts
only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury
for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God.
It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be
said, his testimony in a court of justice cannot be relied on,
reject it then, and be the stigma on him. Constraint may
make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never
make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his
errors, but will not cure them. Reason and free inquiry are
the only effectual agents against error. Give a loose to
them, they will support the true religion by bringing every
false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation.
They are the natural enemies of error and of error only.
Had not the Roman Government permitted free inquiry,
Christianity could never have been introduced. Had not
free inquiry been indulged at the era of the Reformation,
the corruptions of Christianity could not have been purged
away. If it be restrained now, the present corruptions will

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

be protected, and new ones encouraged. Was the Govern
ment to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies
would be in such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in
France the emetic was once forbidden as a medicine, and
the potato as an article of food. Government is just as in
fallible, too, when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was
sent to the Inquisition for affirming that the earth was a
sphere; the government had declared it to be as flat as a
trencher, and Galileo was obliged to abjure his error. This
error, however, at length prevailed, the earth became a
globe, and Descartes declared it was whirled round its axis
by a vortex. The government in which he lived was wise
enough to see that this was no question of civil jurisdiction,
or we should all have been involved by authority in vortices.
In fact, the vortices have been exploded, and the Newtonian
principle of gravitation is now more firmly established, on
the basis of reason, than it would be were the government
to step in, and to make it an article of necessary faith.
Reason and experiment have been indulged, and error has
fled before them. It is error alone which needs the support
of government. Truth can stand by itself. Subject opin
ion to coercion : whom will you make your inquisitors ? Fal
lible men ; men governed by bad passions, by private as well
as public reasons. And why subject it to coercion? To
produce uniformity. But is uniformity of opinion desira
ble? No more than of face and stature. Introduce the bed
of Procrustes then, and as there is danger that the large
men may beat the small, make us all of a size, by lopping
the former and stretching the latter. Difference of opinion
is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the
office of a censor morum over such other. Is uniformity
attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and chil
dren, since the introduction of Christianity, have been
burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not ad-

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

vanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the
effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools, and
the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error
all over the earth. Let us reflect that it is inhabited by a
thousand millions of people. That these profess probably
a thousand different systems of religion. That ours is but
one of that thousand. That if there be but one right, and
ours that one, we should wish to see the nine hundred and
ninety-nine wandering sects gathered into the fold of truth.
But against such a majority we cannot effect this by force.
Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instruments.
To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged ; and
how can we wish others to indulge it while we refuse it our
selves. But every State, says an inquisitor, has established
some religion. No two, say I, have established the same.
Is this a proof of the infallibility of establishments? Our
sister States of Pennsylvania and New York, however, have
long subsisted without any establishment at all. The ex
periment was new and doubtful when they made it. It has
answered beyond conception. They flourish infinitely.
Religion is well supported ; of various kinds, indeed, but all
good enough; all sufficient to preserve peace and order; or
if a sect arises, whose tenets should subvert morals, good
sense has fair play, and reasons and laughs it out of doors,
without suffering the State to be troubled with it. They
do not hang more malefactors than we do. They are not
more disturbed with religious dissensions. On the contrary,
their harmony is unparalleled, and can be ascribed to noth
ing but their unbounded tolerance, because there is no other
circumstance in which they differ from every nation on
earth. They have made the happy discovery, that the way
to silence religious disputes, is to take no notice of them.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

On Education

To Martha Jefferson

ANNAPOLIS, November 28, 1783.

Dear Patsy: After four days' journey, I arrived here
without any accident, and in as good health as when I
left Philadelphia. The conviction that you would be more
improved in the situation I have placed you than if still
with me, has solaced me on my parting with you, which my
love for you has rendered a difficult thing. The acquire
ments which I hope you will make under the tutors I have
provided for you will render you more worthy of my love;
and if they cannot increase it, they will prevent its diminu
tion. Consider the good lady who has taken you under her
roof, who has undertaken to see that you perform all your
exercises, and to admonish you in all those wanderings
from what is right or what is clever, to which your inexpe
rience would expose you: consider her, I say, as your
mother, as the only person to whom, since the loss with
which Heaven has pleased to afflict you, you can now look
up ; and that her displeasure or disapprobation, on any occa
sion, will be an immense misfortune, which should you be so
unhappy as to incur by any unguarded act, think no con
cession too much to regain her good-will. With respect to
the distribution of your time, the following is what I should
approve :

From 8 to 10, practise music.

From 10 to 1, dance one day and draw another.

From 1 to 2, draw on the day you dance, and write a
letter next day.

From 3 to 4, read French.

From 4 to 5, exercise yourself in music.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

From 5 till bedtime, read English, write, etc.

Communicate this plan to Mrs. Hopkinson, and if she
approves of it, pursue it. As long as Mrs. Trist remains in
Philadelphia, cultivate her affection. She has been a valua
ble friend to you, and her good sense and good heart make
her valued by all who know her, and by nobody on earth
more than me. I expect you will write me by every post.
Inform me what books you read, what tunes you learn, and
enclose me your best copy of every lesson in drawing.
Write also one letter a week either to your Aunt Eppes,
your Aunt Skipwith, your Aunt Carr, or the little lady from
whom I now enclose a letter, and always put the letter
you so write under cover, to me. Take care that you never
spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word,
consider how it is spelled, and, if you do not remember it,
turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to
spell well. I have placed my happiness on seeing you
good and accomplished; and no distress this world can now
bring on me would equal that of your disappointing my
hopes. If you love me, then strive to be good under every
situation and to all living creatures, and to acquire those
accomplishments which I have put in your power, and which
will go far toward insuring you the warmest love of your
affectionate father.

P. S. — Keep my letters and read them at times, that you
may always have present in your mind those things which
will endear you to me.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
On Expenses in Paris

PARIS, June 17, 1785.

I thank you for your attention to my outfit. For the ar
ticles of household furniture, clothes, and a carriage, I have
already paid twenty-eight thousand livres, and have still
more to pay. For the greatest part of this, I have been
obliged to anticipate my salary, from which, however, I
shall never be able to repay it. I find, that by a rigid econ
omy, bordering, however, on meanness, I can save perhaps
five hundred livres a month, at least in the summer. The
residue goes for expenses so much of course and of neces
sity, that I cannot avoid them without abandoning all re
spect to my public character. Yet I will pray you to touch
this string, which I know to be a tender one with Congress,
with the utmost delicacy. I had rather be ruined in my
fortune than in their esteem. If they allow me half a year's
salary as an outfit, I can get through my debts in time. If
they raise the salary to what it was, or even pay our house
rent and taxes, I can live with more decency.

On the Screw Propeller

To Dr. Styles

PARIS, July 17, 1785.

A man in this city has invented a method of moving a
vessel on the water, by a machine worked within the vessel.
I went to see it. He did not know himself the principle of
his own invention. It is a screw with a very broad thin

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

worm, or rather it is a thin plate with its edge applied spi
rally round an axis. This being turned, operates on the air,
as a screw does, and may be literally said to screw the ves
sel along; the thinness of the medium, and its want of re
sistance, occasion a loss of much of the force. The screw,
I think, would be more effectual if placed below the surface
of the water. I very much suspect that a countryman of
ours, Mr. Bushnel, of Connecticut, is entitled to the merit
of a prior discovery of this use of the screw. I remember
to have heard of his submarine navigation during the war,
and, from what Colonel Humphreys now tells me, I conject
ure that the screw was the power he used. He joined to
this a machine for exploding under water at a given mo
ment. If it were not too great a liberty for a stranger to
take, I would ask from him a narration of his actual experi
ments, with or without a communication of his principle,
as he should choose. If he thought proper to communi
cate it, I would engage never to disclose it, unless I could
find an opportunity of doing it for his benefit.

On Slavery

To Dr. Price

PARIS, August 7, 1785.

In Maryland, I do not find such a disposition to begin
the redress of this enormity [slavery] as in Virginia. This
is the next State to which we may turn our eyes for the in
teresting spectacle of justice, in conflict with avarice and
oppression; a conflict wherein the sacred side is gaining
daily recruits, from the influx into office of young men
grown, and growing up. These have sucked in the princi-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

pies of liberty, as it were, with their mother's milk; and it
is to them I look with anxiety to turn the fate of this ques
tion.

Letter of Advice

To Peter Carr

PARIS, August 19, 1785.

Make these, then, your first object. Give up money,
give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all
it contains, rather than do an immoral act. And never sup
pose, that in any possible situation, or under any circum
stances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, how
ever slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are
to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself,
ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking
at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous
dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity
arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exer
cise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make
them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you
may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts
in every moment of life, and in the moment of death. If
ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and per
plexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how
to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that
that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations.
Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will
be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and
never fear their leading you out of the labyrinth, in the
easiest manner possible. The knot which you thought a
Gordian one, will untie itself before you. Nothing is so

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

mistaken as the supposition, that a person is to extricate
himself from a difficulty, by intrigue, by chicanery, by dis
simulation, by trimming, by an untruthj by an injustice.
This increases the difficulties tenfold; and those, who pur
sue these methods, get themselves so involved at length,
that they can turn no way but their infamy becomes more
exposed. It is of great importance to set a resolution, not
to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so
mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits him
self to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second
and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells
lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's
believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that
of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.
An honest heart being the first blessing, a knowing head
is the second. It is time for you now to begin to be choice
in your reading; to begin to pursue a regular course in it;
and not to suffer yourself to be turned to the right or left
by reading anything out of that course. I have long ago
digested a plan for you, suited to the circumstances in
which you will be placed. This I will detail to you, from
time to time, as you advance. For the present, I advise you
to begin a course of ancient history, reading everything in
the original and not in translations. First read Goldsmith's
history of Greece. This will give you a digested view of
that field. Then take up ancient history in the detail, read
ing the following books, in the following order: Herodo
tus, Thucydides, Xenophontis Anabasis, Arrian, Quintus
Curtius, Diodorus Siculus, Justin. This shall form the first
stage of your historical reading, and is all I need mention
to you now. The next will be of Roman history. From
that, we will come down to modern history. In Greek and
Latin poetry, you have read or will read at school, Virgil,
Terence, Horace, Anacreon, Theocritus, Homer, Euripides,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

Sophocles. Read also Milton's "Paradise Lost," Shake
speare, Ossian, Pope's and Swift's works, in order to form
your style in your own language. In morality, read Epicte-
tus, Xenophontis Memorabilia, Plato's Socratic dialogues,
Cicero's philosophies, Antoninus, and Seneca. In order to
assure a certain progress in this reading, consider what
hours you have free from the school and the exercises of the
school. Give about two of them, every day, to exercise ; for
health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body
makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I
advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the
body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the
mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that
nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character
on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant com
panion of your walks. Never think of taking a book with
you. The object of walking is to relax the mind. You
should therefore not permit yourself even to think while
you walk; but divert yourself by the objects surrounding
you. Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate
yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves
on having subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I
doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained
by the use, of this animal. No one has occasioned so much
the degeneracy of the human body. An Indian goes on foot
nearly as far in a day, for a long journey, as an enfeebled
white does on his horse; and he will tire the best horses.
There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking
far without fatigue. I would advise you to take your exer
cise in the afternoon, not because it is the best time for ex
ercise, for certainly it is not, but because it is the best time
to spare from your studies; and habit will soon reconcile
it to health, and render it nearly as useful as if you gave to
that the more precious hours of the day. A little walk of

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

half an hour, in the morning, when you first rise, is ad
visable also. It shakes off sleep, and produces other good
effects in the animal economy. Rise at a fixed and an early
hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also. Sitting
up late at night is injurious to the health, and not useful to
the mind. Having ascribed proper hours to exercise, divide
what remain (I mean of your vacant hours) into three por
tions. Give the principal to History, the other two, which
should be shorter, to Philosophy and Poetry. Write to me
once every month or two, and let me know the progress you
make. Tell me in what manner you employ every hour in
the day. The plan I have proposed for you is adapted to
your present situation only. When that is changed, I shall
propose a corresponding change of plan. I have ordered
the following books to be sent to you from London, to the
care of Mr. Madison: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon's
Hellenics, Anabasis, and Memorabilia, Cicero's works,
Baretti's Spanish and English Dictionary, Martin's Phil
osophical Grammar, and Martin's Philosophia Britannica.
I will send you the following from hence: Bezout's Mathe
matics, De la Lande's Astronomy, Muschenbrock's Physics,
Quintus Curtius, Justin, a Spanish Grammar, and some
Spanish books. You will observe that Martin, Bezout,
De la Lande, and Muschenbrock are not in the preceding
plan. They are not to be opened till you go to the Univer
sity. You are now, I expect, learning French. You must
push this ; because the books which will be put into your
hands when you advance into Mathematics, Natural philoso
phy, Natural history, etc., will be mostly French, these
sciences being better treated by the French than the
English writers. Our future connection with Spain renders
that the most necessary of the modern languages, after the
French. When you become a public man, you may have oc
casion for it, and the circumstance of your possessing that

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

language, may give you a preference over other candidates.
I have nothing further to add for the present, but husband
well your time, cherish your instructors, strive to make
everybody your friend; and be assured that nothing will be
so pleasing as your success to, Dear Peter,

Yours affectionately.

On Superiority of Agriculture to Commerce

To John Jay

(PRIVATE)

PARIS, August 23, 1785.

The present is occasioned by the question proposed in
yours of June the 14th: "Whether it would be useful to us,
to carry all our own productions, or none?"

Were we perfectly free to decide this question, I should
reason as follows: We have now lands enough to employ
an infinite number of people in their cultivation. Cultiva
tors of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are
the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous,
and they are tied to their country, and wedded to its liberty
and interests, by the most lasting bonds. As long, there
fore, as they can find employment in this line, I would not
convert them into mariners, artisans, or anything else. But
our citizens will find employment in this line, till their num
bers, and of course their productions, become too great for
the demand, both internal and foreign. This is not the case
as yet, and probably will not be for a considerable time. As
soon as it is, the surplus of hands must be turned to some
thing else. I should then, perhaps, wish to turn them to
the sea in preference to manufactures ; because, comparing

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the characters of the two classes, I find the former the most
valuable citizens. ' I consider the class of artificers as the
panders of vice, and the instruments by which the liber
ties of a country are generally overturned. \ However, we
are not free to decide this question on principles of theory
only. Our people are decided in the opinion that it is nec
essary for us to take a share in the occupation of the ocean,
and their established habits induce them to require that the
sea be kept open to them, and that that line of policy be
pursued, which will render the use of that element to them
as great as possible. I think it a duty in those intrusted
with the administration of their affairs, to conform them
selves to the decided choice of their constituents ; and that,
therefore, we should, in every instance, preserve an equality
of right to them in the transportation of commodities, in the
right of fishing, and in the other uses of the sea.

But what will be the consequence? Frequent wars with
out a doubt. Their property will be violated on the sea,
and in foreign ports, their persons will be insulted, impris
oned, etc., for pretended debts, contracts, crimes, contra
band, etc., etc. These insults must be resented, even if we
had no feelings, yet to prevent their eternal repetition; or,
in other words, our commerce on the ocean and in other
countries, must be paid for by frequent war. The justest
dispositions possible in ourselves, will not secure us against
it. It would be necessary that all other nations were just
also. Justice indeed, on our part, will save us from those
wars which would have been produced by a contrary dis
position. But how can we prevent those produced by the
wrongs of other nations? By putting ourselves in a con
dition to punish them. Weakness provokes insult and in
jury, while a condition to punish, often prevents them.
This reasoning leads to the necessity of some naval force;
that being the only weapon by which we can reach an

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

enemy. I think it to our interest to punish the first insult,
because an insult unpunished is the parent of many others.
We are not, at this moment, in a condition to do it, but we
should put ourselves into it, as soon as possible. If a war
with England should take place, it seems to me that the
first thing necessary would be a resolution to abandon the
carrying trade, because we cannot protect it. Foreign na
tions must, in that case, be invited to bring us what we
want, and to take our productions in their own bottoms.
This alone could prevent the loss of those productions to
us, and the acquisition of them to our enemy. Our seamen
might be employed in depredations on their trade. But
how dreadfully we shall suffer on our coasts, if we have
no force on the water, former experience has taught us.
Indeed, I look forward with horror to the very possible
case of war with a European power, and think there is no
protection against them, but from the possession of some
force on the sea. Our vicinity to their West India posses
sions, and to the fisheries, is a bridle which a small naval
force, on our part, would hold in the mouths of the most
powerful of these countries. I hope our land office will
rid us of our debts, and that our first attention then, will
be, to the beginning, a naval force of some sort. This
alone can countenance our people as carriers on the water,
and I suppose them to be determined to continue such.

On the Superiority of the United States to
France

To Mr. Bellini

PARIS, September 30, 1785.

Behold me at length on the vaunted scene of Europe ! It
is not necessary for your information, that I should enter

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

into details concerning it. But you are, perhaps, curious
to know how this new scene has struck a savage of the
mountains of America. Not advantageously, I assure you.
I find the general fate of humanity here most deplorable.
The truth of Voltaire's observation, offers itself perpet
ually, that every man here must be either the hammer or
the anvil. It is a true picture of that country to which
they say we shall pass hereafter, and where we are to see
God and his angels in splendor, and crowds of the damned
trampled under their feet. While the great mass of the peo
ple are thus suffering under physical and moral oppression,
I have endeavored to examine more nearly the condition
of the great, to appreciate the true value of the circum
stances in their situation, which dazzle the bulk of spec
tators, and, especially, to compare it with that degree of
happiness which is enjoyed in America, by every class of
people. Intrigues of love occupy the younger, and those
of ambition, the elder part of the great. Conjugal love
having no existence among them, domestic happiness, of
which that is the basis, is utterly unknown. In lieu of
this, are substituted pursuits which nourish and invigorate
all our bad passions, and which offer only moments of
ecstasy, amid days and months of restlessness and tor
ment. Much, very much inferior, this, to the tranquil, per
manent felicity with which domestic society in America
blesses most of its inhabitants ; leaving them to follow stead
ily those pursuits which health and reason approve, and
rendering truly delicious the intervals of those pursuits.

In science, the mass of the people are two centuries be
hind ours; their literati, half a dozen years before us.
Books, really good, acquire just reputation in that time,
and so become known to us, and communicate to us all their
advances in knowledge. Is not this delay compensated, by
our being placed out of the reach of that swarm of nonsen-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

sical publications which issues daily from a thousand
presses, and perishes almost in issuing? With respect to
what are termed polite manners, without sacrificing too
much the sincerity of language, I would wish my country
men to adopt just so much of European politeness, as to be
ready to make all those little sacrifices of self, which really
render European manners amiable, and relieve society from
the disagreeable scenes to which rudeness often subjects it.
Here, it seems that a man might pass a life without encoun
tering a single rudeness. In the pleasures of the table,
they are far before us, because, with good taste they unite
temperance. They do not terminate the most sociable meals
by transforming themselves into brutes. I have never yet
seen a man drunk in France, even among the lowest of the
people. Were I to proceed to tell you how much I enjoy
their architecture, sculpture, painting, music, I should want
words. It is in these arts they shine. The last of them,
particularly, is an enjoyment, the deprivation of which, with
us, cannot be calculated. I am almost ready to say, it is the
only thing which from my heart I envy them, and which,
in spite of all the authority of the Decalogue, I do covet.
But I am running on in an estimate of things infinitely
better known to you than to me, and which will only serve
to convince you, that I have brought with me all the preju
dices of country, habit, and age. But whatever I may al
low to be charged to me as prejudice, in every other in
stance, I have one sentiment, at least, founded on reality:
it is that of the perfect esteem which your merit and that
of Mrs. Bellini have produced, and which will forever en
able me to assure you of the sincere regard with which I
am, dear sir, your friend and servant.

! I

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

$
On Education

To J. Bannister, Jr.

PARIS, October 15, 1785.

Let us view the disadvantages of sending a youth to Eu
rope. To enumerate them all, would require a volume. I
will select a few. If he goes to England, he learns drink
ing, horse-racing, and boxing. These are the peculiarities
of English education. The following circumstances are
common to education in that, and the other countries of Eu
rope. He acquires a fondness for European luxury and
dissipation, and a contempt for the simplicity of his own
country; he is fascinated with the privileges of the Euro
pean aristocrats, and sees, with abhorrence, the lovely equal
ity which the poor enjoy with the rich, in his own country;
he contracts a partiality for aristocracy or monarchy; he
forms foreign friendships which will never be useful to
him, and loses the seasons of life for forming, in his own
country, those friendships which, of all others, are the most
faithful and permanent; he is led, by the strongest of all
the human passions, into a spirit for female intrigue, de
structive of his own and others' happiness, and learns to
consider fidelity to the marriage-bed as an ungentlemanly
practice, and inconsistent with happiness ; he recollects the
voluptuary dress and arts of the European women, and
pities and despises the chaste affections and simplicity of
those of his own country; he retains, through life, a fond
recollection, and a hankering after those places, which were
the scenes of his first pleasures and of his first connections ;
he returns to his own country, a foreigner, unacquainted
with the practices of domestic economy, necessary to pre
serve him from ruin, speaking and writing his native tongue

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

as a foreigner, and therefore unqualified to obtain those dis
tinctions, which eloquence of the pen and tongue insures
in a free country; for I would observe to you, that what is
called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in
life, while the imagination is warm, and impressions are
permanent. I am of opinion, that there never was an in
stance of a man's writing or speaking his native tongue
with elegance, who passed from fifteen to twenty years of
age out of the country where it was spoken. Thus, no in
stance exists of a person's writing two languages perfectly.
That will always appear to be his native language, which
was most familiar to him in his youth. It appears to me,
then, that an American, coming to Europe for education,
loses in his knowledge, in his morals, in his health, in his
habits, and in his happiness. I had entertained only doubts
on this head before I came to Europe: what I see and hear,
since I came here, proves more than I had even sus
pected. Cast your eye over America: who are the men of
most learning, of most eloquence, most beloved by their
countrymen and most trusted and promoted by them ?
They are those who have been educated among them, and
whose manners, morals, and habits, are perfectly homo
geneous with those of the country.

To Colonel Monroe

PARIS, July 9, 1786.

With respect to the new States, were the question to stand
simply in this form: — How may the ultramontane territory
be disposed of, so as to produce the greatest and most im
mediate benefit to the inhabitants of the maritime States of

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the Union? The plan would be more plausible, of laying
it off into two or three States only. Even on this view,
however, there would still be something to be said against
it, which might render it at least doubtful. But that it is a
question which good faith forbids us to receive into dis
cussion. This requires us to state the question in its just
form : How may the Territories of the Union be disposed
of, so as to produce the greatest degree of happiness to their
inhabitants? With respect to the maritime States, little or
nothing remains to be done. With respect, then, to the ul
tramontane States, will their inhabitants be happiest, di
vided into States of thirty thousand square miles, not quite
as large as Pennsylvania, or into States of one hundred and
sixty thousand square miles, each, that is to say, three times
as large as Virginia within the Alleghany? They will not
only be happier in States of moderate size, but it is the only
way in which they can exist as a regular society. Consid
ering the American character in general, that of those peo
ple particularly, and the energetic nature of our govern
ments, a State of such extent as one hundred and sixty
thousand square miles, would soon crumble into little ones.
These are the circumstances which reduce the Indians to
such small societies. They would produce an effect on our
people, similar to this. They would not be broken into such
small pieces, because they are more habituated to subordi
nation, and value more a government of regular law. But
you would surely reverse the nature of things, in making
small States on the ocean, and large ones beyond the moun
tains. If we could, in our consciences, say, that great
States beyond the mountains will make the people happiest,
we must still ask, whether they will be contented to be laid
off into large States ? They certainly will not ; and, if they
decide to divide themselves, we are not able to restrain
them. They will end by separating from our confederacy.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

and becoming its enemies. We had better, then, look for
ward, and see what will be the probable course of things.
This will surely be a division of that country into States
of a small, or, at most, of a moderate size. If we lay them
off into such, they will acquiesce, and we shall have the ad
vantage of arranging them, so as to produce the best combi
nations of interest. What Congress have already done in
this matter is an argument the more in favor of the revolt
of those States against a different arrangement, and of
their acquiescence under a continuance of that. Upon this
plan, we treat them as fellow-citizens; they will have a just
share in their own government; they will love us, and pride
themselves in an union with us. Upon the other, we treat
them as sub j ects ; we govern them, and not they themselves ;
they will abhor us as masters, and break off from us in
defiance.

Doctrine of Force in Barbary States

PARIS, August 11, 1786.

There is little prospect of accommodation between the
Algerines, and the Portuguese and Neapolitans. A very val
uable capture, too, lately made by them on the Empress of
Russia, bids fair to draw her on them. The probability is,
therefore, that these three nations will be at war with them,
and the probability is, that could we furnish a couple of
frigates, a convention might be formed with those powers
establishing a perpetual cruise on the coast of Algiers,
which would bring them to reason. Such a convention, be
ing left open to all powers willing to come into it, should
have for its object a general peace, to be guaranteed to

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

each, by the whole. Were only two or three to begin a con
federacy of this kind, I think every power in Europe would
soon fall into it, except France, England, and perhaps
Spain and Holland. Of these, there is only England, who
would give any real aid to the Algerines. Morocco, you
perceive, will be at peace with us. Were the honor and
advantage of establishing such a confederacy out of the
question, yet the necessity that the United States should
have some marine force, and the happiness of this, as the
ostensible cause for beginning it, would decide on its pro
priety. It will be said, there is no money in the Treasury.
There never will be money in the Treasury, till the confed
eracy shows its teeth. The States must see the rod; per
haps it must be felt by some one of them. I am persuaded,
all of them would rejoice to see every one obliged to fur
nish its contributions. It is not the difficulty of furnishing
them, which beggars the Treasury, but the fear that others
will not furnish as much. Every rational citizen must wish
to see an effective instrument of coercion, and should fear
to see it on any other element than the water. A naval
force can never endanger our liberties, nor occasion blood
shed ; a land force would do both. It is not in the choice
of the States, whether they will pay money to cover their
trade against the Algerines. If they obtain a peace by
negotiation, they must pay a great sum of money for it;
if they do nothing, they must pay a great sum of money, in
the form of insurance; and in either way, as great a one as
in the way of force, and probably less effectual.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

On the Cincinnati

To General Washington

PARIS, November 14, 1786.

The author of the political part of the "Encyclopedic
Methodique" desired me to examine his article, "Etats
Unis." I did so. I found it a tissue of errors, for, in
truth, they know nothing about us here. Particularly, how
ever, the article "Cincinnati" was a mere philippic against
that institution, in which it appeared that there was an
utter ignorance of facts and motives. I gave him notes on
it. He reformed it, as he supposed, and sent it again to
me to revise. In this reformed state, Colonel Humphreys
saw it. I found it necessary to write that article for him.
Before I gave it to him, I showed it to the Marquis de La
Fayette, who made a correction or two. I then sent it to
the author. He used the materials, mixing a great deal of
his own with them. In a work, which is sure of going
down to the latest posterity, I thought it material to set
facts to rights as much as possible. The author was well
disposed, but could not entirely get the better of his origi
nal bias. I send you the article as ultimately published.
If you find any material errors in it, and will be so good as
to inform me of them, I shall probably have opportunities
of setting this author to rights. What has heretofore
passed between us on this institution, makes -it my duty to
mention to you, that I have never heard a person in Europe,
learned or unlearned, express his thoughts on this institu
tion, who did not consider it as dishonorable and destructive
to our governments ; and that every writing which has
come out since my arrival here, in which it is mentioned,
considers it, even as now reformed, as the germ whose de-

velopment is one day to destroy the fabric we have reared.
I did not apprehend this, while I had American ideas only.
But I confess that what I have seen in Europe has brought
me over to that opinion ; and that though the day may be at
some distance, beyond the reach of our lives, perhaps, yet
it will certainly come, when a single fibre left of this in
stitution will produce an hereditary aristocracy, which will
change the form of our governments from the best to the
worst in the world. To know the mass of evil which flows
from this fatal source, a person must be in France; he must
see the finest soil, the finest climate, the most compact State,
the most benevolent character of people, and every earthly
advantage combined, insufficient to prevent this scourge
from rendering existence a curse to twenty-four out of
twenty-five parts of the inhabitants of this country. With
us, the branches of this institution cover all the States. The
Southern ones, at this time, are aristocratical in their dis
positions; and that that spirit should grow and extend it
self, is within the natural order of things. I do not flatter
myself with the immortality of our governments, but I
shall think little also of their longevity, unless this germ
of destruction be taken out. When the society themselves
shall weigh the possibility of evil, against the impossibility
of any good to proceed from this institution, I cannot help
hoping they will eradicate it. I know they wish the perma
nence of our governments, as much as any individuals com
posing them.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

On the Simple Life

To Colonel Monroe

PARIS, December 18,, 1786.

You wish not to engage in the drudgery of the bar. You
have two asylums from that. Either to accept a seat in the
Council, or in the judiciary department. The latter, how
ever, would require a little previous drudgery at the bar,
to qualify you to discharge your duty with satisfaction to
j'ourself. Neither of these would be inconsistent with a
continued residence in Albemarle. It is but twelve hours'
drive in a sulky from Charlottesville to Richmond, keeping
a fresh horse always at the half-way, which would be a
small annual expense. I am in hopes that Mrs. M. will
have in her domestic cares, occupation and pleasure, suffi
cient to fill her time, and insure her against the tedium mtae;
that she will find, that the distractions of a town, and the
waste of life under these, can bear no comparison with the
tranquil happiness of domestic life. If her own experience
has not yet taught her this truth, she has in its favor the
testimony of one who has gone through the various scenes
of business, of bustle, of office, of rambling, and of quiet
retirement, and who can assure her, that the latter is the
only point upon which the mind can settle at rest. Though
not clear of inquietudes, because no earthly situation is so,
they are fewer in number, and mixed with more objects of
contentment than in any other mode of life. But I must not
philosophize too much with her, lest I give her too se
rious apprehensions of a friendship I shall impose on her.
I am with very great esteem, dear Sir, your sincere friend
and servant.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

To Colonel Edward Carrington

PARIS, January 16, 1787-

The way to prevent irregular interpositions of the people,
is to give them full information of their affairs through the
channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those pa
pers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The
basis of our governments being the opinion of the people,
the very first object should be to keep that right; and were
it left to me to decide whether we should have a govern
ment without newspapers, or newspapers without a govern
ment, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
But I should mean that every man should receive those pa
pers, and be capable of reading them.

On the Theory of Government and on Louisiana

To James Madison

JANUARY 30, 1787.

Dear Sir: I am impatient to learn your sentiments on
the late troubles in the Eastern States. So far as I have
yet seen, they do not appear to threaten serious conse
quences. Those States have suffered by the stoppage of
the channels of their commerce, which have not yet found
other issues. This must render money scarce, and make
the people uneasy. This uneasiness has produced acts ab
solutely unjustifiable; but I hope they will provoke no
severities from their governments. A consciousness of

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

those in power that their administration of the public affairs
has been honest, may, perhaps, produce too great a degree
of indignation; and those characters, wherein fear predom
inates over hope, may apprehend too much from these in
stances of irregularity. They may conclude too hastily,
that nature has formed man insusceptible of any other gov
ernment than that of force, a conclusion not founded in
truth nor experience. Societies exist under three forms,
sufficiently distinguishable. 1. Without government, as
among our Indians. 2. Under governments, wherein the
will of every one has a just influence; as is the case in Eng
land, in a slight degree, and in our States, in a great one.
3. Under governments of force; as is the case in all other
monarchies, and in most of the other republics. To have
an idea of the curse of existence under these last, they must
be seen. It is a government of wolves over sheep. It is a
problem, not clear in my mind, that the first condition is
not the best. But I believe it to be inconsistent with any
great degree of population. The second state has a great
deal of good in it. The mass of mankind under that, en
joys a precious degree of liberty and happiness. It has its
evils, too; the principal of which is the turbulence to which
it is subject. But weigh this against the oppressions of
monarchy, and it becomes nothing. Malo periculosam li-
bertatem quam quietam servitutem. Even this evil is produc
tive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of government,
and nourishes a general attention to the public affairs. I
hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good
thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in
the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally
establish the encroachments on the rights of the people,
which have produced them. An observation of this truth
should render honest republican governors so mild in their
punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too

54-

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of
government.

If these transactions give me no uneasiness, I feel very
differently at another piece of intelligence, to wit, the pos
sibility that the navigation of the Mississippi may be aban
doned to Spain. I never had any interest westward of the
Alleghany; and I never will have any. But I have had
great opportunities of knowing the character of the people
who inhabit that country; and I will venture to say that the
act which abandons the navigation of the Mississippi is an
act of separation between the eastern and western country.
It is a relinquishment of five parts out of eight, of the ter
ritory of the United States ; an abandonment of the fairest
subject for the payment of our public debts, and the chain
ing those debts on our own necks, in perpetuum. I have the
utmost confidence in the honest intentions of those who con
cur in this measure ; but I lament their want of acquaintance
with the character and physical advantages of the people,
who, right or wrong, will suppose their interest sacrificed
on this occasion to the contrary interests of that part of the
confederacy in possession of present power. If they de
clare themselves a separate people, we are incapable of a
single effort to retain them. Our citizens can never be in
duced, either as militia or as soldiers, to go there to cut the
throats of their own brothers and sons, or rather, to be
themselves the subjects, instead of the perpetrators of the
parricide. Nor would that country quit the cost of being
retained against the will of its inhabitants, could it be done.
But it cannot be done. They are able already to rescue the
navigation of the Mississippi out of the hands of Spain,
and to add New Orleans to their own territory. They will
be joined by the inhabitants of Louisiana. This will bring
on a war between them and Spain ; and that will produce the
question with us, whether it will not be worth our while to

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

become parties with them in the war, in order to reunite
them with us, and thus correct our error? And were I to
permit my forebodings to go one step further, I should pre
dict that the inhabitants of the United States would force
their rulers to take the affirmative of that question. I wish
I may be mistaken in all these opinions.

To James Madison

PARIS, January 30, 1787.

You know the opinion I formerly entertained of my
friend, Mr. Adams . . . and the Governor were the first
who shook that opinion. I afterward saw proofs which
convicted him of a degree of vanity, and of a blindness to
it, of which no germ appeared in Congress. A seven months'
intimacy with him here, and as many weeks in London, have
given me opportunities of studying him closely. He is vain,
irritable, and a bad calculator of the force and probable ef
fect of the motives which govern men. This is all the ill
which can possibly be said of him. He is as disinterested
as the being who made him: he is profound in his views,
and accurate in his judgment, except where knowledge of
the world is necessary to form a judgment. He is so amia
ble, that I pronounce you will love him, if ever you become
acquainted with him. He would be, as he was, a great man
in Congress.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

To Mrs. Bingham

PARIS, February 7, 1787.

I know, Madam, that the twelvemonth is not yet expired ;
but it will be, nearly, before this will have the honor of
being put into your hands. You are then engaged to tell
me, truly and honestly, whether you do not find the tran
quil pleasures of America, preferable to the empty bustle of
Paris. For, to what does that bustle tend? At eleven
o'clock, it is day, chez madame. The curtains are drawn.
Propped on bolsters and pillows, and her head scratched
into a little order, the bulletins of the sick are read, and the
billets of the well. She writes to some of her acquaintance,
and receives the visits of others. If the morning is not very
thronged, she is able to get out and hobble round the cage
of the Palais Royal; but she must hobble quickly, for the
coiffeur's turn is come ; and a tremendous turn it is ! Hap
py, if he does not make her arrive when dinner is half
over ! The torpitude of digestion a little passed, she flut
ters half an hour through the streets, by way of paying
visits, and then to the spectacles. These finished, another
half hour is devoted to dodging in and out of the doors of
her very sincere friends, and away to supper. After sup
per, cards; and after cards, bed; to rise at noon the next
day, and to tread, like a mill-horse, the same trodden circle
over again. Thus the days of life are consumed, one by
one, without an object beyond the present moment; ever fly
ing from the ennui of that, yet carrying it with us; eter
nally in pursuit of happiness, which keeps eternally be
fore us. If death or bankruptcy happen to trip us out of
the circle, it is matter for the buzz of the evening, and is

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

completely forgotten by the next morning. In America, on
the other hand, the society of your husband, the fond cares
for the children, the arrangements of the house, the im
provements of the grounds, fill every moment with a healthy
and a useful activity. Every exertion is encouraging, be
cause, to present amusement, it joins the promise of some
future good. The intervals of leisure are filled by the so
ciety of real friends, whose affections are not thinned to
cobweb, by being spread over a thousand objects. This is
the picture, in the light it is presented to my mind; now let
me have it in yours. If we do not concur this year, we shall
the next; or if not then, in a year or two more. You see
I am determined not to suppose myself mistaken.

Art et la Politesse

To Madame la Comtesse de Tesse

NISMES, March 20, 1787.

Here I am, Madam, gazing whole hours at the Maison
Quarree, like a lover at his mistress. The stocking-weavers
and silk-spinners around it consider me a hypochondriac
Englishman, about to write with a pistol the last chapter of
his history. This is the second time I have been in love
since I left Paris. The first was with a Diana at the Cha
teau de Laye-Epinaye in Beaujolois, a delicious morsel
of sculpture, by M. A. Slodtz. This, you will say, was in
rule, to fall in love with a female beauty ; but with a house !
it is out of all precedent. No, Madam, it is not without a
precedent in my own history. While in Paris, I was vio
lently smitten with the Hotel de Salm, and used to go to the
Tuileries almost daily, to look at it. The loueuse des chaises,
inattentive to my passion, never had the complaisance to

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

place a chair there, so that, sitting on the parapet, and
twisting my neck round to see the object of my admiration,
I generally left it with a torti-colli.

From Lyons to Nismes I have been nourished with the
remains of Roman grandeur. They have always brought
you to my mind, because I know your affection for what
ever is Roman and noble. At Vienna I thought of you.
But I am glad you were not there; for you would have seen
me more angry than, I hope you will ever see me. The
Praetorian Palace, as it is called, comparable, for its fine
proportions, to the Maison Quarree, defaced by the barba
rians who have converted it to its present purpose, its beau
tiful fluted Corinthian columns cut out, in part, to make
space for Gothic windows, and hewed down, in the residue,
to the plane of the building, was enough, you must admit,
to disturb my composure. . . .

Loving, as you do, madam, the precious remains of antiq
uity, loving architecture, gardening, a warm sun and a clear
sky, I wonder you have never thought of moving Chaville
to Nismes. This, as you know, has not always been deemed
impracticable; and, therefore, the next time a Sur-intendant
des bailments du roi, after the example of M. Colbert,
sends persons to Nismes to move the Maison Quarree to
Paris, that they may not come empty-handed, desire them
to bring Chaville with them, to replace it. ...

From a correspondent at Nismes, you will not expect
news. Were I to attempt to give you news, I should tell
you stories one thousand years old. I should detail to you
the intrigues of the courts of the Caesars, how they affect
us here, the oppressions of their praetors, prefects, etc. I
am immersed in antiquities from morning to night. For me,
the city of Rome is actually existing in all the splendor of
its empire. I am filled with alarms for the event of the ir
ruptions daily making on us, by the Goths, the Visigoths,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

Ostrogoths, and Vandals, lest they should reconquer us to
our original barbarism. If I am sometimes induced to look
forward to the eighteenth century, it is only when recalled
to it by the recollection of your goodness and friendship,
and by those sentiments of sincere esteem and respect with
which I have the honor to be, Madam, your most obedient
and most humble servant.

Travel and Science.

To the Marquis de La Fayette

APRIL — , 1787.

From the first olive fields of Pierrelatte, to the orange
ries of Hieres, has been continued rapture to me. I have
often wished for you. I think you have not made this jour
ney. It is a pleasure you have to come, and an improve
ment to be added to the many you have already made. It
will be a great comfort to you, to know, from your own in
spection, the condition of all the provinces of your own
country, and it will be interesting to them at some future
day, to be known to you. This is, perhaps, the only moment
of your life in which you can acquire that knowledge. And
to do it most effectually, you must be absolutely incognito;
you must ferret the people out of their hovels as I have
done, look into their kettles, eat their bread, loll on their
beds under pretence of resting yourself, but in fact to find
if they are soft. You will feel a sublime pleasure in the
course of this investigation, and a sublimer one hereafter,
when you shall be able to apply your knowledge to the soft
ening of their beds, or the throwing a morsel of meat into
their kettle of vegetables.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
On Rice Culture

To Edward Rutledge, Esq.

PARIS, July 14, 1787.

Dear Sir: I was glad to find that the adaptation of your
rice to this market was considered worth attention, as I had
supposed it. I set out from hence impressed with the idea
the rice-dealers here had given me, that the difference be
tween your rice and that of Piedmont proceeded from a dif
ference in the machine for cleaning it. At Marseilles I
hoped to know what the Piedmont machine was, but I could
find nobody who knew anything of it. I determined, there
fore, to sift the matter to the bottom, by crossing the Alps
into the rice country. I found their machine exactly such a
one as you had described to me in Congress in the year 1783.
There was but one conclusion then to be drawn, to wit, that
the rice was of a different species, and I determined to take
enough to put you in seed; they informed me, however, that
its exportation in the husk was prohibited, so I could only
bring off as much as my coat and surtout pockets would
hold. I took measures with a muleteer to run a couple of
sacks across the Apennines to Genoa, but have not great
dependence on its success. The little, therefore, which I
brought myself, must be relied on for fear we should get no
more; and because, also, it is genuine from Vercilli, where
the best is made of all the Sardinian Lombardy, the whole
of which is considered as producing a better rice than the
Milanese.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
On the Suppression of the Slave Trade

To Edward Rutledge, Esq.

PARIS, July 14, 1787.

I congratulate you, my dear friend, on the law of your
State, for suspending the importation of slaves, and for the
glory you have justly acquired by endeavoring to prevent
it forever. This abomination must have an end. And there
is a superior bench reserved in heaven for those who
hasten it.

On the National Character

PARIS, July 28, 1787.

Among many good qualities which my countrymen pos
sess, some of a different character unhappily mix themselves.
The most remarkable are, indolence, extravagance, and infi
delity to their engagements. Cure the two first, and the
last would disappear, because it is a consequence of them,
and not proceeding from a want of morals. I know of no
remedy against indolence and extravagance but a free
course of justice. Everything else is merely palliative; but
unhappily, the evil has gained too generally the mass of the
nation, to leave the course of justice unobstructed. The
maxim of buying nothing without the money in our pockets
to pay for it, would make of our country one of the happiest
upon earth. Experience during the war proved this; as I
think every man will remember, that under all the priva
tions it obliged him to submit to, during that period, he

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

slept sounder, and awaked happier than he can do now.
Desperate of finding relief from a free course of justice, I
look forward to the abolition of all credit, as the only other
remedy which can take place. I have seen, therefore, with
pleasure, the exaggerations of our want of faith, with Avhich
the London papers teem. It is, indeed, a strong medicine
for sensible minds, but it is a medicine. It will prevent
their crediting us abroad, in which case we cannot be cred
ited at home.

Division of Authority in Government

To Edward Carrington

PARIS, August 4, 1787.

My general plan would be, to make the States one as to
everything connected with foreign nations, and several as
to everything purely domestic. But with all the imperfec
tions of our present government, it is without comparison
the best existing, or that ever did exist. Its greatest defect
is the imperfect manner in which matters of commerce have
been provided for. It has been so often said, as to be gen
erally believed, that Congress have no power by the Con
federation to enforce anything; for example, contributions
of money. It was not necessary to give them that power ex
pressly; they have it by the law of nature. When two par
ties make a compact, there results to each a power of com
pelling the other to execute it. Compulsion was never so
easy as in our case, where a single frigate would soon levy
on the commerce of any State the deficiency of its contribu
tions ; nor more safe than in the hands of Congress, which
has always shown that it would wait, as it ought to do, to
the last extremities, before it would execute any of its pow-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

ers which are disagreeable. I think it very material to sep
arate, in the hands of Congress, the executive and legisla
tive powers, as the judiciary already are, in some degree.
This, I hope, will be done. The want of it has been the
source of more evil than we have experienced from any
other cause. Nothing is so embarrassing or so mischiev
ous, in a great assembly, as the details of execution. The
smallest trifle of that kind occupies as long as the most im
portant act of legislation, and takes place of everything
else. Let any man recollect, or look over, the files of Con
gress ; he will observe the most important propositions
hanging over, from week to week, and month to month, till
the occasions have passed them and the things never done.
I have ever viewed the executive details as the greatest cause
of evil to us, because they in fact place us as if we had no
federal head, by diverting the attention of that head from
great to small subj ects ; and should this division of power
not be recommended by the convention, it is my opinion
Congress should make it itself by establishing an executive
committee.

In Defence of Rebellions

To Colonel Smith

PARIS, November 13, 1787.

Where did it [anarchy] ever exist, except in the single
instance of Massachusetts? And can history produce an
instance of rebellion so honorably conducted? I say noth
ing of its motives. They were founded in ignorance, not
wickedness. God forbid we should ever be twenty years
without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and
always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such miscon
ceptions, it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the
public liberty. We have had thirteen States independent
for eleven years. There has been one rebellion. That
comes to one rebellion in a century and a half, for each
State. What country before, ever existed a century and a
half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve
its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time,
that this people preserve the spirit of resistance ? Let them
take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts,
pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in
a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed
from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure. Our convention has been too
much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts ; and
on the spur of the moment, they are setting up a kite to
keep the hen-yard in order.

On Emancipating Slaves

To Edward "Bancroft

PARIS, January 26, 1788.

Dear Sir: I have deferred answering your letter on the
subject of slaves because you permitted me to do it till a
moment of leisure, and that moment rarely comes, and be
cause, too, I could not answer you with such a degree of cer
tainty as to merit any notice. I do not recollect the con
versation at Vincennes to which you allude, but can repeat
still, on the same ground on which I must have done then,
that as far as I can judge from the experiments which

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

have been made, to give liberty to, or rather abandon, per
sons whose habits have been formed in slavery is like aban
doning children. Many Quakers in Virginia seated their
slaves on their lands as tenants ; they were distant from me,
and therefore I cannot be particular in the details because
I never had very particular information. I cannot say
whether they were to pay a rent in money or a share of the
produce, but I remember that the landlord was obliged to
plan their crops for them, to direct all their operations dur
ing every season and according to the weather; but, what
is more afflicting, he was obliged to watch them daily and
almost constantly to make them work and even to whip them.
A man's moral sense must be unusually strong if slavery
does not make him a thief. He who is permitted by law to
have no property of his own can with difficulty conceive
that property is founded on anything but force. These
slaves chose to steal from their neighbors rather than work;
they became public nuisances, and in most instances were re
duced to slavery again. But I will beg of you to make no
use of this imperfect information (unless in common con
versation). I shall go to America in the spring and return
in the fall. During my stay in Virginia I shall be in the
neighborhood where many of these trials were made. I
will inform myself very particularly of them and communi
cate the information to you.

Besides these there is an instance since I came away of a
young man (Mr. Mays) who died and gave freedom to all
his slaves, about 200; this is about a year ago. I shall
know how they have turned out. Notwithstanding the dis
couraging result of these experiments I am decided on my
final return to America to try this one. I shall endeavor to
import as many Germans as I have grown slaves. I will
settle them and my slaves on farms of fifty acres each, in
termingled, and place all on the footing of the Metayers

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

(Medictani) of Europe. Their children shall be brought
up as others are in habits of property and foresight, and I
have no doubt but that they will be good citizens. Some of
their fathers will be so ; others I suppose will need govern
ment; with these all that can be done is to oblige them to.,
labor as the laboring poor of Europe do, and to apply to,
their comfortable subsistence the produce of their labor, re
taining such a moderate portion of it as may be a just equiv
alent for the use of the lands they labor and the stocks and
other necessary advances.

Philosophy of Life

To Alexander Donald

PARIS, February 7, 1788.

I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my
books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple
bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to oc
cupy the most splendid post, which any human power can
give. I shall be glad to hear from you often. Give me the
small news as well as the great. Tell Dr. Currie, that I be
lieve I am indebted to him in a letter, but that like the mass
of our countrymen, I am not, at this moment, able to pay all
my debts.

On the Adoption of the Constitution

To Mr. A. Donald

FEBRUARY, 1788.

I wish with all my soul, that the nine first conventions
mav accept the new Constitution, because this will secure to

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

us the good it contains, which I think great and important.
But I equally wish, that the four latest conventions, which
ever they be, may refuse to accede to it, till a declaration
of rights be annexed. This would probably command the
offer of such a declaration, and thus give to the whole fab
ric, perhaps, as much perfection as any one of that kind
ever had. By a declaration of rights, I mean one which
shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press,
freedom of commerce against monopolies, trial by juries in
all cases, no suspensions of the habeas corpus, no standing
armies. These are fetters against doing evil, which no
honest government should decline. There is another strong
feature in the new Constitution, which I as strongly dislike.
That is, the perpetual reeligibility of the President. Of
this I expect no amendment at present, because I do not see
that anybody has objected to it on your side the water.
But it will be productive of cruel distress to our country,
even in your day and mine. The importance to France and
England, to have our government in the hands of a friend
or a foe, will occasion their interference by money, and even
by arms. Our President will be of much more consequence
to them than a King of Poland. We must take care, how
ever, that neither this, nor any other objection to the new
form, produces a schism in our Union. That would be an
incurable evil, because near friends falling out, never re
unite cordially ; whereas, all of us going together, we shall
be sure to cure the evils of our new Constitution, before
they do great harm.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

Potomac Canal — European Affairs — The
Constitution

To General Washington

PARIS, May 2, 1788.

Dear Sir: I am honored with your Excellency's letter by
the last packet, and thank you for the information it con
tains on the communication between the Cayahoga and Big
Beaver. I have ever considered the opening a canal be
tween those two watercourses as the most important work
in that line which the State of Virginia could undertake.
It will infallibly turn through the Potomac all the com
merce of Lake Erie, and the country west of that, except
what may pass down the Mississippi; and it is important
that it be soon done, lest that commerce should, in the
meantime, get established in another channel. Having, in
the spring of the last year, taken a journey through the
southern parts of France, and particularly examined the
canal of Languedoc, through its whole course, I take the lib
erty of sending you the notes I made on the spot, as you
may find in them something, perhaps, which may be turned
to account, some time or other, in the prosecution of the
Potomac canal. Being merely a copy from my travelling
notes, they are undigested and imperfect, but may still
perhaps give hints capable of improvement in your
mind. . . .

I had intended to have written a word to your Excellency
on the subject of the new Constitution, but I have already
spun out my letter to an immoderate length. I will just ob
serve, therefore, that according to my ideas, there is a great
deal of good in it. There are two things, however, which I
dislike strongly: 1. The want of a declaration of rights. I

am in hopes the opposition of Virginia will remedy this, and
produce such a declaration. 2. The perpetual reeligibility
of the President. This,, I fear, will make that an office for
life, first, and then hereditary. I was much an enemy to
monarchies before I came to Europe. I am ten thousand
times more so, since I have seen what they are. There is
scarcely an evil known in these countries, which may not
be traced to their king, as its source, nor a good, which is
not derived from the small fibres of republicanism existing
among them. I can further say, with safety, there is not a
crowned head in Europe, whose talents or merits would en
title him to be elected a vestryman by the people of any
parish in America. However, I shall hope, that before there
is danger of this change taking place in the office of Presi
dent, the good sense and free spirit of our countrymen, will
make the changes necessary to prevent it.

National Credit

To Mr. James Madison

PARIS, May 3, 1788.

Dear Sir: The existence of a nation having no credit is
always precarious. The credit of England is the best.
Their paper sells at par on the exchange of Amsterdam the
moment any of it is offered, and they can command there
any sum they please. The reason is, that they never borrow,
without establishing taxes for the payment of the interest,
and they never yet failed one day in that payment. The
Emperor and Empress have good credit enough. They use
it little and have been ever punctual. This country cannot
borrow at all there; for, though they always pay their in
terest within the year, yet it is often some months behind.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

It is difficult to assign to our credit its exact station in this
scale. They consider us as the most certain nation on earth
for the principal, but they see that we borrow of them
selves to pay the interest, so that this is only a conversion
of their interest into principal. Our paper, for this reason,
sells for from four to eight per cent, below par, on the ex
change, and our loans are negotiated with the Patriots only.
But the whole body of money-dealers, Patriot and Stadt-
holderian, look forward to our new government with a great
degree of partiality and interest. They are disposed to have
much confidence in it, and it was the prospect of its estab
lishment, which enabled us to set the loan of last year into
motion again. They will attend steadfastly to its first
money operations. If these are injudiciously begun, cor
rection, whenever they shall be corrected, will come too late.
Our borrowings will always be difficult and disadvantageous.
If they begin well, our credit will immediately take the first
station. Equal provision for the interest, adding to it a cer
tain prospect for the principal, will give us a preference to
all nations, the English not excepted. The first act of the
new government should be some operation, whereby they
may assume to themselves this station. Their European
debts form a proper subject for this. Digest the whole,
public and private, Dutch, French, and Spanish, into a table,
showing the sum of interest due every year, and the portions
of principal payable the same year. Take the most certain
branch of revenue, and one which shall suffice to pay the in
terest, and leave such a surplus as may accomplish all the
payments of the capital, at terms somewhat short of those
at which they will become due. Let the surpluses of those
years, in which no reimbursement of principal falls, be ap
plied to buy up our paper on the exchange of Amsterdam,
and thus anticipate the demands of principal. In this way,
our paper will be kept up at par; and this alone will enable

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

us to command in four and twenty hours, at any time, on
the exchange of Amsterdam, as many millions as that capi
tal can produce. The same act which makes this provision
for the existing debts, should go on to open a loan to their
whole amount; the produce of that loan to be applied, as
fast as received, to the payment of such parts of the exist
ing debts as admit of payment. The rate of interest to be
as the government should privately instruct their agent, be
cause it must depend on the effect these measures would
have on the exchange. Probably it could be lowered from
time to time. Honest and annual publications of the pay
ments made will inspire confidence, while silence would con
ceal nothing from those interested to know.

Navigation of the Mississippi

To John Brown

PARIS, May 26, 1788.

Dear Sir: The navigation of the Mississippi was, per
haps, the strongest trial to which the justice of the federal
government could be put. If ever they thought wrong
about it, I trust they have got to rights, I should think it
proper for the western country to defer pushing their right
to that navigation to extremity, as long as they can do with
out it tolerably; but that the moment it becomes absolutely
necessary for them, it will become the duty of the maritime
States to push it to every extremity, to which they would
their own right of navigating the Chesapeake, the Delaware,
the Hudson, or any other water. A time of peace will not
be the surest for obtaining this object. Those, therefore,
who have influence in the new country, would act wisely to

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

endeavor to keep things quiet till the western parts of Eu
rope shall be engaged in war.

On Foreign Affairs — Commerce

To General Washington

PARIS, December 4, 1788.

Sir: I have seen, with infinite pleasure, our new Consti
tution accepted by eleven States, not rejected by the
twelfth, and that the thirteenth happens to be a State of
the least importance. It is true, that the minorities in most
of the accepting States have been very respectable ; so much
so as to render it prudent, were it not otherwise reasonable,
to make some sacrifice to them. I am in hopes, that the an
nexation of a bill of rights to the Constitution will alone
draw over so great a proportion of the minorities as to leave
little danger in the opposition of the residue; and that this
annexation may be made by Congress and the Assemblies,
without calling a convention, which might endanger the
most valuable parts of the system. Calculation has con
vinced me that circumstances may arise, and probably will
arise, wherein all the resources of taxation will be necessary
for the safety of the State. For though I am decidedly of
opinion we should take no part in European quarrels, but
cultivate peace and commerce with all, yet who can avoid
seeing the source of war, in the tyranny of those nations,
who deprive us of the natural right of trading with our
neighbors? The produce of the United States will soon
exceed the European demand; what is to be done with the
surplus, when there shall be one? It will be employed,
without question, to open, by force, a market for itself,
with those placed on the same continent with us, and who

wish nothing better. Other causes, too, are obvious, which
may involve us in war, and war requires every resource of
taxation and credit. The power of making war often pre
vents it, and in our case would give efficacy to our desire of
peace. If the new government wears the front which I
hope it will, I see no impossibility in the availing ourselves
of the wars of others, to open the other parts of America to
our commerce, as the price of our neutrality. . . .

In every event, I think the present disquiet will end
well. The nation [France] has been awaked by our
Revolution, they feel their strength, they are enlight
ened, their lights are spreading, and they will not retro
grade. The first States-General may establish three im
portant points, without opposition from the court: 1. Their
own periodical convocation. 2. Their exclusive right of
taxation (which has been confessed by the king). 3. The
right of registering laws, and of previously proposing
amendments to them, as the parliaments have, by usurpation,
been in the habit of doing. The court will consent to this,
from its hatred to the parliaments, and from the desire of
having to do with one, rather than many legislatures. If the
States are prudent, they will not aim at more than this at
first, lest they should shock the dispositions of the court, and
even alarm the public mind, which must be left to open itself
by degrees to successive improvements. These will follow,
from the nature of things ; how far they can proceed, in the
end, toward a thorough reformation of abuse, cannot be
foreseen. In my opinion, a kind of influence which none of
their plans of reform take into account, will elude them all ;
I mean the influence of women, in the Government. The
manners of the nation allow them to visit, alone, all persons
in office, to solicit the affairs of the husband, family, or
friends, and their solicitations bid defiance to laws and reg
ulations. This obstacle may seem less to those who, like

'74

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

our countrymen, are in the precious habit of considering
right, as a barrier against all solicitation. Nor can such an
one, without the evidence of his own eyes, believe in the des
perate state to which things are reduced in this country from
the omnipotence of an influence which, fortunately for the
happiness of the sex itself, does not endeavor to extend it
self in our country beyond the domestic line. . . .

I have laid my shoulder to the opening of the markets of
this country to our produce, and rendering its transporta
tion a nursery for our seamen. A maritime force is the
only one, by which we can act on Europe. Our navigation
law (if it be wise to have any) should be the reverse of that
of England. Instead of confining importations to home-
bottoms, or those of the producing nation, I think we should
confine exhortations to home-bottoms, or to those of nations
having treaties with us. Our exportations are heavy, and
would nourish a great force of our own, or be a tempting
price to the nation to whom we should offer a participation
of it, in exchange for free access to all their possessions.
This is an object to which our Government alone is ade
quate, in the gross; but I have ventured to pursue it here,
so far as the consumption of our productions by this coun
try extends. Thus, in our arrangements relative to tobacco,
none can be received here, but in French or American bot
toms. This is employment for near two thousand sea
men, and puts nearly that number of British out of employ.
By the Arret of December, 1787, it was provided, that our
whale oils should not be received here, but in French or
American bottoms ; and by later regulations, all oils, but
those of France and America, are excluded. This will put
one hundred English whale vessels immediately out of em
ploy, and one hundred and fifty erelong, and call so many
of French and American into service. We have had six
thousand seamen formerly in this business, the whole of

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

whom we have been likely to lose. The consumption of rice
is growing fast in this country, and that of Carolina gain
ing ground on every other kind. I am of opinion, the whole
of the Carolina rice can be consumed here. Its transporta
tion employs two thousand five hundred sailors, almost all of
them English at present, the rice being deposited at Cowes,
and brought from thence here. It would be dangerous to
confine this transportation to French and American bottoms,
the ensuing year, because they will be much engrossed by
the transportation of wheat and flour hither, and the crop
of rice might lie on hand for want of vessels ; but I see no
objections to the extensions of our principle to this article
also, beginning with the year 1790.

American Influence on the French Revolution

To Dr. Price

PARIS, January 8, 1789.

You say you are not sufficiently informed about the nature
and circumstances of the present struggle here. Having
been on the spot from its first origin, and watched its move
ments as an uninterested spectator, with no other bias than
a love of mankind, I will give you my ideas of it. Though
celebrated writers of this and other countries had already
sketched good principles on the subject of government, yet
the American war seems first to have awakened the think
ing part of this nation in general from the sleep of despot
ism in which they were sunk. The officers, too, who had
been to America, were mostly young men, less shackled by
habit and prejudice, and more ready to assent to the dictates
of common sense and common right. They came back im
pressed with these. The press, notwithstanding its shack-

les, began to disseminate them ; conversation, too, assumed
new freedom; politics became the theme of all societies,
male and female, and a very extensive and zealous party
was formed, which may be called the Patriotic party, who,
sensible of the abusive government under which they lived,
longed for occasions of reforming it. This party compre
hended all the honesty of the kingdom, sufficiently at its
leisure to think; the men of letters, the easy bourgeois, the
young nobility, partly from reflection, partly from mode;
for those sentiments became a matter of mode, and as such
united most of the young women to the party.

On Parti/

To Francis Hopkinson

PARIS, March 13, 1789.

I am not a federalist, because I never submitted the
whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of
men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in
anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself.
Such an addiction, is the last degradation of a free and
moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party,
I would not go there at all. Therefore, I am not of the
party of federalists. But I am much farther from that
of the antifederalists. ... I am neither federalist nor
antif ederalist ; I am of neither party, nor yet a trimmer
between parties. ... I never had an opinion in politics
or religion, which I was afraid to own. A costive reserve
on these subjects might have procured me more esteem from
some people, but less from myself. My great wish is, to go
on in a strict but silent performance of my duty; to avoid
attracting notice, and to keep my name out of newspapers,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

because I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is
unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise.

On the Character of Washington

To Francis Hopklnson

PARIS, March 13, 1789.

I would wish it [the Constitution] not to be altered dur
ing the life of our great leader, whose executive talents are
superior to those, I believe, of any man in the world, and
who, alone, by the authority of his name and the confidence
reposed in his perfect integrity, is fully qualified to put the
new government so under way, as to secure it against the
efforts of opposition. But, having derived from our error
all the good there was in it, I hope we shall correct it, the
moment we can no longer have the same name at the helm.

To General Washington

PARIS, May 10, 1789-

Sir: The details you are so good as to give me on the
subject of the navigation of the waters of the Potomac and
Ohio, are very pleasing to me, as I consider the union of
these two rivers, as among the strongest links of connection
between the eastern and western sides of our confederacy.
It will, moreover, add to the commerce of Virginia, in par
ticular, all the upper parts of the Ohio and its waters. An
other vast object, and of much less difficulty, is to add. also,
all the country on the lakes and their waters. This would

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

enlarge our field immensely, and would certainly be effected
by a union of the upper waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie.
The Big Beaver and Cuyahoga offer the most direct line,
and according to information I received from General
Hand, and which I had the honor of writing you in the year
1783, the streams in that neighborhod head in lagoons, and
the country is flat. With respect to the doubts which you
say are entertained by some, whether the upper waters of
Potomac can be rendered capable of navigation on account
of the falls and rugged banks, they are answered, by ob
serving, that it is reduced to a maxim, that whenever there is
water enough to float a bateau there may be navigation for
a bateau. Canals and locks may be necessary, and they are
expensive, but I hardly know what expense would be too
great, for the object in question. Probably, negotiations
with the Indians, perhaps even settlement, must precede
the execution of the Cuyahoga Canal. The States of Mary
land and Virginia should make a common object of it. The
navigation, again, between Elizabeth River and the Sound,
is of vast importance, and in my opinion, it is much better
that these should be done at public than private expense.

On Political Consistency

To General Washington

PARIS, May 10, 178Q.

I am in great pain for the Marquis de La Fayette. His
principles, you know, are clearly with the people; but
having been elected for the Noblesse of Auvergne, they
have laid him under express instructions, to vote for the de
cision by orders and not persons. This would ruin him with
the Tiers Etat, and it is not possible he could continue long

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

to give satisfaction to the Noblesse. I have not hesitated to
press on him to burn his instructions, and follow his con
science as the only sure clew, which will eternally guide a
man clear of all doubts and inconsistencies. If he cannot
effect a conciliatory plan, he will surely take his stand man
fully, at once with the Tiers Etat. He will in that case be
what he pleases with them, and I am in hopes that base is
now too solid to render it dangerous to be mounted on it.

On Ms Appointment as Secretary of State

To the President

CHESTERFIELD, December 15, 1789.

Sir: I have received at this place the honor of your let
ters of October the 13th and November the 30th, and am
truly flattered by your nomination of me to the very digni
fied office of Secretary of State; for which, permit me here
to return you my humble thanks. Could any circumstance
seduce me to overlook the disproportion between its duties
and my talents, it would be the encouragement of your
choice. But when I contemplate the extent of that office,
embracing as it does the principal mass of domestic admin
istration, together with the foreign, I cannot be insensible
of my inequality to it ; and I should enter on it with gloomy
forebodings from the criticisms and censures of a public,
just indeed in their intentions, but sometimes misinformed
and misled, and always too respectable to be neglected. I
c.innot but foresee the possibility that this may end disa
greeably for me, who, having no motive to public service but
the public satisfaction, would certainly retire the moment
that satisfaction should appear to languish. On the other
hand, I feel a degree of familiarity with the duties of my

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

present office, as far at least as I am capable of understand
ing its duties. The ground I have already passed over, en
ables me to see my way into that which is before me. The
change of government, too, taking place in a country where
it is exercised, seems to open a possibility of procuring
from the new rulers, some new advantages in commerce
which may be agreeable to our countrymen. So that as far
as my fears, my hopes, or my inclinations might enter into
this question, I confess they would not lead me to prefer a
change.

But it is not for an individual to choose his post. You
are to marshal us as may best be for the public good; and
it is only in the case of its being indifferent to you that I
would avail myself of the option you have so kindly offered
in your letter. If you think it better to transfer me to an
other post, my inclination must be no obstacle; nor shall it
be, if there is any desire to suppress the office I now hold,
or to reduce its grade. In either of these cases, be so good
only as to signify to me by another line your ultimate wish,
and I shall conform to it cordially. If it should be to re
main at New York, my chief comfort will be to work under
your eye, my only shelter the authority of your name, and
the wisdom of measures to be dictated by you and implicitly
executed by me. Whatever you may be pleased to decide, I
do not see that the matters which have called me hither, will
permit me to shorten the stay I originally asked; that is to
say, to set out on my journey northward till the month of
March. As early as possible in that month, I shall have the
honor of paying my respects to you in New York. In the
meantime, I have that of tendering you the homage of
those sentiments of respectful attachment with which I am,
Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

On Hamilton s Finance — Post-roads

To James Madison

MONTICELLO, March 6, 1790.

Dear Sir: I do not at all wonder at the condition in
which the finances of the United States are found. Hamil
ton's object from the beginning, was to throw them into
forms which should be utterly undecipherable. I ever said
he did not understand their condition himself, nor was
able to give a clear view of the excess of our debts beyond
our credits, nor whether we were diminishing or increasing
the debt. My own opinion was, that from the commence
ment of this Government to the time I ceased to attend to
the subject, we had been increasing our debt about a million
of dollars annually. If Mr. Gallatin would undertake to
reduce this chaos to order, present us with a clear view of
our finances, and put them into a form as simple as they
will admit, he will merit immortal honor. The accounts of
the United States ought to be, and may be made as simple
as those of a common farmer, and capable of being under
stood by common farmers. . . .

P. S. — Have you considered all the consequences of your
proposition respecting post-roads? I view it as a source
of boundless patronage to the Executive, jobbing to mem
bers of Congress and their friends, and a bottomless abyss
of public money. You will begin by only appropriating
the surplus of the post-office revenues ; but the other reve
nues will soon be called into their aid, and it will be a source
of eternal scramble among the members, who can get the
most money wasted in their State; and they will always get
most who are meanest. We have thought, hitherto, that the
roads of a State could not be so well administered even by

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the State legislature as by the magistracy of the county, on
the spot. How will they be when a member of New Hamp
shire is to mark out a road for Georgia ? Does the power
to establish post-roads, given you by the Constitution, mean
that you shall make the roads, or only select from those al
ready made, those on which there shall be a post? If the
term be equivocal (and I really do not think it so), which
is the safest construction? That which permits a majority
of Congress to go to cutting down mountains and bridging
of rivers, or the other, which, if too restricted, may be re
ferred to the States for amendment, securing still due meas
ures and proportion among us, and providing some means
of information to the members of Congress tantamount to
that ocular inspection, which, even in our county determina
tions, the magistrate finds cannot be supplied by any other
evidence? The fortification of harbors was liable to great
objection. But national circumstances furnished some
color. In this case there is none. The roads of America
are the best in the world except those of France and Eng
land. But does the state of our population, the extent of
our internal commerce, the want of sea and river navigation,
call for such expense on roads here, or are our means ade
quate to it? Think of all this, and a great deal more which
your good judgment will suggest, and pardon my freedom.

On the Control of the Mississippi

To William Carmichael

NEW YORK, August 2, 1790.

The unsettled state of our dispute with Spain, may give a
turn to it very different from what we would wish. As it is
important that you should be fully apprised of our way of

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

thinking on this subject, I have sketched, in the enclosed
paper, general heads of consideration arising from present
circumstances. These will be readily developed by your
own reflections, and in conversations with Colonel Hum
phreys, who, possessing the sentiments of the executive on
this subject, being well acquainted with the circumstances
of the Western country in particular, and of the state of
our affairs in general, comes to Madrid expressly for the
purpose of giving you a thorough communication of them.
He will, therefore, remain there as many days or weeks as
may be necessary for this purpose. With this information,
written and oral, you will be enabled to meet the minister
in conversations on the subject of the navigation of the Mis
sissippi, to which we wish you to lead his attention imme
diately. Impress him thoroughly with the necessity of an
early, and even an immediate settlement of this matter, and
of a return to the field of negotiation for this purpose; and
though it must be done delicately, yet he must be made to
understand unequivocally that a resumption of the negotia
tion is not desired on our part, unless he can determine, in
the first opening of it, to yield the immediate and full en
joyment of that navigation. (I say nothing of the claims
of Spain to our territory north of the thirty-first degree, and
east of the Mississippi. They never merited the respect of
an answer; and you know it has been admitted at Madrid,
that they were not to be maintained.) It may be asked,
What need of negotiation, if the navigation is to be ceded at
all events ? You know that the navigation cannot be prac
tised without a port, where the sea and river vessels may
meet and exchange loads, and where those employed about
them may be safe and unmolested. The right to use a thing,
comprehends a right to the means necessary to its use, and
without which it would be useless. The fixing on a proper
port, and the degree of freedom it is to enjoy in its opera-

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

tions, will require negotiation, and be governed by events.
There is danger, indeed, that even the unavoidable delay of
sending a negotiator here, may render the mission too late
for the preservation of peace. It is impossible to answer
for the forbearance of our Western citizens. We endeavor
to quiet them with the expectation of an attainment of their
rights by peaceable means. But should they, in a moment
of impatience, hazard others, there is no saying how far we
may be led ; for neither themselves nor their rights will ever
be abandoned by us.

You will be pleased to observe; that we press these mat
ters warmly and firmly, under this idea, that the war between
Spain and Great Britain will be begun before you receive
this ; and such a moment must not be lost. But should an
accommodation take place, we retain, indeed, the same ob
ject and the same resolutions unalterably; but your discre
tion will suggest, that in that event, they must be pressed
more softly, and that patience and persuasion must temper
your conferences, till either these may prevail, or some other
circumstance turn up, which may enable us to use other
means for the attainment of an object which we are deter
mined, in the end, to obtain at every risk.

I have the honor to be, with great esteem, dear sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant.

On the Constitutionality of a National Bank

FEBRUARY 15, 1791.

The bill for establishing a National Bank undertakes
among other things :

1. To form the subscribers into a corporation.

2. To enable them in their corporate capacities to receive
grants of land; and so far is against the laws of Mortmain.

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

3. To make alien subscribers capable of holding lands ;
and so far is against the laws of alienage.

4. To transmit these lands, on the death of a proprietor,
to a certain line of successors; and so far changes the course
of Descents.

5. To put the lands out of the reach of forfeiture or es
cheat; and so far is against the laws of Forfeiture and Es
cheat.

6. To transmit personal chattels to successors in a certain
line; and so far is against the laws of Distribution.

7. To give them the sole and exclusive right of banking
under the national authority; and so far is against the laws
of Monopoly.

8. To communicate to them a power to make laws para
mount to the laws of the States ; for so they must be con
strued, to protect the institution from the control of the
State legislatures ; and so, probably, they will be construed.

I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on
this ground : That " all powers not delegated to the United
States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States or to the people." (Xllth
amendment.) To take a single step beyond the boundaries
thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to
take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer
susceptible of any definition.

The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by
this bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated to the
United States, by the Constitution.

I. They are not among the powers specially enumerated:
for these r.re: 1st. A power to lay taxes for the purpose
of paying the debts of the United States ; but no debt is
paid by this bill, nor any tax laid. . . .

2d. " To borrow money." But this bill neither borrows
money nor insures the borrowing it. ...

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

3d. To " regulate commerce with foreign nations, and
among the States, and with the Indian tribes." To erect
a bank and to regulate commerce, are very different acts.
. . . Still less are these powers covered by any other of
the special enumerations.

II. Xor are they within either of the general phrases,
which are the two following:

1. To lay taxes to provide for the general welfare of the
United States, that is to say, " to lay taxes for the purpose
of providing for the general welfare." For the laying of
taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for
which the power is to be exercised. They are not to lay
taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to
pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In
like manner, they are not to do anything they please to pro
vide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that
purpose. To consider the latter phrase, not as describing
the purpose of the first, but as giving a distinct and inde
pendent power to do any act they please, which might be
for the good of the Union, would render all the preceding
and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless.

It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase,
that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever
would be for the good of the United States; and, as they
would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be
also a power to do whatever evil they please.

It is an established rule of construction where a phrase
will bear either of two meanings, to give it that which will
allow some meaning to the other parts of the instrument,
and not that which would render all the others useless.
Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given
them. It was intended to lace them up straitly within the
enumerated powers, and those without which, as means,
these powers could not be carried into effect. It is known

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

that the very power now proposed as a means was rejected
as an end by the Convention which formed the Constitution.
A proposition was made to them to authorize Congress to
open canals, and an amendatory one to empower them to
incorporate. But the whole was rejected, and one of the
reasons for rejection urged in debate was, that then they
would have a power to erect a bank, which would render the
great cities, where there were prejudices and jealousies on
the subject, adverse to the reception of the Constitution.

2. The second general phrase is, " to make all laws neces
sary and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated
powers." But they can all be carried into execution without
a bank. A bank therefore is not necessary, and consequent
ly not authorized by this phrase.

It has been urged that a bank will give great facility or
convenience in the collection of taxes. Suppose this were
true: yet the Constitution allows only the means which are
" necessary," not those which are merely " convenient " for
effecting the enumerated powers. If such a latitude of con
struction be allowed to this phrase as to give any non-enu
merated power, it will go to every one, for there is not one
which ingenuity may not torture into a convenience in some
instance or other, to some one of so long a list of enumer
ated powers. It would swallow up all the delegated powers,
and reduce the whole to one power, as before observed.
Therefore it was that the Constitution restrained them to
the necessary means, that is to say, to those means without
which the grant of power would be nugatory. . . .

Can it be thought that the Constitution intended that for
a shade or two of convenience, more or less, Congress should
be authorized to break down the most ancient and funda
mental laws of the several States ; such as those against
Mortmain, the laws of Alienage, the rules of descent, the
acts of distribution, the laws of escheat and forfeiture, the

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

laws of monopoly? Nothing but a necessity invincible by
any other means, can justify such a prostitution of laws,
which constitute the pillars of our whole system of juris
prudence. Will Congress be too straitlaced to carry the
Constitution into honest effect, unless they may pass over
the foundation-laws of the State government for the slight
est convenience of theirs?

The negative of the President is the shield provided by
the Constitution to protect against the invasions of the leg
islature: 1. The right of the Executive. 2. Of the Ju
diciary. 3. Of the States and State legislatures. The
present is the case of a right remaining exclusively with the
States, and consequently one of those intended by the Con
stitution to be placed under its protection.

It must be added, however, that unless the President's
mind on a view of everything which is urged for and
against this bill, is tolerably clear that it is unauthorized
by the Constitution ; if the pro and the con hang so even as
to balance his judgment, a just respect for the wisdom of
the legislature would naturally decide the balance in favor
of their opinion. It is chiefly for cases where they are
clearly misled by error, ambition, or interest, that the Con
stitution has placed a check in the negative of the President.

On Frankliniana

PHILADELPHIA, February 19, 1791-

Dear Sir: I feel both the wish and the duty to commu
nicate, in compliance with your request, whatever, within
my knowledge, might render justice to the memory of our
great countryman, Dr. Franklin, in which Philosophy has

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

to deplore one of its principal luminaries extinguished. But
my opportunities of knowing the interesting facts of his
life, have not been equal to my desire of making them
known. I could, indeed, relate a number of those bon-
mots, with which he used to charm every society, having
heard many of them. But these are not your object. Par
ticulars of greater dignity happened not to occur during his
stay of nine months, after my arrival in France.

A little before that, Argand had invented his celebrated
lamp, in which the flame is spread into a hollov/ cylinder,
and thus brought into contact with the air within as well as
without. Dr. Franklin had been on the point of the
same discovery. The idea had occurred to him; but he had
tried a bulrush as a wick, which did not succeed. His oc
cupations did not permit him to repeat and extend his trials
to the introduction of a larger column of air than could pass
through the stem of a bulrush.

The animal magnetism, too, of the maniac Mesmer, had
just received its death wound from his hand in conjunction
with his brethren of the learned committee appointed to un
veil that compound of fraud and folly. But after this,
nothing very interesting was before the public, either in
philosophy or politics, during his stay; and he was prin
cipally occupied in winding up his affairs there.

I can only therefore testify in general, that there ap
peared to me more respect and veneration attached to the
character of Dr. Franklin in France, than to that of any
other person in the same country, foreign or native. I had
opportunities of knowing particularly how far these senti
ments were felt by the foreign ambassadors and ministers
at the court of Versailles. The fable of his capture by the
Algerines, propagated by the English newspapers, excited
no uneasiness, as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up
to the palate of their readers. But nothing could exceed

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the anxiety of his diplomatic brethren, on a subsequent re
port of his death, which, though premature, bore some
marks of authenticity.

I found the ministers of France equally impressed with
the talents and integrity of Dr. Franklin. The Count de
Vergennes particularly gave me repeated and unequivocal
demonstrations of his entire confidence in him.

When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost
its patriarch. On taking leave of the court, which he did by
letter, the King ordered him to be handsomely compli
mented, and furnished him with a litter and mules of his
own, the only kind of conveyance the state of his health
could bear.

No greater proof of his estimation in France can be
given than the late letters of condolence on his death, from
the National Assembly of that country, and the community
of Paris, to the President of the United States and to Con
gress, and their public mourning on that event. It is, I be
lieve, the first instance of that homage having been paid
by a public body of one nation to a private citizen of
another.

His death was an affliction which was to happen to us at
some time or other. We have reason to be thankful he was
so long spared; that the most useful life should be the long
est also; that it was protracted so far beyond the ordinary
span allotted to man, as to avail us of his wisdom in the
establishment of our own freedom, and to bless him with a
view of its dawn in the east, where they seemed, till now,
to have learned everything, but how to be free.

The succession to Dr. Franklin, at the Court of France,
was an excellent school of humility. On being presented ta
any one as the minister of America, the commonplace ques
tion used in such cases was, " c'est vous, Monsieur, qui rem-
place le Docteur Franklin? " " it is you, sir, who replace

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

Dr. Franklin?" I generally answered, "no one can re
place him, Sir; I am only his successor."

These small offerings to the memory of our great and
dear friend, whom time will be making greater while it is
sponging us from its records, must be accepted by you, Sir,
in that spirit of love and veneration for him, in which they
are made; and not according to their insignificance in the
eyes of a world, who did not want this mite to fill up the
measure of his worth.

I pray you to accept, in addition, assurances of the sin
cere esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be,
sir, most obedient, and most humble servant.

On the Control of the Mississippi

To William Carmichael

PHILADELPHIA, March 12, 179*.

We cannot omit this occasion of urging on the court of
Madrid, the necessity of hastening a final acknowledgment
of our right to navigate the Mississippi; a right which has
been long suspended in exercise, with extreme inconvenience
on our part, merely with a desire of reconciling Spain to
what it is impossible for us to relinquish. An accident at
this day, like that now complained of, would put further
parley beyond our power; yet to such accidents we are
every day exposed by the irregularities of their officers, and
the impatience of our citizens. Should any spark kindle
these dispositions of our borderers into a flame, we are in
volved beyond recall by the eternal principles of justice to
our citizens, which we will never abandon. In such an
event, Spain cannot possibly gain, and what may she not
lose ?

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

A Letter of Explanation

To John Adams

PHILADELPHIA, July 17, 1791-

Dear Sir: I have a dozen times taken up my pen to write
to you, and as often laid it down again, suspended between
opposing considerations. I determined, however, to write
from a conviction that truth, between candid minds, can
never do harm. The first of Paine's pamphlets on the
rights of man, which came to hand here, belonged to Mr.
Beckley. He lent it to Mr. Madison, who lent it to me;
and while I was reading it, Mr. Beckley called on me for it,
and, as I had not finished it, he desired me, as soon as I
should have done so, to send it to Mr. Jonathan B. Smith,
whose brother meant to reprint it. I finished reading it,
and, as I had no acquaintance with Mr. Jonathan B. Smith,
propriety required that I should explain to him why I, a
stranger to him, sent him the pamphlet. I accordingly
wrote a note of compliment, informing him that I did it at
the desire of Mr. Beckley, and, to take off a little of the
dryness of the note, I added that I was glad it was to be re
printed here, and that something was to be publicly said
against the political heresies which had sprung up among
us, etc. I thought so little of this note, that I did not even
keep a copy of it; nor ever heard a tittle more of it, till, the
week following, I was thunderstruck with seeing it come
out at the head of the pamphlet. I hoped, however, it would
not attract notice. But I found, on my return from a jour
ney of a month, that a writer came forward, under the sig
nature of Publicola, attacking not only the author and prin
ciples of the pamphlet, but myself as its sponsor, by name.
Soon after came hosts of other writers, defending the pam-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

phlet, and attacking you, by name, as the writer of Pub-
licola. Thus were our names thrown on the public stage as
public antagonists. That you and I differ in our ideas of
the best form of government, is well known to us both; but
we have differed as friends should do, respecting the purity
of each other's motives, and confining our difference of
opinion to private conversation. And I can declare with
truth, in the presence of the Almighty, that nothing was
further from my intention or expectation than to have
either my own or your name brought before the public on
this occasion. The friendship and confidence which have so
long existed between us, required this explanation from me,
and I know you too well to fear any misconstruction of the
motives of it. Some people here, who would wish me to be,
or to be thought, guilty of improprieties, have suggested
that I was Agricola, that I was Brutus, etc., etc. I never
did in my life, either by myself or by any other, have a
sentence of mine inserted in a newspaper without putting
my name to it; and I believe I never shall.

On a National Indian Policy

To General Knox

PHILADELPHIA, August 10, 1791-

Dear Sir: I have now the honor to return you the pe
tition of Mr. Moultrie on behalf of the South Carolina
Yazoo Company. Without noticing that some of the high
est functions of sovereignty are assumed in the very pipers
which he annexes as his justification, I am of opinion that
Government should firmly maintain this ground; that the
Indians have a right to the occupation of their lands, inde
pendent of the States within whose chartered lines they

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

happen to be; that until they cede them by treaty or other
transaction equivalent to a treaty, no act of a State
can give a right to such lands; that neither under the
present Constitution, nor the ancient confederation, had
any State or person a right to treat with the Indians, with
out the consent of the General Government; that that con
sent has never been given to any treaty for the cession of
the lands in question ; that the Government is determined to
exert all its energy for the patronage and protection of the
rights of the Indians, and the preservation of peace be
tween the United States and them ; and that if any settle
ments are made on lands not ceded by them, without the pre
vious consent of the United States, the Government will
think itself bound, not only to declare to the Indians that
such settlements are without the authority or protection of
the United States, but to remove them also by the public
force.

On Obligations and Discomforts of Public Office

To the President of the United States

PHILADELPHIA, May 23, 1792.

Dear Sir: I have determined to make the subject of a
letter what for some time past has been a subject of in
quietude to my mind, without having found a good occasion
of disbursing itself to you in conversation, during the
busy scenes which occupied you here. Perhaps, too, you
may be able in your present situation, or on the road, to
give it more time and reflection than you could do here at
any moment.

When you first mentioned to me your purpose of retiring
from the Government, though I felt all the magnitude of the

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

event, I was in a considerable degree silent. I knew that, to
such a mind as yours, persuasion was idle and impertinent;
that before forming your decision you had weighed all the
reasons for and against the measure, had made up your
mind on full view of them, and that there could be little
hope of changing the result. Pursuing my reflections, too,
I knew we were some day to try to walk alone, and if the
essay should be made while you should be alive and look
ing on, AVC should derive confidence from that circum
stance, and resource, if it failed. The public mind, too, was
calm and confident, and therefore in a favorable state for
making the experiment. Had no change of circumstances
intervened, I should not, with any hopes of success, have
now ventured to propose to you a change of purpose. But
the public mind is no longer confident and serene ; and that
from causes in which you are no ways personally mixed.
Though these causes have been hackneyed in the public pa
pers in detail, it may not be amiss, in order to calculate the
effect they are capable of producing, to take a view of them
in the mass, giving to each the form, real or imaginary,
under which they have been presented.

It has been urged, then, that a public debt, greater than
we can possibly pay, before other causes of adding new debt
to it will occur, has been artificially created by adding to
gether the whole amount of the debtor and creditor sides of
accounts, instead of only taking their balances, which could
have been paid off in a short time ; that this accumulation of
debt has taken forever out of our power those easy sources
of revenue which, applied to the ordinary necessities and
exigencies of government, would have answered them ha
bitually, and covered us from habitual murmurings against
taxes and tax-gatherers, reserving extraordinary calls for
those extraordinary occasions which would animate the
people to meet them; that though the calls for money have

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

been no greater than we must expect generally, for the
same or equivalent exigencies, yet we are already obliged
to strain the impost till it produces clamor, and will produce
evasion and war on our own citizens to collect it, and even
to resort to an excise law of odious character with the peo
ple, partial in its operation, unproductive unless enforced
by arbitrary and vexatious means, and committing the au
thority of the Government in parts where resistance is most
probable and coercion least practicable. They cite propo
sitions in Congress, and suspect other projects on foot still
to increase the mass of debt. They say, that by borrowing
at two-thirds of the interest, we might have paid off the
principal in two-thirds of the time; but that from this we
are precluded by its being made irredeemable but in small
portions and long terms ; that this irredeemable quality
was given it for the avowed purpose of inviting its trans
fer to foreign countries. They predict that this transfer
of the principal, when completed, will occasion an exporta
tion of three millions of dollars annually for the interest,
a drain of coin, of which, as there has been no examples,
no calculation can be made of its consequences : that the
banishment of our coin will be complicated by the creation
of ten millions of paper-money, in the form of bank-bills
now issuing into circulation. They think the ten or
twelve per cent, annual profit paid to the lenders of this
paper medium taken out of the pockets of the people,
who would have had without interest the coin it is ban
ishing: that all the capital employed in paper speculation
is barren and useless, producing, like that on a gaming
table, no accession to itself, and is withdrawn from com
merce and agriculture, where it would have produced addi
tion to the common mass: that it nourishes in our citizens
habits of vice and idleness, instead of industry and moral
ity: that it has furnished effectual means of corrupting

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

such a portion of the legislature as turns the balance be
tween the honest voters, whichever way it is directed: that
this corrupt squadron, deciding the voice of the legislature,
have manifested their dispositions to get rid of the limita
tions imposed by the Constitution on the general legislature,
limitations, on the faith of which, the States acceded to
that instrument: that the ultimate object of all this is to
prepare the way for a change from the present republican
form of government to that of a monarchy, of which the
English Constitution is to be the model: that this was con
templated by the convention is no secret, because its parti
sans have made more of it. To effect it then was imprac
ticable, but they are still eager after their object, and are
predisposing everything for its ultimate attainment. So
many of them have got into the Legislature, that, aided by
the corrupt squadron of paper dealers, who are at their de
votion, they make a majority in both houses. The repub
lican party, who wish to preserve the government in its
present form, are fewer in number; they are fewer even
when joined by the two, three, or half dozen antifederal-
ists, who, though they dare not avow it, are still opposed to
any General Government; but, being less so to a republican
than a monarchical one, they naturally join those whom they
think pursuing the lesser evil.

Of all the mischiefs objected to the system of measures
before mentioned, none is so afflicting and fatal to every
honest hope, as the corruption of the Legislature. As it
was the earliest of these measures, it became the instrument
for producing the risk, and will be the instrument for pro
ducing in future a king, lords and commons, or whatever
else those who direct it may choose. Withdrawn such a dis
tance from the eye of their constituents, and these so dis
persed as to be inaccessible to public information, and par
ticularly to that of the conduct of their own representatives,

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

they will form the most corrupt government on earth, if the
means of their corruption be not prevented. The only hope
of safety hangs now on the numerous representation which
is to come forward the ensuing year. Some of the new
members will be, probably, either in principle or interest,
with the present majority; but it is expected that the great
mass will form an accession to the republican party. They
will not be able to undo all which the two preceding Leg
islatures, and especially the first, have done. Public faith
and right will oppose this. But some parts of the system
may be rightfully reformed, a liberation from the rest un
remittingly pursued as fast as right will permit, and the
door shut in future against similar commitments of the na
tion. Should the next Legislature take this course, it will
draw upon them the whole monarchical and paper interest;
but the latter, I think, will not go all lengths with the form
er, because creditors will never, of their own accord, fly off
entirely from their debtors ; therefore, this is the alternative
least likely to produce convulsion. But should the majority
of the new members be still in the same principles with the
present, and show that we have nothing to expect but a con
tinuance of the same practices, it is not easy to conjecture
what would be the result, nor what means would be resorted
to for correction of the evil. True wisdom would direct that
they should be temperate and peaceable; but the division of
sentiment and interest happens unfortunately to be so geo
graphical, that no mortal can say that what is most wise and
temperate would prevail against what is most easy and ob
vious. I can scarcely contemplate a more incalculable evil
than the breaking of the Union into two or more parts. Yet
when we consider the mass which opposed the original
coalescence; when we consider that it lay chiefly in the
Southern quarter; that the Legislature have availed them
selves of no occasion of allaying it, but on the contrary,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

whenever Northern and Southern prejudices have come into
conflict, the latter have been sacrificed and the former
soothed; that the owners of the debt are in the Southern,
and the holders of it in the Northern division ; that the anti-
federal champions are now strengthened in argument by
the fulfilment of their predictions ; that this has been
brought about by the monarchical federalists themselves,
who, having been for the new government merely as a
stepping-stone to monarchy, have themselves adopted the
very constructions of the Constitution, of which, when advo
cating its acceptance before the tribunal of the people, they
declared it unsusceptible; that the republican federalists
who espoused the same government for its intrinsic merits,
are disarmed of their weapons ; that which they denied as
prophecy, having now become true history, who can be sure
that these things may not proselyte the small number which
was wanting to place the majority on the other side? And
this is the event at which I tremble, and to prevent which I
consider your continuing at the head of affairs as of the
last importance. The confidence of the whole Union is cen
tred in you. Your being at the helm will be more than an
answer to every argument which can be used to alarm and
lead the people in any quarter, into violence and secession.
North and South will hang together if they have you to
hang on; and if the first correction of a numerous represen
tation should fail in its effect, your presence will give time
for trying others, not inconsistent with the union and peace
of the States.

I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which
your present office lays your mind, and of the ardor with
which you pant for domestic life. But there is sometimes
an eminence of character on which society have such pecul
iar claims as to control the predilections of the individual
for a particular walk of happiness, and restrain him to that

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

alone arising from the present and future benedictions of
mankind. This seems to be your condition, and the law im
posed on you by Providence in forming your character, and
fashioning the events on which it was to operate; and it is
to motives like these, and not to personal anxieties of mine
or others who have no right to call on you for sacrifices,
that I appeal, and urge a revisal of it, on the ground of
change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority
result from the new and enlarged representation ; should
those acquiesce whose principles or interest they may con
trol, your wishes for retirement would be gratified with less
danger, as soon as that shall be manifest, without awaiting
the completion of the second period of four years. One or
two sessions will determine the crisis ; and I cannot but hope
that you can resolve to add more to the many years you
have already sacrificed to the good of mankind.

The fear of suspicion that any selfish motive of contin
uance in office may enter into this solicitation on my part
obliges me to declare that no such motive exists. It is a
thing of mere indifference to the public whether I retain or
relinquish my purpose of closing my tour with the first pe
riodical renovation of the Government. I know my own
measure too well to suppose that my services contribute any
thing to the public confidence, or the public utility. Multi
tudes can fill the office in which you have been pleased to
place me, as much to their advantage and satisfaction. I
have, therefore, no motive to consult but my own inclina
tion, which is bent irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of
my family, my farm, and my books. I should repose among
them, it is true, in far greater security, if I were to know
that you remained at the watch ; and I hope it will be so. To
the inducements urged from a view of our domestic affairs, I
will add a bare mention, of what indeed need only to be
mentioned, that weighty motives for your continuance are to

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be found in our foreign affairs. I think it probable that
both the Spanish and English negotiations, if not completed
before your purpose is known, will be suspended from the
moment it is known, and that the latter nation will then use
double diligence in fomenting the Indian War.

On the French Revolution

To William Short

PHILADELPHIA, January 3, 1793.

The liberty of the whole earth was depending on the issue
of the contest [the French Revolution], and was ever such
a prize won with so little innocent blood? My own affec
tions have been deeply wounded by some of the martyrs to
this cause, but rather than it should have failed I would
have seen half the earth desolated; were there but an Adam
and an Eve left in every country, and left free, it would be
better than as it now is.

On Obligations to Public Service and the Simple

Life

To James Madison

PHILADELPHIA, June 9> 1793.

I acknowledge . . . that a tour of duty, in whatever
line he can be most useful to his country, is due from every
individual. It is not easy perhaps to say of what length
exactly this tour should be, but we may safely say of what
length it should not be. Not of our whole life, for instance,
for that would be to be born a slave — not even of a very

102

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

large portion of it. I have now been in the public service
four and twenty years ; one-half of which has been spent in
total occupation with their affairs, and absence from my
own. I have served my tour then. No positive engage
ment, by word or deed, binds me to their further service.
No commitment of their interests in any enterprise by me
requires that I should see them through it. I am pledged
by no act which gives any tribunal a call upon me be
fore I withdraw. Even my enemies do not pretend this.
I stand clear then of public right on all points — my
friends I have not committed. No circumstances have at
tended my passage from office to office, which could lead
them, and others through them, into deception as to the
time I might remain, and particularly the}' and all
have known with what reluctance I engaged and have con
tinued in the present one, and of my uniform determina
tion to return from it at an early date. If the public
then has no claim on me, and my friends nothing to justify,
the decision will rest on my own feelings alone. There has
been a time when these were very different from what they
are now; when perhaps the esteem of the world was of
higher value in my eye than everything in it. But age, ex
perience and reflection preserving to that only its due value,
have set a higher on tranquillity. The motion of my blood
no longer keeps time with the tumult of the world. It leads
me to seek for happiness in the lap and love of my family,
in the society of my neighbors and my books, in the whole
some occupations of my farm and my affairs, in an interest
or affection in every bud that opens, in every breath that
blows around me, in an entire freedom of rest, of motion,
of thought, owing account to myself alone of my hours and
actions. What must be the principle of that calculation
which should balance against these the circumstances of my
present existence — worn down with labors from morning to

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

night, and day to day; knowing them as fruitless to others
as they are vexatious to myself, committed singly in desper
ate and eternal contest against a host who are systemati
cally undermining the public liberty and prosperity, even
the rare hours of relaxation sacrificed to the society of per
sons in the same intentions, of whose hatred I am conscious
even in those moments of conviviality when the heart
wishes most to open itself to the effusions of friendship
and confidence, cut off from my family and friends, my
affairs abandoned to chaos and derangement, in short, giv
ing everything I love in exchange for everything I hate,
and all this without a single gratification in possession or
prospect, in present enjoyment or future wish. Indeed, my
dear friend, duty being out of the question, inclination cuts
off all argument, and so never let there be more between
you and me, on this subject.

From the Report of Secretary of State on Trade
and the Tariff

DECEMBER 16, 1793.

The following principles, being founded in reciprocity,
appear perfectly just, and to offer no cause of complaint
to any nation :

1. Where a nation imposes high duties on our produc
tions, or prohibits them altogether, it may be proper for us
to do the same by theirs ; first burdening or excluding those
productions which they bring here, in competition with our
own of the same kind; selecting next, such manufactures as
we take from them in greatest quantity, and which, at the
same time, we could the soonest furnish to ourselves, or ob
tain from other countries; imposing on them duties lighter

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

at first, but heavier and heavier afterward as other channels
of supply open. Such duties having the effect of indirect
encouragement to domestic manufactures of the same kind,
may induce the manufacturer to come himself into these
States, where cheaper subsistence, equal laws, and a vent
of his wares, free of duty, may insure him the highest
profits from his skill and industry. And here, it would be
in the power of the State governments to cooperate essen
tially, by opening the resources of encouragement which are
under their control, extending them liberally to artists in
those particular branches of manufacture for which their
soil, climate, population and other circumstances have ma
tured them, and fostering the precious efforts and progress
of household manufacture, by some patronage suited to the
nature of its objects, guided by the local informations they
possess, and guarded against abuse by their presence and
. attentions. The oppressions on our agriculture, in foreign
ports, would thus be made the occasion of relieving it from
a dependence on the councils and conduct of others, and of
promoting arts, manufactures, and population at home.

2. Where a nation refuses permission to our merchants
and factors to reside within certain parts of their dominions,
we may, if it should be thought expedient, refuse residence
to theirs in any and every part of ours, or modify their
transactions.

3. Where a nation refuses to receive in our vessels any
productions but our own, we may refuse to receive, in theirs,
any but their own productions. The first and second clauses
of the bill reported by the committee, are well formed to
effect this object.

4. Where a nation refuses to consider any vessel as ours
which has not been built within our territories, we should
refuse to consider as theirs, any vessel not built within their
territories.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

5. Where a nation refuses to our vessels the carriage
even of our own productions, to certain countries under
their domination, we might refuse to theirs of every descrip
tion, the carriage of the same productions to the same coun
tries. But as justice and good neighborhood would dictate
that those who have no part in imposing the restriction on
us, should not be the victims of measures adopted to defeat
its effect, it may be proper to confine the restrictions to ves
sels owned or navigated by any subjects of the same domi
nant power, other than the inhabitants of the country to
which the said productions are to be carried. And to pre
vent all inconvenience to the said inhabitants, and to our
own, by too sudden a check on the means of transportation,
we may continue to admit the vessels marked for future ex
clusion, on an advanced tonnage, and for such length of
time only, as may be supposed necessary to provide against
that inconvenience.

The establishment of some of these principles by Great
Britain alone, has already lost us in our commerce with that
country and its possessions, between eight and nine hun
dred vessels of near 40,000 tons burden, according to state
ments from official materials, in which they have confidence.
This involves a proportional loss of seamen, shipwrights,
and ship-building, and is too serious a loss to admit forbear
ance of some effectual remedy.

It is true we must expect some inconvenience in practice
from the establishment of discriminating duties. But in
this, as in so many other cases, we are left to choose be
tween two evils. These inconveniences are nothing when
weighed against the loss of wealth and loss of force, which
will follow our perseverance in the plan of indiscrimination.
When once it shall be perceived that we are either in the
system or in the habit of giving equal advantages to those
who extinguish our commerce and navigation by duties and

106

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

prohibitions, as to those who treat both with liberality and
justice, liberality and justice will be converted by all into
duties and prohibitions. It is not to the moderation and jus
tice of others we are to trust for fair and equal access to
market with our productions, or for our due share in the
transportation of them; but to our own means of indepen
dence, and the firm will to use them. Nor do the inconven
iences of discrimination merit consideration. Not one of
the nations before mentioned, perhaps not a commercial na
tion on earth, is without them. In our case one distinction
alone will suffice: that is to say, between nations who favor
our productions and navigation, and those who do not favor
them. One set of moderate duties, say the present duties,
for the first, and a fixed advance on these as to some arti
cles, and prohibitions as to others, for the last.

Still, it must be repeated that friendly arrangements are
preferable with all who will come into them ; and that we
should carry into such arrangements all the liberality and
spirit of accommodation which the nature of the case will
admit.

On Rural Life

To George Washington

MONTICELLO, April 25, 1794.

Dear Sir: I am to thank you for the book you were so
good as to transmit me, as well as the letter covering it,
and your felicitations on my present quiet. The difference
of my present and past situation is such as to leave me
nothing to regret, but that my retirement has been post
poned four years too long. The principles on which I cal
culated the value of life, are entirely in favor of my present

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

course. I return to farming with an ardor which I scarcely
knew in my youth, and which has got the better entirely of
my love of study. Instead of writing ten or twelve letters
a day, which I have been in the habit of doing as a tiling in
course, I put off answering my letters now, farmer-like, till
a rainy day, and then find them sometimes postponed by
other necessary occupations.

On Political Theory

To Monsieur D'lvernois

MONTICELLO, February 6, 1795.

I suspect that the doctrine, that small States alone are
fitted to be republics, will be exploded by experience, with
some other brilliant fallacies accredited by Montesquieu and
other political writers. Perhaps it will be found, that to
obtain a just republic (and it is to secure our just rights
that we resort to government at all) it must be so extensive
as that local egoisms may never reach its greater part ; that
on every particular question, a majority may be found in its
councils free from particular interests, and giving, there
fore, an uniform prevalence to the principles of justice.
The smaller the societies the more violent and more con
vulsive their schisms. We have chanced to live in an age
which will probably be distinguished in history, for its ex
periments in government on a larger scale than has yet
taken place. But we shall not live to see the result. The
grosser absurdities, such as hereditary magistracies, we
shall see exploded in our day, long experience having al
ready pronounced condemnation against them. But what is
to be the substitute? Tliis our children or grandchildren
will answer. We may be satisfied with the certain knowl-

108

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

edge that none can ever be tried, so stupid, so unrighteous,
so oppressive, so destructive of every end for which hon
est men enter into government, as that which their fore
fathers had established, and their fathers alone venture to
tumble headlong from the stations they have so long abused.
It is unfortunate, that the efforts of mankind to recover the
freedom of which they have been so long deprived, will
be accompanied with violence, with errors, and even with
crimes. But while we weep over the means, we must pray
for the end.

On Education, Rogues, and Honest Men

To Mann Page

MONTICELLO, August 30, 1795.

If anything could ever induce me to sleep another night
out of my own house, it would have been your friendly in
vitation and my solicitude for the subject of it, the educa
tion of our youth. I do most anxiously wish to see the
highest degrees of education given to the higher degrees
of genius, and to all degrees of it, so much as may enable
them to read and understand what is going on in the world,
and to keep their part of it going on right: for nothing
can keep it right but their own vigilant and distrustful
superintendence. I do not believe with the Rochefou-
caults and Montaignes, that fourteen out of fifteen men are
rogues: I believe a great abatement from that proportion
may be made in favor of general honesty. But I have al
ways found that rogues would be uppermost, and I do not
know that the proportion is too strong for the higher or
ders, and for those who, rising above the swinish multitude,
always contrive to nestle themselves into the places of power

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

and profit. These rogues set out with stealing the people's
good opinion, and then steal from them the right of with
drawing it, by contriving laws and associations against the
power of the people themselves. Our part of the country
is in considerable fermentation, on what they suspect to be
a recent roguery of this kind. They say that while all
hands were below deck mending sails, splicing ropes, and
every one at his own business, and the captain in his cabin
attending to his log-book and chart, a rogue of a pilot has
run them into an enemy's port. But metaphor apart, there
is much dissatisfaction with Mr. Jay and his treaty. For
my part, I consider myself now but as a passenger, leaving
the world and its government to those who are likely to live
longer in it. That you may be among the longest of these
is my sincere prayer.

On the Jay Treaty

To Col. James Monroe

MONTICELLO, March 21, 1796.

All America is a-tiptoe to see what the House of Repre
sentatives will decide on it [the Jay Treaty]. We conceive
the constitutional doctrine to be, that though the President
and Senate have the general power of making treaties, yet
wherever they include in a treaty matters confided by the
Constitution to the three branches of Legislature, an act of
legislation will be requisite to confirm these articles, and
that the House of Representatives, as one branch of the
Legislature, are perfectly free to pass the act or to refuse
it, governing themselves by their own judgment whether it
is for the good of their constituents to let the treaty go into
effect or not. On the precedent now to be set will depend

110

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the future construction of our Constitution, and whether the
powers of legislation shall be transferred from the Presi
dent, Senate, and House of Representatives, to the Presi
dent and Senate, and Piamingo or any other Indian, Alge-
rine, or other chief. It is fortunate that the first decision is
to be in a case so palpably atrocious, as to have been prede
termined by all America. The appointment of Ellsworth
Chief Justice, and Chase one of the judges, is doubtless
communicated to you.

On Party Lines

To Phillip Mazzei

MONTICELLO, April 24, 1796.

The aspect of our politics has wonderfully changed since
you left us. In place of that noble love of liberty and re
publican government which carried us triumphantly through
the war, an Anglican monarchical aristocratical party has
sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw over us the sub
stance, as they have already done the forms, of the British
government. The main body of our citizens, however, re
main true to their republican principles; the whole landed
interest is republican, and so is a great mass of talents.
Against us are the Executive, the Judiciary, two out of
three branches of the Legislature, all the officers of the gov
ernment, all who want to be officers, all timid men who pre
fer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty,
British merchants and Americans trading on British capital,
speculators and holders in the banks and public funds, a
contrivance invented for the purposes of corruption, and for
assimilating us in all things to the rotten as well as the
sound parts of the British model. It would give you a fever

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

were I to name to you the apostates who have gone over to
these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solo
mons in the council, but who have had their heads shorn by
the harlot England. In short, we are likely to preserve the
liberty we have obtained only by unremitting labors and
perils. But we shall preserve it; and our mass of weight
and wealth on the good side is so great, as to leave no dan
ger that force will ever be attempted against us. We have
only to awake and snap the Lilliputian cords with which
they have been entangling us during the first sleep which
succeeded our labors.

On Adams for President

To James Madison

MONTICELLO, December 17, 1796.

Your favor of the 5th came to hand last night. The first
wish of my heart was, that you should have been proposed
for the administration of the government. On your declin
ing it, I wish anybody rather than myself; and there is
nothing I so anxiously hope, as that my name may come out
either second or third. These would be indifferent to me;
as the last would leave me at home the whole year, and the
other two-thirds of it. I have no expectation that the East
ern States will suffer themselves to be so much outwitted, as
to be made the tools for bringing in P. instead of A. I pre
sume they will throw away their second vote. In this case,
it begins to appear possible, that there may be an equal di
vision where I had supposed the republican vote would have
been considerably minor. It seems also possible, that the
Representatives may be divided. This is a difficulty from
which the Constitution has provided no issue. It is both my

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

duty and inclination, therefore, to relieve the embarrass
ment, should it happen; and in that case, I pray you and
authorize you fully, to solicit on my behalf that Mr. Adams
may be preferred. He has always been my senior, from
the commencement of our public life, and the expression of
the public will being equal, this circumstance ought to give
him the preference. And when so many motives will be
operating to induce some of the members to change their
vote, the addition of my wish may have some effect to pre
ponderate the scale.

On his Relations to Adams

To James Madison

MONTICELLO, January 30, 1797.

Yours of the 18th came to hand yesterday. I am very
thankful for the discretion you have exercised over the let
ter. That has happened to be the case, which I knew to be
possible, that the honest expression of my feelings toward
Mr. Adams might be rendered malapropos from circum
stances existing, and known at the seat of government, but
not known by me in my retired situation. Mr. Adams and
myself were cordial friends from the beginning of the Rev
olution. Since our return from Europe, some little incidents
have happened, which were capable of affecting a jealous
mind like his. His deviation from that line of politics on
which we had been united, has not made me less sensible of
the rectitude of his heart; and I wished him to know this,
and also another truth, that I am sincerely pleased at hav
ing escaped the late draft for the helm, and have not a
wish which he stands in the way of. That he should be con
vinced of these truths, is important to our mutual satisfac-

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tion, and perhaps to the harmony and good of the public
service. But there was a difficulty in conveying them to
him, and a possibility that the attempt might do mischief
there or somewhere else ; and I would not have hazarded the
attempt, if you had not been in place to decide upon its ex
pediency. It has now become unnecessary to repeat it by a
letter.

On Ins Relations with Adams and Attitude
toward England

To Elbridge Gerry

PHILADELPHIA, May 13, 1797.

I entirely commend your dispositions toward Mr. Adams,
knowing his worth as intimately and esteeming it as much
as any one, and acknowledging the preference of his claims,
if any I could have had, to the high office conferred on him.
But in truth, I had neither claims nor wishes on the sub
ject, though I know it will be difficult to obtain belief of
this. When I retired from this place and the office of Sec
retary of State, it was in the firmest contemplation of never
more returning here. There had indeed been suggestions
in the public papers, that I was looking toward a succession
to the President's chair, but feeling a consciousness of
their falsehood, and observing that the suggestions came
from hostile quarters, I considered them as intended merely
to excite public odium against me. I never in my life ex
changed a word with any person on the subject, till I found
my name brought forward generally, in competition with
that of Mr. Adams. Those with whom I then communi
cated, could say, if it were necessary, whether I met the call

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

with desire, or even with a ready acquiescence, and whether
from the moment of my first acquiescence, I did not devoutly
pray that the very thing might happen which has happened.
The second office of the Government is honorable and easy,
the f rst is but a splendid misery.

You express apprehensions that stratagems will be used,
to produce a misunderstanding between the President and
myself. Though not a word having this tendency hqs ever
been hazarded to me by any one, yet I consider as a cer
tainty that nothing will be left untried to alienate him from
me. These machinations will proceed from the Hainil-
tonians by whom he is surrounded, and who are only a little
less hostile to him than to me. It cannot but damp the
pleasure of cordiality, when we suspect that it is suspected.
I cannot help thinking, that it is impossible for Mr. Adams
to believe that the state of my mind is what it really is ; that
he may think I view him as an obstacle in my way. I have
no supernatural power to impress truth on the mind of an
other, nor he any to discover that the estimate which he may
form, on a just view of the human mind as generally consti
tuted, may not be just in its application to a special consti
tution. This may be a source of private uneasiness to us; I
honestly confess that it is so to me at this time. But neither
of us is capable of letting it have effect on our public dv.ties.
Those who may endeavor to separate us, are probably ex
cited by the fear that I might have influence on the exec
utive councils ; but when they shall know that I consider my
office as constitutionally confined to legislative functions,
and that I could not take any part whatever in executive
consultations, even were it proposed, their fears may per
haps subside, and their object be found not worth a machi
nation.

I do sincerely wisli with you, that we could take cur stand
on a ground perfectly neutral and independent toward all

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

nations. It has been my constant object through my public
life; and with respect to the English and French, particu
larly, I have too often expressed to the former my wishes,
and made to them propositions verbally and in writing, offi
cially and privately, to official and private characters, for
them to doubt of my views, if they would be content with
equality. Of this they are in possession of several written
and formal proofs, in my own handwriting. But they have
wished a monopoly of commerce and influence with us ; and
they have in fact obtained it. When we take notice that
theirs is the workshop to which we go for all we want; that
with them centre either immediately or ultimately all the
labors of our hands and lands; that to them belongs either
openly or secretly the great mass of our navigation; that
even the factorage of their affairs here, is kept to them
selves by factitious citizenships; that these foreign and
false citizens now constitute the great body of what are
called our merchants, fill our seaports, are planted in every
little town and district of the interior country, sway every
thing in the former places by their own votes, and those of
their dependents, in the latter, by their insinuations and the
influence of their ledgers ; that they are advancing fast to a
monopoly of our banks and public funds, and thereby plac
ing our public finances under their control; that they have
in their alliance the most influential characters in and out of
office; when they have shown that by all these bearings on
the different branches of the government, they can force it
to proceed in whatever direction they dictate, and bend the
interests of this country entirely to the will of another;
when all this, I say, is attended to, it is impossible for us to
say we stand on independent ground, impossible for a free
mind not to see and to groan under the bondage in which
it is bound. If anything after this could excite surprise, it
would be that they have been able so far to throw dust in

116

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the eyes of our own citizens, as to fix on those who wish
merely to recover self-government the charge of subserving
one foreign influence, because they resist submission to an
other. But they possess our printing-presses, a powerful
engine in their government of us. At this very moment,
they would have drawn us into a war on the side of England,
had it not been lor the failure of her bank. Such was their
open and loud cry, and that of their gazettes till this event.
After plunging us in all the broils of the European nations,
there would remain but one act to close our tragedy, that is,
to break up our Union ; and even this they have ventured se
riously and solemnly to propose and maintain by arguments
in a Connecticut paper. I have been happy, however, in
believing, from the stifling of this effort, that that dose was
found too strong, and excited as much repugnance there as
it did horror in other parts of our country, and that what
ever follies we may be led into as to foreign nations, we
shall never give up our Union, the last anchor of our hope,
and that alone which is to prevent this heavenly country
from becoming an arena of gladiators. Much as I abhor
war, and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind, and
anxiously as I wish to keep out of the broils of Europe, I
would yet go with my brethren into these, rather than sepa
rate from them. But I hope we may still keep clear of
them, notwithstanding our present thraldom, and that time
may be given us to reflect on the awful crisis we have passed
through, and to find some means of shielding ourselves in
future from foreign influence, political, commercial, or in
whatever other form it may be attempted. I can scarcely
withhold myself from joining in the wish of Silas Deane,
that there were an ocean of fire between us and the Old
World.

A perfect confidence that you are as much attached to
peace and union as myself, that you equally prize inde-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

pendence of all nations, and the blessings of self-govern
ment, has induced me freely to unbosom myself to you, and
let you see the light in which I have viewed what has been
passing among us from the beginning of the war. And I
shall be happy, at all times, in an intercommunication of
sentiments with you, believing that the dispositions of the
different parts of our country have been considerably mis
represented and misunderstood in each part, as to the other,
and that nothing but good can result from an exchange of
information and opinions between those whose circum
stances and morals admit no doubt of the integrity of their
views.

On the Position of the United States

To Edward Rutledge

PHILADELPHIA, June 24, 1797.

They [the peace party] believe the present is the last
campaign of Europe, and wish to rub through this fragment
of a year as they have through the four preceding ones,
opposing patience to insult, and interest to honor. They
will, therefore, immediately adjourn. This is, indeed, a
most humiliating state of things, but it commenced in 1793.
Causes have been adding to causes, and effects accumulating
on effects, from that time to this. We had, in 1793, the most
respectable character in the universe. What the neutral na
tions think of us now, I know not; but we are low indeed
with the belligerents. Their kicks and cuffs prove their
contempt. If we weather the present storm, I hope we shall
avail ourselves of the calm of peace, to place our foreign
connections under a new and different arrangement. We
must make the interest of every nation stand surety for

118

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

their justice, and their own loss to follow injury to us, as
effect follows its cause. As to everything except commerce,
we ought to divorce ourselves from them all. But this sys
tem would require time, temptr, wisdom, and occasional sac
rifice of interest; and how far all of these will be ours, our
children may see, but we shall not. The passions are too
high at present, to be cooled in our day. You and I have
formerly seen warm debates and high political passions.
But gentlemen of different politics would then speak to each
other, and separate the business of the Senate from that of
society. It is not so now. Men who have been intimate all
their lives, cross the streets to avoid meeting, and turn their
heads another way, lest they should be obliged to touch their
hats. This may do for young men with whom passion is en-
jojrment. But it is afflicting to peaceable minds. Tranquil
lity is the old man's milk. I go to enjoy it in a few days,
and to exchange the roar and tumult of bulls and bears, for
the prattle of my grandchildren and senile rest. Be these
yours, my dear friend, through long years, with every other
blessing, and the attachment of friends as warm and sin
cere, as yours affectionately.

On Farming

To-

PHILADELPHIA, March 23, 1798.

Dear Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your fa
vors of August l6th and 18th, together with the box of seed
accompanying the former, which has just come to li-md.
The letter of the 4th of June, which you mention to have
committed to Mr. King, has never been received. It has
most likely been intercepted on the sea, now become a field.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

of lawless and indiscriminate rn.pine and violence. The first
box which came through Mr. Donald, arrived safely the
last rear, but being a little too late for that season, its con
tents have been divided between Mr. Randolph and myself,
and will be committed to the earth now immediately. The
peas and the vetch are most acceptable indeed. Since you
were here, I have tried that species of your field pea which
is cultivated in New York, and begin to fear that that plant
will scarcely bear our sun and soil. A late acquisition too
of a species of our country pea, called the cow-pea, has
pretty well supplied the place in my husbandry which I
had destined for the European field pea. It is very pro
ductive, excellent food for man and beast, awaits without
loss our leisure for gathering, and shades the ground very
closely through the hottest months of the year. This with
the loosening of the soil, I take to be the chief means by
which the pea improves the soil. We know that the sun in
our cloudless climate is the most powerful destroyer of fer
tility in naked ground, and therefore that the perpetual fal
lows will not do here, which are so beneficial in a cloudy cli
mate. Still I shall with care try all the several kinds of
pea you have been so good as to send me, and having tried
all hold fast that which is good. Mr. Randolph is pecul-
iarly happy in having the barleys committed to him, as he
had been desirous of going considerably into that culture. J
was able at the same time to put into his hands Siberian bar
ley, sent me from France. I look forward with considerable
anxiety to the success of the winter vetch, for it gives us a
good winter crop, and helps the succeeding summer one. It
is something like doubling the produce of the field. I know
it does well in Italy, and therefore have the more hope here.
My experience leaves me no fear as to the success of clover.
I have never seen finer than in some of my fields which
have never been manured. My rotation is triennial, to wit:

120

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

one year of wheat and two of clover in the stronger fields,
or two of peas in the weaker, with a crop of Indian corn
and potatoes between every other rotation, that is to say
once in seven years. Under this easy course of culture,
aided with some manure, I hope my fields will recover their
pristine fertility, which had in some of them been complete
ly exhausted by perpetual crops of Indian corn and wheat
alternately. The atmosphere is certainly the great work
shop of nature for elaborating the fertilizing principles and
insinuating them into the soil. It has been relied on as the
sole means of regenerating our soil by most of the land
holders in the canton I inhabit, and where rest has been re
sorted to before a total exhaustion, the soil has never failed
to recover. If, indeed, it be so run down as to be incapable
of throwing weeds or herbage of any kind, to shade the soil
from the sun, it either goes off in gullies, and is entirely
lost, or remains exhausted till a growth springs up of such
trees as will rise in the poorest soils. Under the shade of
these and the cover soon formed of their deciduous leaves,
and a commencing herbage, such fields sometimes recover in
a long course of years; but this is too long to be taken into
a course of husbandry. Not so, however, is the term within
which the atmosphere alone will reintegrate a soil rested in
due season. A year of wheat will be balanced by one, two,
or three years of rest and atmospheric influence, according
to the quality of the soil. It has been said that no rotation
of crops will keep the earth in the same degree of fertility
without the aid of manure. But it is well known here that
a space of rest greater or less in spontaneous herbage, will
restore the exhaustion of a single crop. This then is a ro
tation; and as it is not to be believed that spontaneous herb
age is the only or best covering during rest, so may we ex
pect that a substitute for it may be found which will yield
profitable crops, Such perhaps are clover, peas, vetches,

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

etc. A rotation then may be found, which, by giving time
for the slow influence of the atmosphere, will keep the soil
in a constant and equal state of fertility. But the advant
age of manuring, is that it will do more in one than the
atmosphere would require several years to do, and conse
quently enables you so much the oftener to take exhausting
crops from the soil, a circumstance of importance where
there is more labor than land. I am much indebted.

On Newspaper Libels

To James Lewis, Jr.

PHILADELPHIA, May Q, 1798.

Party passions are indeed high. Nobody has more rea
son to know it than myself. I receive daily bitter proofs of
it from people who never saw me, nor know anything of me
but through Porcupine and Fenno. At this moment all the
passions are boiling over, and one who keeps himself cool
and clear of the contagion, is so far below the point of
ordinary conversation, that he finds himself insulated in
every society. However, the fever will not last. War,
land tax and stamp tax, are sedatives which must cool its
ardor. They will bring on reflection, and that, with infor
mation, is all which our countrymen need to bring them
selves and their affairs to rights. They are essentially Re
publicans. They retain unadulterated the principles of
'75, and those who are conscious of no change in them
selves have nothing to fear in the long run. It is our duty
still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take
place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend our
selves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it
was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish

122

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

it. In that, I have no doubt, we shall act as one man. But
if we can ward off actual war till the crisis of England is
over, I shall hope we may escape it altogether.

On Sectional Politics — Possibility of Division

To John Taylor

PHILADELPHIA, June 1, 1798.

Mr. Xew showed me your letter on the subject of the pat
ent, which gave me an opportunity of observing what you
said as to the effect, with you, of public proceedings, and
that it was not unwise now to estimate the separate mass of
Virginia and North Carolina, with a view to their separate
existence. It is true that we are completely under the sad
dle of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and that they ride
us very hard, cruelly insulting our feelings, as well as ex
hausting our strength and subsistence. Their natural
friends, the three other Eastern States join them from a
sort of family pride, and they have the art to divide certain
other parts of the Union, so as to make use of them to gov
ern the whole. This is not new, it is the old practice of
despots; to use a part of the people to keep the rest in
order. And those who have once got an ascendancy, and
possessed themselves of all the resources of the nation, their
revenues and offices, have immense means for retaining their
advantage. But our present situation is not a natural one.
The republicans, through every part of the Union, say, that
it was the irresistible influence and popularity of General
Washington played off by the cunning of Hamilton, which
turned the Government over to anti-republican hands, or
turned the republicans chosen by the people into antire-
publicans. He delivered it over to his successor in this

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

state, and very untoward events since, improved with great
artifice, have produced on the public mind the impressions
we see. But still I repeat it, this is not the natural state.
Time alone would bring round an order of things more cor
respondent to the sentiments of our constituents. But are
there no events impending which will do it within a few
months ? The crisis with England, the public and authentic
avowal of sentiments hostile to the leading principles of our
Constitution, the prospect of a war, in which we shall stand
alone, land-tax, stamp-tax, increase of public debt, etc. Be
this as it may, in every free and deliberating society, there
miist, from the nature of man, be opposite parties, and vio
lent dissensions and discords ; and one of these, for the
most part, must prevail over the other for a longer or short
er time. Perhaps this party division is necessary to induce
each to watch and delate to the people the proceedings of
the other. But if on a temporary superiority of the one
party, the other is to resort to a scission of the Union, no
federal government can ever exist. If to rid ourselves of
the present rule of Massachusetts and Connecticut, we break
the Union, will the evil stop there ? Suppose the New Eng
land States alone cut off, will our nature be changed? Are
we not men still to the south of that, and with all the pas
sions of men? Immediately, we shall see a Pennsylvania
and a Virginia party arise in the residuary confederacy, and
the public mind will be distracted with the same party
spirit. What a game too will the one party have in their
hands, by eternally threatening the other that unless they do
so and so, they will join their Northern neighbors. If we
reduce our Union to Virginia and North Carolina, immedi
ately the conflict will be established between the representa
tives of these two States, and they will end by breaking
into their simple units. Seeing, therefore, that an associa
tion of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing

12-i

which never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of
nations down to a town meeting or a vestry; seeing that we
must have somebody to quarrel with, I had rather keep our
New England associates for that purpose, than to see our
bickerings transferred to others. They are circumscribed
within such narrow limits, and their population so full, that
their numbers will ever be the minority, and they are
marked, like the Jews, with such a perversity of character,
as to constitute, from that circumstance, the natural division
of our parties. A little patience, and we shall see the reign
of witches pass over, their spells dissolved, and the people
recovering their true sight, restoring their government to its
true principles. It is true, that in the meantime, we are
suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a
war, and long oppressions of enormous public debt. But
who can say what would be the evils of a scission, and when
and where they would end? Better keep together as we
are, haul off from Europe as soon as we can, and from all
attachments to any portions of it; and if they show their
power just sufficiently to hoop us together, it will be the
happiest situation in which we can exist. If the game runs
sometimes against us at home, we must have patience till
luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of win
ning back the principles we have lost. For this is a game
where principles are the stake. Better luck, therefore, to us
all, and health, happiness and friendly salutations to your
self. Adieu.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

On Public Debt

To John Taylor

MONTICELLO, November 26, 1798.

I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to
our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that
alone for the reduction of the administration of our govern
ment to the genuine principles of its Constitution ; I mean
an additional article, taking from the federal government
the power of borrowing. I now deny their power of making
paper money or anything else a legal tender. I know that
to pay all proper expenses within the year, would, in case of
war, be hard on us. But not so hard as ten wars instead of
one. For wars would be reduced in that proportion; besides
that the State governments would be free to lend their
credit in borrowing quotas. For the present, I should be
for resolving the alien and sedition laws to be against the
Constitution and merely void, and for addressing the other
States to obtain similar declarations ; and I would not do
anything at this moment which should commit us further,
but reserve ourselves to shape our future, measures or no
measures, by the events which may happen. It is a sin
gular phenomenon, that while our State governments are
the very best in the world, without exception or comparison,
our General Government has, in the rapid course of nine
or ten years, become more arbitrary, and has swallowed
more of the public liberty than even that of England. I in
close you a column, cut out of a London paper, to show you
that the English, though charmed with our making their
enemies our enemies, yet blush and weep over our sedition
law.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

Resolutions Relative to the Alien and Sedition Larvs

1. Resolved, That the several States composing the
United States of America, are not united on the principle
of unlimited submission to their General Government ; but
that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution
for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they
constituted a General Government for special purposes, —
delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserv
ing, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their
own self-government; and that whensoever the General
Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are un-
authoritative, void, and of no force: that to this compact
each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its
co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the gov
ernment created by this compact was not made the exclu
sive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to
itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not
the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in
all other cases of compact among powers having no com
mon judge, each party has an equal right to judge for it
self, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of
redress.

2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States,
having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason,
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United
States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas,
and offences against the law of nations, and no other crimes
whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and
one of the amendments to the Constitution having also de
clared, that "the powers not delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," there-

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

fore the act of Congress, passed on the llth day of July,
1798, and intituled "An Act in addition to the act inti
tuled An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against
the United States," as also the act passed by them
on the - - day of June, 1798, intituled "An Act to
punish frauds committed on the bank of the United States,"
(and all their other ?cts which assume to create, define, or
punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Con
stitution), are altogether void, and of no force; and that the
power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is re
served, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to
the respective States, each within its own territory.

3. Resolved, That it is true as a general principle, and is
also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the
Constitution, that "the powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people" ;
and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of
speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right
remain, and were reserved to the States or the people:
that thus was manifested their determination to retain to
themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness
of speech and of the press may be abridged without les
sening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses
which cannot be separated from their use should be toler
ated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also
they guarded against all abridgment by the United States
of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and
retained to themselves the right of protecting the same,
as this State, by a law passed on the general demand of
its citizens, had already protected them from all hu
man restraint or interference. And that in addition to this

128

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

general principle and express declaration, another and
more special provision has been made by one of the amend
ments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridg
ing the freedom of speech or of the press : " thereby guard
ing in the same sentence, and under the same words, the free
dom of religion, of speech, and of the press : insomuch, that
whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuar}^ which
covers the others, and that libels, falsehood, and defamation,
equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from
the cognizance of federal tribunals. That, therefore, the
act of Congress of the United States, passed on the llth
day of July, 1798, intituled "An Act in addition to the act
intituled An Act for the punishment of certain crimes
against the United States," which does abridge the freedom
of the press, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no
force.

4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction
and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are ?
that no power over them has been delegated to the United
States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from
their power over citizens. And it being true as a general
principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution
having also declared, that "the powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or
to the people," the act of the Congress of the United
States, passed on the — day of July, 1798, intituled "An
Act concerning aliens," which assumes powers over alien
friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is
altogether void, and of no force. (....)

7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the Gen
eral Government (as is evidenced by sundry of their pro-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

ceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United
States which delegate to Congress a power "to lay and col
lect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and
provide for the common defence and general welfare of the
United States," and "to make all laws which shall be nec
essary and proper for carrying into execution the powers
vested by the Constitution in the government of the
United States, or in any department or officer thereof," goes
to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their power by
the Constitution: that words meant by the instrument to be
subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers, ought not
to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers,
nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of
that instrument: that the proceedings of the General Gov
ernment under color of these articles, will be a fit and neces
sary subject of revisal and correction, at a time of greater
tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolu
tions call for immediate redress.

8. Resolved, That a committee of conference and corre
spondence be appointed, who shall have in charge to com
municate the preceding resolutions to the legislatures of the
several States ; to assure them that this commonwealth con
tinues in the same esteem of their friendship and union
which it has manifested from that moment at which a com
mon danger first suggested a common union: that it consid
ers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly
to those specified in their late federal compact, to be friend
ly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States:
that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent
and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by
the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preserva
tion : that it does also believe, that to take from the States
all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a
general and consolidated government, without regard to the

130

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in
that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or prosperity
of these States ; and that therefore this commonwealth is
determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to
undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man,
or body of men on earth: that in cases of an abuse of the
delegated powers, the members of the General Government,
being chosen by the people, a change by the people would
be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are as
sumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the
act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural
right in cases not within the compact, (casus non foederis),
to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power
by others within their limits : that without this right, they
would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of
whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them:
that nevertheless, this commonwealth, from motives of re
gard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communi
cate with them on the subject: that with them alone it is
proper to communicate, they alone being parties to the
compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort
of the powers exercised under it, Congress being not a
party, but merely the creature of the compact, and sub
ject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgment
of those by whom, and for whose use itself and its
powers were all created and modified : that if the acts be
fore specified should stand, these conclusions would flow
from them; that the General Government may place any
act they think proper on the list of crimes, and punish
it themselves whether enumerated or not enumerated by the
Constitution as cognizable by them: that they may trans
fer its cognizance to the President, or any other person,
who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge and jury,
whose suspicions may be the evidence, his order the sen-

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tence, his officer the executioner, and his breast the sole
record of the transaction: that a very numerous and valua
ble description of the inhabitants of these States being, by
this precedent, reduced, as outlaws, to the absolute dominion
of one man, and the barrier of the Constitution thus swept
away from us all, no rampart now remains against the pas
sions and the powers of a majority in Congress to protect
from a like exportation, or other more grievous punishment,
the minority of the same body, the legislatures, judges, gov
ernors, and counsellors of the States, nor their other peacea
ble inhabitants, who may venture to reclaim the constitu
tional rights and liberties of the States and people, or who
for other causes, good or bad, may be obnoxious to the views,
or marked by the suspicions of the President, or be thought
dangerous to his or their election, or other interests, public
or personal: that the friendless alien has indeed been se
lected as the safest subject of a first experiment; but the
citizen will soon follow, or rather, has already followed, for
already has a sedition act marked him as its prey: that these
and successive acts of the same character, unless arrested at
the threshold, necessarily drive these States into revolution
and blood, and will furnish new calumnies against republi
can government, and new pretexts for those who wish it to
be believed that man cannot be governed but by a rod of
iron : that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confi
dence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the
safety of our rights : that confidence is everywhere the par
ent of despotism — free government is founded in jealousy,
and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence
•which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those
whom we are obliged to trust with power : that our Constitu
tion has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no fur
ther, our confidence may go; and let the honest advocate of
confidence read the alien and sedition acts, and say if the

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

Constitution has not been wise in fixing limits to the govern
ment it created, and whether we should be wise in destroy
ing those limits. Let him say what the government is, if it
be not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have con
ferred on our President, and the President of our choice
has assented to, and accepted over the friendly strangers to
whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws have
pledged hospitality and protection: that the men of our
choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the Presi
dent, than the solid right of innocence, the claims of justifi
cation, the sacred force of truth, and the forms and sub
stance of law and justice. In questions of power, then, let
no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down
from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That this
commonwealth does therefore call on its co-States for an
expression of their sentiments on the acts concerning aliens,
and for the punishment of certain crimes hereinbefore
specified, plainly declaring whether these acts are or are not
authorized by the federal compact. And it doubts not that
their sense will be so announced as to prove their attach
ment unaltered to limited government, whether general or
particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co-
States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked
in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur
with this commonwealth in considering the said acts as so
palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undis
guised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the
measure of the powers of the General Government, but that
it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all pow
ers whatsoever: that they will view this as seizing the
rights of the States, and consolidating them in the hands of
the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the
States (not merely as the cases made federal, casus feeder-
is}, but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their

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consent, but by others against their consent: that this would
be to surrender the form of government we have chosen,
and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and
not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to
their natural right in cases not made federal, will concur in
declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take
measures of its own for providing that neither these acts,
nor any others of the General Government not plainly and
intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exer
cised within their respective territories.

9- Resolved, That the said committee be authorized to
communicate by writing or personal conferences, at any
times or places whatever, with any person or persons who
may be appointed by any one or more co-States to corre
spond or confer with them; and that they lay their pro
ceedings before the next session of Assembly.

On Yellow Fever and Growth of Cities

To Dr. Benjamin Rush

MONTICELLO, September 23, 1800.

Dear Sir: I congratulate you on the healthiness of your
city. Still Baltimore, Norfolk and Providence admonish
us that we are not clear of our new scourge. When great
evils happen, I am in the habit of looking out for what
good may arise from them as consolations to us, and Provi
dence has in fact so established the order of things, as that
most evils are the means of producing some good. The yel
low fever will discourage the growth of great cities in our
nation, and I view great cities as pestilential to the morals,
the health and the liberties of man. True, they nourish
some of the elegant arts, but the useful ones can thrive else-

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

where, and less perfection in the others, with more health,
virtue and freedom, would be my choice.

First Inauguration Address — March 4, 1801

Friends and Fellow Citizens: — Called upon to undertake
the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail
myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens
which is here assembled, to express my grateful thanks for
the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward
me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above
my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and
awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and
the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising na
tion, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the
seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in
commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, ad
vancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye
— when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see
the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved
country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day,
I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before
the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly indeed, should
I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see
remind me, that in the other high authorities provided by
our constitution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue,
and of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. To you,
then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign func
tions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look
with encouragement for that guidance and support which
may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we
are all embarked amid the conflicting elements of a troubled
world.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

During the contest of opinion through which we have
passed, the animation of discussion and of exertions has
sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers
unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they
think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation,
announced according to the rules of the constitution, all
will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law,
<°.nd unite in common efforts for the common good. ••.All, too,
will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will
of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be
rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their
equal rights, which equal laws must protect, nad to violate
which would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens,
unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social
intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty
and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect
that having banished from our land that religious intolerance
under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet
gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as
despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody per
secutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient
Avorld, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seek
ing through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it
was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should
reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should
be more felt and feared by some and less by others ; that
this should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But
every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.
AVe have called by different names brethren of the same
principle. AVe are all republicans — we are federalists. If
there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this
Union or to change its republican form, let them stand un
disturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of
opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a repub
lican government cannot be strong; that this government is
not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full
tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which
has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and vi
sionary fear that this government, the world's best hope,
may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust
not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest govern
ment on earth. I believe it is the only one where every man,
at the call of the laws, would fly to the standard of the law,
and would meet invasions of the public order as his own
personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be
trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be
trusted with the government of others? Or have we found
angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history
answer this question.

Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own
federal and republican principles, our attachment to our
union and representative government. Kindly separated by
nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of
one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the
degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country,
with room enough for our descendants to the hundredth and
thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our
equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisi
tions of our industry, to honor and confidence from our fel
low-citizens, resulting not from birth but from our actions
and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion,
professed, indeed, and practised in various forms, yet all
of them including honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and
the love of man ; acknowledging and adoring an overruling
Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it de
lights in the happiness of man here and his greater happi
ness hereafter; with all these blessings, what more is neces-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

sary to make us a happy and prosperous people ? Still one
thing more, fellow citizens— a wise and frugal government,
which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which
shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pur
suits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from
the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the
sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the
circle of our felicities.

About to enter, fellow citizens, on the exercise of duties
which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is
proper that you should understand what I deem the essen
tial principles of our government, and consequently those
which ought to shape its administration. I will compress
them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating
the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and
exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, re
ligious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship,
with all nations — entangling alliances with none; the sup
port of the state governments in all their rights, as the most
competent administrations for our domestic concerns and
the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies ; the
preservation of the General Government in its whole con
stitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home
and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by
the people — a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are
lopped by the sword of the revolution where peaceable reme
dies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions
of the majority — the vital principle of republics, from
•which there is no appeal but to force the vital principle and
immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia —
our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war,
till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil
over the military authority ; economy in the public expense,
that labor may be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; en
couragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its hand
maid ; the diffusion of information and the arraignment of
all abuses at the bar of public reason; freedom of religion;
freedom of the press ; freedom of person under the pro
tection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially
selected — these principles form the bright constellation
which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an
age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our
sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their
attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith
— the text of civil instruction — the touchstone by which to
try the services of those we trust; and should we wander
from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to
retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to
peace, liberty, and safety.

I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have as
signed me. With experience enough in subordinate offices
to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I
have learned to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of
imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation
and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions
to that high confidence reposed in our first and great revolu
tionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled
him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for
him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask
so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to
the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go
wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall
often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not
command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indul
gence for my own errors, which will never be intentional;
and your support against the errors of others, who may con
demn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

approbation implied by your suffrage is a consolation to
me for the past; and my future solicitude will be to retain
the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance,
to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in
my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and free
dom of all.

Relying, then, on the patronage of your good-will, I ad
vance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it
whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is
in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which
rules the destinies of the universe, lead our councils to what
is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and
prosperity.

First Message to Congress

DECEMBER 8, 1801.

Sir: The circumstances under which we find ourselves
placed rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore prac
tised of making by personal address the first communica
tion between the legislative and executive branches, I have
adopted that by message, as used on all subsequent occa
sions through the session. In doing this, I have had prin
cipal regard to the convenience of the legislature, to the
economy of their time, to their relief from the embarrass
ment of immediate answers on subjects not yet fully before
them, and to the benefits thence resulting to the public af
fairs. Trusting that a procedure founded in these motives
will meet their approbation, I beg leave, through you, sir, to
communicate the inclosed message, with the documents ac
companying it, to the honorable the senate, and pray you
to accept, for yourself and them, the homage of my high
respect and consideration.

The Hon. the President of the Senate.
140

Tribute to Samuel Adams

WASHINGTON, March 29, 1801.

I addressed a letter to you, my very dear and ancient
friend, on the 4th of March : not indeed to you by name, but
through the medium of some of my felloAV-citizens, whom
occasion called on me to address. In meditating the matter
of that address, I often asked myself, is this exactly in the
spirit of the patriarch, Samuel Adams? Is it as he would
express it? Will he approve of it? I have felt a great
deal for our country in the times we have seen. But indi
vidually for no one so much as yourself. When I have been
told that you were avoided, insulted, frowned on, I could
but ejaculate, "P'ather, forgive them, for they know not
what they do." I confess I felt an indignation for you,
which for myself I have been able, under every trial, to
keep entirely passive. However, the storm is over, and we
are in port. The ship was not rigged for the service she was
put on. We will show the smoothness of her motions on her
republican tack. I hope we shall once more see harmony
restored among our citizens, and an entire oblivion of past
feuds. Some of the leaders who have most committed them
selves cannot come into this. But I hope the great body of
our fellow-citizens will do it. I will sacrifice everything but
principle to procure it. A few examples of justice on offi
cers who have perverted their functions to the oppression
of their fellow-citizens, must, in justice to those citizens, be
made. But opinion, and the just maintenance of it, shall
never be a crime in my view, nor bring injury on the indi
vidual. Those whose misconduct in office ought to have pro
duced their removal even by my predecessor, must not be
protected by the delicacy due only to honest men. How
much I lament that time has deprived me of your aid! It

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

would have been a day of glory which should have cnlled
you to the first office of the administration. But give us
your counsel, my friend, and give us your blessing; and be
assured that there exists not in the heart of man a more
faithful esteem than mine to you, and that I shall ever bear
you the most affectionate veneration and respect.

On the Policy as to Purchase of Louisiana

To the United States Minister to France
(Robert E. Livingston^)

WASHINGTON, April 18, 1802.

The cession of Louisiana and the Floridas by Spain to
France, works most sorely on the United States. On this
subject the Secretary of State has written to you fully, yet
I cannot forbear recurring to it personally, so deep is the
impression it makes on my mind. It completely reverses all
the political relations of the United States, and will form a
new epoch in our political course. Of all nations of any
consideration, France is the one which, hitherto, has offered
the fewest points on which we could have any conflict of
right, and the most points of a communion of interests.
From these causes, we have ever looked to her as our
natural friend, as one with which we never could have an
occasion of difference. Her growth, therefore, we viewed as
our own, her misfortunes ours. There is on the globe one
single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habit
ual enemy. It is New Orleans, through which the produce
of three-eighths of our territory must pass to market, and
from its fertility it will erelong yield more than half of our
whole produce, and contain more than half of our inhabi
tants. France, placing herself in that door, assumes to us

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the attitude of defiance. Spain might have retained it quiet
ly for years. Her pacific dispositions, her feeble state,
would induce her to increase our facilities there, so that her
possession of the place would be hardly felt by us, and it
would not, perhaps, be very long before some circumstance
might arise, which might make the cession of it to us the
price of something of more worth to her. Not so can it ever
be in the hands of France: the impetuosity of her temper,
the energy and restlessness of her character, placed in a
point of eternal friction with us, and our character, which,
though quiet and loving peace and the pursuit of wealth, is
high-minded, despising wealth in competition with insult or
injury, enterprising and energetic as any nation on earth;
these circumstances render it impossible that France and
the United States can continue long friends, when they meet
in so irritable a position. They, as well as we, must be
blind if they do not see this ; and we must be very improvi
dent if we do not begin to make arrangements on that hy
pothesis. The day that France takes possession of New Or
leans, fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever
within her low-water mark. It seals the union of two na
tions, who. in conjunction, can maintain exclusive possession
of the ocean. From that moment, we must marry ourselves
to the British fleet and nation. We must turn all our atten
tion to a maritime force, for which our resources place us on
very high ground ; and having formed and connected to
gether a power which may render reenforcement of her set
tlements here impossible to France, make the first cannon
which shall be fired in Europe the signal for the tearing up
any settlement she may have made, and for holding the two
continents of America in sequestration for the common pur
poses of the United British and American nations. This is
not a state of things we seek or desire. It is one which this
measure, if adopted by France, forces on us as necessarily,

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

as any other cause, by the laws of nature, brings on its nec
essary effect. It is not irom a fear of France that we de
precate this measure proposed by her. For however greater
her force is than ours, compared in the abstract, it is noth
ing in comparison of ours, when to be exerted on our soil.
But it is from a sincere love of peace, and a firm persuasion,
that bound to France by the interests and the strong sympa
thies still existing in the minds of our citizens, and holding
relative positions which insure their continuance, we are se
cure of a long course of peace. Whereas, the change of
friends, which will be rendered necessary if France changes
that position, embarks us necessarily as a belligerent power
in the first war of Europe. In that case, France will have
held possession of New Orleans during the interval of a
peace, long or short, at the end of which it will be wrested
from her. Will this short-lived possession have been an
equivalent to her for the transfer of such a weight into the
scale of her enemy ? Will not the amalgamation of a young,
thriving nation, continue to that enemy the health and force
which are at present so evidently on the decline? And will
a few years' possession of New Orleans add equally to
the strength of France? She may say she needs Louisiana
for the supply of her West Indies. She does not need it in
time of peace, and in war she could not depend on them, be
cause they would be so easily intercepted. I should suppose
that all these considerations might, in some proper form, be
brought into view of the Government of France. Though
stated by us, it ought not to give offence; because we do not
bring them forward as a menace, but as consequences not
controllable by us, but inevitable from the course of things.
We mention them, not as things which we desire by any
means, but as things we deprecate; and we beseech a friend
to look forward and to prevent them for our common inter
est.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

If France considers Louisiana, however, as indispensable
for her views, she might perhaps be willing to look about
for arrangements which might reconcile it to our interests.
If anything could do this, it would be the ceding to us the
island of New Orleans and the Floridas. This would cer
tainly, in a great degree, remove the causes of jarring and
irritation between us, and perhaps for such a length of time,
as might produce other means of making the measure per
manently conciliatory to our interests and friendships. It
would, at any rate, relieve us from the necessity of taking
immediate measures for countervailing such an operation
by arrangements in another quarter. But still we should
consider New Orleans and the Floridas as no equivalent
for the risk of a quarrel with France, produced by her
vicinage. . . .

Every eye in the United States is now fixed on the affairs
of Louisiana. Perhaps nothing since the revolutionary war,
has produced more uneasy sensations through the body of
the nation. Notwithstanding temporary bickerings have
taken place with France, she has still a strong hold on the
affections of our citizens generally. I have thought it not
amiss, by way of supplement to the letters of the
Secretary of State, to write you this private one, to impress
you with the importance we affix to this transaction. I pray
you to cherish Dupont. He has the best disposition for the
continuance of friendship between the two nations, and
perhaps you may be able to make a good use of him.

Accept assurances of my affectionate esteem and high
consideration.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
On the Colonization of Slaves in Sierra Leone

To Rufus King

WASHINGTON, July 13, 1802.

Dear Sir: The course of things in the neighboring isl
ands of the West Indies, appear to have given a consider
able impulse to the minds of the slaves in different parts
of the United States. A great disposition to insurgency
has manifested itself among them, which, in one instance,
in the State of Virginia, broke out into actual insurrec
tion. This was easily suppressed; but many of those con
cerned (between twenty and thirty, I believe) fell victims
to the law. So extensive an execution could not but excite
sensibility in the public mind, and begat a regret that the
laws had not provided for such cases, some alternative,
combining more mildness with equal efficacy. The Legis
lature of the State at a subsequent meeting took the sub
ject into consideration, and have communicated to me
through the Governor of the State, their wish that some
place could be provided, out of the limits of the United
States, to which slaves guilty of insurgency might be trans
ported ; and they have particularly looked to Africa as
offering the most desirable receptacle. We might, for this
purpose, enter into negotiations with the natives, on some
part of the coast, to obtain a settlement; and, by estab
lishing an African company, combine with it commercial
operations, which might not only reimburse expenses, but
procure profit also. But there being already such an
establishment on that coast by the English Sierra Leone
company, made for the express purpose of colonizing civ
ilized blacks to that country, it would seem better, by in
corporating our emigrants with theirs, to make one strong,

146

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

rather than two weak colonies. This would be the more
desirable because the blacks settled at Sierra Leone, hav
ing chiefly gone from the States,, would often receive
among those we should send, their acquaintances and rela
tives. The object of this letter, therefore, is to ask the
favor of you to enter into conference with such persons
private and public as would be necessary to give us per
mission to send thither the persons under contemplation.
It is material to observe that they are not felons, or
common malefactors, but persons guilty of what the safety
of society, under actual circumstances, obliges us to treat
as a crime, but which their feelings may represent in a far
different shape. They are such as will be a valuable
acquisition to the settlement already existing there, and
well calculated to cooperate in the plan of civilization.

As the expense of so distant a transportation would be
very heavy, and might weigh unfavorably in deciding be
tween the modes of punishment, it is very desirable that it
should be lessened as much as practicable. If the regula
tions of the place would permit these emigrants to dispose
of themselves, as the Germans and others do who come to
this country poor, by giving their labor for a certain time
to some one who will pay their passage ; and if the master
of the vessel could be permitted to carry articles of com
merce from this country and take back others from that,
which might yield him a mercantile profit sufficient to
cover the expenses of the voyage, a serious difficulty would
be removed. I will ask your attention therefore to ar
rangements necessary for this purpose.

The consequences of permitting emancipations to become
extensive, unless the condition of emigration be annexed
to them, furnish also matter of solicitation to the Legis
lature of Virginia, as you will perceive by their resolution
inclosed to you. Although provision for the settlement of

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

emancipated negroes might perhaps be obtainable nearer
home than Africa, yet it is desirable that we should be
free to expatriate this description of people also to the
colony of Sierra Leone, if considerations respecting either
themselves or us should render it more expedient. I will
pray you therefore to get the same permission extended to
the reception of these as well as the first mentioned. Nor
will there be a selection of bad subjects; the emancipations,
for the most part, being either of the whole slaves of the
master, or of such individuals as have particularly de
served well; the latter is most frequent.

On Indian Policy

To General Andrew Jackson

WASHINGTON, February 16', 1803.

Dear Sir: Your favor of the 14th was received on the
same day, and will be duly attended to in the course of
our affairs with the Creeks. In keeping agents among the
Indians, two objects are principally in view: 1. The pres
ervation of peace. 2. The obtaining lands. Toward ef
fecting the latter object, we consider the leading the Ind
ians to agriculture as the principal means from which we
can expect much effect in future. When they shall cul
tivate small spots of earth, and see how useless their
extensive forests are, they will sell, from time to time,
to help out their personal labor in stocking their farms
and procuring clothes and comforts from our trading
houses. Toward the attainment of our two objects of
peace and lands, it is essential that our agent acquire that
sort of influence over the Indians, which rests on confidence.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

On Religion

To Doctor Benjamin Rush

WASHINGTON, April 21, 1803.

Dear Sir: In some of the delightful conversations with
you, in the evenings of 1798-99, and which served as an
anodyne to the afflictions of the crisis through which our
country was then laboring, the Christian religion was
sometimes our topic; and I then promised you, that one
day or other, I would give you my views of it. They
are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very
different from that anti-Christian system imputed to me
by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the cor
ruptions of Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not
to the genuine precepts of Jesus Himself. I am a Chris
tian, in the only sense in which He wished any one to be:
sincerely attached to His doctrines, in preference to all
others ; ascribing to Himself every human excellence ; and
believing He never claimed any other. At the short in
terval since these conversations, when I could justifiably
abstract my mind from public affairs, the subject has been
under my contemplation. But the more I considered it, the
more it expanded beyond the measure of either my time
or information. In the moment of my late departure from
Monticello, I received from Dr. Priestley, his little treatise
of "Socrates and Jesus Compared." This being a section
of the general view I had taken of the field, it became a
subject of reflection while on the road, and unoccupied
otherwise. The result was, to arrange in my mind a
syllabus, or outline of such an estimate of the compara
tive merits of Christianity, as I wished to see executed by
some one of more leisure and information for the task,

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

than myself. This I now send you, as the only discharge
of my promise I can probably ever execute. And in
confiding it to you, I know it will not be exposed to the
malignant perversions of those who make every word from
me a text for new misrepresentations and calumnies. I am
moreover averse to the communication of my religious
tenets to the public, because it would countenance the pre
sumption of those who have endeavored to draw them be
fore that tribunal, and to seduce public opinion to erect
itself into that inquisition over the rights of conscience,
which the laws have so justly proscribed. It behooves
every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to
resist invasions of it in the case of others, or their case
may, by change of circumstances, become his own. It
behooves him, too, in his own case, to give no example of
concession, betraying the common right of independent
opinion, by answering questions of faith, which the laws
have left between God and himself. Accept my affection
ate salutations.

Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of
Jesus, compared with those of others

In a comparative view of the ethics of the enlightened
nations of antiquity, of the Jews and of Jesus, no notice
should be taken of the corruptions of reason among the
ancients, to wit, the idolatry and superstition of the vul
gar, nor of the corruptions of Christianity by the learned
among its professors.

Let a just view be taken of the moral principles incul
cated by the most esteemed of the sects of ancient phi
losophy, or of their individuals ; particularly Pythagoras,
Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca, Antoninus.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

1. Philosophers. 1. Their precepts related chiefly to
ourselves, and the government of those passions which, un
restrained, would disturb our tranquillity of mind. In this
branch of philosophy they were really great.

2. In developing our duties to others, they were short
and defective. They embraced, indeed, the circles of kin
dred and friends, and inculcated patriotism, or the love of
our country in the aggregate, as a primary obligation: tow
ard our neighbors and countrymen they taught justice,
but scarcely viewed them as within the circle of benevo
lence. Still less have they inculcated peace, charity, and
love to our fellow men, or embraced with benevolence the
whole family of mankind.

II. Jews. 1. Their system was Deism; that is, the be
lief in one only God. But their ideas of Him and of His
attributes were degrading and injurious.

2. Their ethics were not only imperfect, but often ir
reconcilable with the sound dictates of reason and morality,
as they respect intercourse with those around us; and
repulsive and anti-social, as respecting other nations. They
needed reformation, therefore, in an eminent degree.

III. Jesus. In this state of things among the Jews,
Jesus appeared. His parentage was obscure; His condition
poor; His education null; His natural endowments great;
His life correct and innocent; He was meek, benevolent,
patient, firm, disinterested, and of the sublimest eloquence.

The disadvantages under which His doctrines appear are
remarkable.

1. Like Socrates and Epictetus, He wrote nothing Him
self.

2. But He had not, like them, a Xenophon or an Arrian
to write for Him. I name not Plato, who only used the
name of Socrates to cover the whimsies of his own brain.
On the contrary, all the learned of His country, intrenched

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in its power and riches, were opposed to Him, lest His
labors should undermine their advantages; and the com
mitting to writing His life and doctrines fell on unlettered
and ignorant men, who wrote, too, from memory, and not
till long after the transactions had passed.

3. According to the ordinary fate of those who attempt
to enlighten and reform mankind, He fell an early victim
to the jealousy and combination of the altar and the throne,
at about thirty-three years of age, His reason having not
yet attained the maximum of its energy, nor the course of
His preaching, which was but of three years at most, pre
sented occasions for developing a complete system of
morals.

4. Hence the doctrines which He really delivered were
defective as a whole, and fragments only of what He did
deliver have come to us mutilated, misstated, and often un
intelligible.

5. They have been still more disfigured by the corrup
tions of schismatizing followers, who have found an in
terest in sophisticating and perverting the simple doctrines
He taught, by engrafting on them the mysticisms of a
Grecian sophist, frittering them into subtleties, and ob
scuring them with jargon, until they have caused good
men to reject the whole in disgust, and to view Jesus Him
self as an impostor.

Notwithstanding these disadvantages, a system of
morals is presented to us which, if filled up in the style
and spirit of the rich fragments He left us, would be the
most perfect and sublime that has ever been taught by man.

The question of His being a member of the Godhead,
or in direct communication with it, claimed for Him by
some of His followers, and denied by others, is foreign
to the present view, which is merely an estimate of the
intrinsic merits of His doctrines.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

1. He corrected the Deism of the Jews, confirming them
in their belief of one only God, and giving them juster no
tions of His attributes and government.

2. His moral doctrines, relating to kindred and friends,
were more pure and perfect than those of the most correct
of the philosophers, and greatly more so than those of the
Jews; and they went far beyond both in inculcating uni
versal philanthropy, not only to kindred and friends, to
neighbors and countrymen, but to all mankind, gathering
all into one family, under the bonds of love, charity, peace,
common wants, and common aids. A development of this
head will evince the peculiar superiority of the system of
Jesus over all others.

3. The precepts of philosophy, and of the Hebrew code,
laid hold of actions only. He pushed His scrutinies into
the heart of man; erected His tribunal in the region of his
thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain-head.

4. He taught, emphatically, the doctrines of a future
state, which was either doubted, or disbelieved by the Jews;
and wielded it with efficacy, as an important incentive, sup
plementary to the other motives to moral conduct.

On the Constitutionality of the Louisiana
Purchase

To Wilson C, Nicholas

MONTICELLO, September 7, 1803.

Dear Sir: I inclose you a letter from Monroe on the
subject of the late treaty. You will observe a hint in it,
to do without delay what we are bound to do. There is
reason, in the opinion of our ministers, to believe, that if
the thing were to do over again, it could not be obtained,

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and that if we give the least opening they will declare the
treaty void. A warning amounting to that has been given
to them, and an unusual kind of letter written by their
minister to our Secretary of State, direct. Whatever Con
gress shall think it necessary to do, should be done with
as little debate as possible, and particularly so far as re
spects the constitutional difficulty. I am aware of the
force of the observations you make on the power given by
the Constitution to Congress, to admit new States into the
Union, without restraining the subject to the territory
then constituting the United States. But when I consider
that the limits of the United States are precisely fixed by
the treaty of 1783, that the Constitution expressly declares
itself to be made for the United States, I cannot help
believing the intention was not to permit Congress to admit
into the Union new States, which should be formed out of
the territory for which, and under whose authority alone,
they were then acting. I do not believe it was meant that
they might receive England, Ireland, Holland, etc., into it,
which would be the case on your construction. When an
instrument admits two constructions, the one safe, the
other dangerous, the one precise, the other indefinite, I
prefer that which is safe and precise. I had rather ask an
enlargement of power from the nation, where it is found
necessary, than to assume it by a construction which v/ould
make our powers boundless. Our peculiar security is in
the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make
it a blank paper by construction. I say the same as to
the opinion of those who consider the grant of the treaty-
making power as boundless. If it is, then we have no
Constitution. If it has bounds, they can be no others than
the definitions of the powers which that instrument gives.
It specifies and delineates the operations permitted to the
federal government, and gives all the powers necessary to

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

carry these into execution. Whatever of these enumerated
objects is proper for a law, Congress may make the law;,
whatever is proper to be executed by way of a treaty, the
President and Senate may enter into the treaty; whatever
is to be done by a judicial sentence, the judges may pass
the sentence. Nothing is more likely than that their enu
meration of powers is defective. This is the ordinary case
of all human works. Let us go on then perfecting it, by
adding, by way of amendment to the Constitution, those
powers which time and trial show are still wanting. But
it has been taken too much for granted, that by this rigor
ous construction the treaty power would be reduced to
nothing. I had occasion once to examine its effect on the
French treaty, made by the old Congress, and found that
out of thirty odd articles which that contained, there were
one, two, or three only which could not now be stipulated
under our present Constitution. I confess, then, I think
it important, in the present case, to set an example against
broad construction, by appealing for new power to the
people. If, however, our friends shall think differently,
certainly I shall acquiesce with satisfaction ; confiding, that
the good sense of our country will correct the evil of con
struction when it shall produce ill effects.

Third Annual Message — October 17, 1803

Congress witnessed, at their last session, the extraordi
nary agitation produced in the public mind by the suspen
sion of our right of deposit at the port of New Orleans, no
assignment of another place having been made according
to treaty. They were sensible that the continuance of that
privation would be more injurious to our nation than any
consequences which could flow from any mode of redress,

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but reposing just confidence in the good faith of the Gov
ernment whose officer had committed the wrong, friendly
and reasonable representations were resorted to, and the
right of deposit was restored.

Previous, however, to this period, we had not been un
aware of the danger to which our peace would be perpetu
ally exposed while sc important a key to the commerce of
the Western country remained under foreign power. Diffi
culties, too, were presenting themselves as to the navigation
of other streams, which, arising within our territories, pass
through those adjacent. Propositions had therefore been
authorized for obtaining, on fair conditions, the sover
eignty of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that
quarter interesting to our quiet, to such extent as was
deemed practicable; and the provisional appropriation of
two millions of dollars, to be applied and accounted for
by the President of the United States, intended as part of
the price, was considered as conveying the sanction of Con
gress to the acquisition proposed. The enlightened Gov
ernment of France saw, with just discernment, the im
portance to both nations of such liberal arrangements as
might best and permanently promote the peace, friendship,
and interests of both; and the property and sovereignty of
all Louisiana, which had been restored to them, have on
certain conditions been transferred to the United States
by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When
these shall have received the constitutional sanction of the
Senate, they will without delay be communicated to the
representatives also, for the exercise of their functions, as
to those conditions which are within the powers vested by
the Constitution in Congress. While the property and
sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an in
dependent outlet for the produce of the Western States,
and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course,

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

free from collision with other powers and the dangers to
our peace from that source, the fertility of the country,
its climate and extent, promise in due season important
aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity,
and a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom and
equal laws.

With the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take those
ulterior measures which may be necessary for the immedi
ate occupation and temporary government of the country;
for its incorporation into our Union; for rendering the
change of government a blessing to our newly adopted
brethren; for securing to them the rights of conscience and
of property; for confirming to the Indian inhabitants their
occupancy and self-government, establishing friendly and
commercial relations with them, and for ascertaining the
geography of the country acquired. Such materials for
your information, relative to its affairs in general, as the
ohort space of time has permitted me to collect, will be
laid before you when the subject shall be in a state for
your consideration.

On Learning and Agriculture

To David Williams

WASHINGTON, November 14, 1803.

Sir: The greatest evils of populous society have ever
appeared to me to spring from the vicious distribution of
its members among the occupations called for. I have no
doubt that those nations are essentially right, which leave
this to individual choice, as a better guide to an advan
tageous distribution than any other which could be devised.
But when, by a blind concourse, particular occupations are

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ruinously overcharged, and others left in want of hands,
the national authorities can do much toward restoring the
equilibrium. On the revival of letters, learning became the
universal favorite. And with reason, because there was
not enough of it existing to manage the affairs of a nation
to the best advantage, nor to advance its individuals to the
happiness of which they were susceptible, by improvements
in their minds, their morals, their health, and in those con
veniences which contribute to the comfort and embellish
ment of life. All the efforts of the society, therefore, were
directed to the increase of learning, and the inducements
of respect, ease, and profit were held up for its encourage
ment. Even the charities of the nation forgot that misery
was their object, and spent themselves in founding schools
to transfer to science the hardy sons of the plough. To
these incitements were added the powerful fascinations of
great cities. These circumstances have long since produced
an overcharge in the class of competitors for learned oc
cupation, and great distress among the supernumerary
candidates; and the more, as their habits of life have dis
qualified them for re-entering into the laborious class.
The evil cannot be suddenly, nor perhaps ever entirely
cured; nor should I presume to say by what means it may
be cured. Doubtless there are many engines which the
nation might bring to bear on this object. Public opinion,
and public encouragement are among these. The class
principally defective is that of agriculture. It is the first
in utility, and ought to be the first in respect. The same
artificial means which have been used to produce a com
petition in learning, may be equally successful in restor
ing agriculture to its primary dignity in the eyes of men.
It is a science of the very first order. It counts among
its handmaids the most respectable sciences, such as
Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Mechanics, Mathematics

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

general!}', Xatural History, Botany. In every College and
University, a professorship of agriculture, and the class of
its students, might be honored as the first. Young men
closing their academical education with this, as the crown
of all other sciences, fascinated with its solid charms, and
at a time when they are to choose an occupation, instead of
crowding the other classes, would return to the farms of
their fathers, their own, or those of others, and replenish
and invigorate a calling, now languishing under contempt
and oppression. The charitable schools, instead of storing
their pupils with a lore which the present state of society
does not call for, converted into schools of agriculture,
might restore them to that branch qualified to enrich and
honor themselves, and to increase the productions of the
nation instead of consuming them. A gradual abolition of
the useless offices, so much accumulated in all governments,
might close this drain also from the labors of the field, and
lessen the burdens imposed on them. By these, and the
better means which will occur to others, the surcharge of
the learned, might in time be drawn off to recruit the labor
ing class of citizens, the sum of industry be increased, and
that of misery diminished.

Among the ancients, the redundance of population was
sometimes checked by exposing infants. To the moderns,
America has offered a more humane resource. Many, who
cannot find employment in Europe, accordingly come here.
Those who can labor do well, for the most part. Of the
learned class of emigrants, a small portion find employ
ments analogous to their talents. But many fail, and re
turn to complete their course of misery in the scenes where
it began. Even here we find too strong a current from the
country to the towns ; and instances beginning to appear of
that species of misery, which you are so humanely en
deavoring to relieve with you. Although we have in the

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old countries of Europe the lesson of their experience to
warn us, yet I am not satisfied we shall have the firmness
and wisdom to profit by it. The general desire of men to
live by their heads rather than their hands, and the strong
allurements of great cities to those who have any turn for
dissipation, threaten to make them here, as in Europe, the
sinks of voluntary misery. I perceive, however, that I
have suffered my pen to run into a disquisition, when I had
taken it up only to thank you for the volume you had been
so kind as to send me, and to express my approbation of
it. After apologizing, therefore, for having touched on a
subject so much more familiar to you, and better under
stood, I beg leave to assure you of my high consideration
and respect.

On the Danger of the National Bank to the
Government

To Albert Gallatin

WASHINGTON, December 13, 1803.

From a passage in the letter of the President, I ob
serve an idea of establishing a branch bank of the United
States in New Orleans. This institution is one of the
most deadly hostility existing, against the principles and
form of our Constitution. The nation is, at this time, so
strong and united in its sentiments, that it cannot be
shaken at this moment. But suppose a series of untoward
events should occur, sufficient to bring into doubt the com
petency of a republican government to meet the crisis of
great danger, or to unhinge the confidence of the people
in the public functionaries ; an institution like this, pene
trating by its branches every part of the Union, acting by

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

command and in phalanx, may, in a critical moment, upset
the government. I deem no government safe which is
under the vassalage of any self-constituted authorities, or
any other authority than that of the nation, or its regular
functionaries. What an obstruction could not this bank of
the United States, with all its branch banks, be in time
of war! It might dictate to us the peace we should ac
cept, or withdraw its aids. Ought we then to give further
growth to an institution so powerful, so hostile? That it is
so hostile we know: 1, from a knowledge of the principles
of the persons composing the body of directors in every
bank, principal or branch; and those of most of the stock
holders ; 2, from their opposition to the measures and
principles of the government, and to the election of those
friendly to them; and 3, from the sentiments of the
newspapers they support. Now, while we are strong, it
is the greatest duty we owe to the safety of our Constitu
tion, to bring this powerful enemy to a perfect subordina
tion under its authorities. The first measure would be to
reduce them to an equal footing only with other banks, as
to the favors of the government. But, in order to be able
to meet a general combination of the banks against us, in
a critical emergency, could we not make a beginning tow
ard an independent use of our own money, toward hold
ing our own bank in all the deposits where it is received,
and letting the treasurer give his draft or note for pay
ment at any particular place, which, in a well-conducted
government, ought to have as much credit as any private
draft, or bank-note, or bill, and would give us the same
facilities which we derive from the banks?

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Advance toward Reconciliation with John
Adams

To Mrs. John Adams

WASHINGTON, June 13, 1804.

Dear Madam: The affectionate sentiments which you
have had the goodness to express in your letter of May
the 20th, toward my dear departed daughter, have awak
ened in me sensibilities natural to the occasion, and re
called your kindnesses to her, which I shall ever remember
with gratitude and friendship. I can assure you with
truth, they had made an indelible impression on her mind,
and that to the last, on our meetings after long separa
tions, whether I had heard lately of you, and how you did,
were among the earliest of her inquiries. In giving you
this assurance I perform a sacred duty for her, and, at
the same time, am thankful for the occasion furnished
me, of expressing my regret that circumstances should
have arisen, which have seemed to draw a line of separa
tion between us. The friendship with which you honored
me has ever been valued, and fully reciprocated; and al
though events have been passing which might be trying to
some minds, I never believed yours to be of that kind,
nor felt that my own was. Neither my estimate of your
character, nor the esteem founded in that, has ever been
lessened for a single moment, although doubts whether
it would be acceptable may have forbidden manifestations
of it.

Mr. Adams' friendship and mine began at an earlier
date. It accompanied us through long and important
scenes. The different conclusions we had drawn from our
political reading and reflections, were not permitted to les-

162

sen personal esteem, each party being conscious they were
the result of an honest conviction in the other. Like
differences of opinion existing among our fellow-citizens,
attached them to one or the other of us, and produced a
rivalship in their minds which did not exist in ours. We
never stood in one another's way; for if either had been
withdrawn at any time, his favorers would not have gone
over to the other, but would have sought for some one of
homogeneous opinions. This consideration was sufficient
to keep down all jealousy between us, and to guard our
friendship from any disturbance by sentiments of rival-
ship ; and I can say with truth, that one act of Mr. Adams'
life, and one only, ever gave me a moment's personal dis
pleasure. I did consider his last appointments to office as
personally unkind. They were from among my most
ardent political enemies, from whom no faithful co-opera
tion could ever be expected, and laid me under the embar
rassment of acting through men whose views were to de
feat mine, or to encounter the odium of putting others in
their places. It seems but common justice to leave a suc
cessor free to act by instruments of his own choice. If my
respect for him did not permit me to ascribe the whole
blame to the influence of others, it left something for
friendship to forgive, and after brooding over it for some
little time, and not always resisting the expression of it,
I forgave it cordially, and returned to the same state of
esteem and respect for him which had so long subsisted.
Having come into life a little later than Mr. Adams, his
career has preceded mine, as mine is followed by some
other; and it will probably be closed at the same distance
after him which time originally placed between us. I
maintain for him, and shall carry into private life, an uni
form and high measure of respect and good-will, and for
yourself a sincere attachment.

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I have thus, my dear Madam, opened myself to you
without reserve, which I have long wished an opportunity
of doing; and, without knowing how it will be received,
I feel relief from being unbosomed. And I have now
only to entreat your forgiveness for this transition from a
subject of domestic affliction, to one which seems of a dif
ferent aspect. But though connected with political events,
it has been viewed by me most strongly in its unfortunate
bearings on my private friendships. The injury these
have sustained has been a heavy price for what has never
given me equal pleasure. That you may both be favored
with health, tranquillity, and long life is the prayer of one
who tenders you the assurance of his highest consideration
and esteem.

On the Loss of Ms Daughter

To Governor John Page

WASHINGTON, June 25, 1804.

Others may lose of their abundance, but I, of my want,
have lost even the half of all I had. My evening pros
pects now hang on the slender thread of a single life.
Perhaps I may be destined to see even this last cord of
parental affection broken ! The hope with which I had
looked forward to the moment, when, resigning public
cares to younger hands, I was to retire to that domestic
comfort from which the last great step is to be taken,
is fearfully blighted. When you and I look back on the
country over which we have passed, what a field of
slaughter does it exhibit ! Where are all the friends who
entered it with us, under all the inspiring energies of
health and hope ? As if pursued by the havoc of war, they

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

are strewed by the way, some earlier, some later, and
scarce a few stragglers remain to count the numbers
fallen, and to mark yet, by their own fall, the last foot
steps of their party. Is it a desirable thing to bear up
through the heat of the action, to witness the death of all
our companions, and merely be the last victim? I doubt
it. We have, however, the traveller's consolation. Every
step shortens the distance we have to go ; the end of our
journey is in sight, the bed wherein we are to rest, and
to rise in the midst of the friends we have lost. "We
sorrow not then as others who have no hope" ; but look
forward to the day which "joins us to the great majority."
But whatever is to be our destiny, wisdom, as well as
duty, dictates that we should acquiesce in the will of Him
whose it is to give and take away, and be contented in the
enjoyment of those who are still permitted to be with us.
Of those connected by blood, the number does not depend
on us. But friends we have, if we have merited them.
Those of our earliest years stand nearest in our affections.
But in this, too, you and I have been unlucky. Of our
college friends (and they are the dearest) how few have
stood with us in the great political questions which have
agitated our country; and these were of a nature to justify
agitation. I did not believe the Lilliputian fetters of that
day strong enough to have bound so many. Will not Mrs.
Page, yourself and family, think it prudent to seek a
healthier region for the months of August and September?
And may we not flatter ourselves that you will cast your
eye on Monticello? We have not many summers to live.
While fortune places us, then, within striking distance, let
us avail ourselves of it, to meet and talk over the tales of
other times.

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On Politics

To Judge John Tyler

WASHINGTON, June 28, 1804.

The terms in which you are so good as to express your
satisfaction with the course of the present administration
cannot but give me great pleasure. I may err in my meas
ures, but never shall deflect from the intention to fortify
the public liberty by every possible means, and to put it
out of the power of the few to riot on the labors of the
many. No experiment can be more interesting than that
we are now trying, and which we trust will end in estab
lishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and
truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open
to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual
hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, there
fore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation
of their actions. The firmness with which the people have
withstood the late abuses of the press, the discernment they
have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that
they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and
false, and to form a correct judgment between them. As
little is it necessary to impose on their senses, or dazzle
their minds by pomp, splendor, or forms. Instead of this
artificial, how much surer is that real respect, which re
sults from the use of their reason and the habit of bringing
everything to the test of common sense.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

Qualifies Condemnation of Cities and Manu
factures

To Mr. Lithson

WASHINGTON, January 4, 1805.

Mr. Duane informed me that he meant to publish a new
edition of the "Notes on Virginia/' and I had in contempla
tion some particular alterations which would require little
time to make. My occupations by no means permit me at
this time to revise the text, and make those changes in it
which I should now do. I should in that case certainly
qualify several expressions in the nineteenth chapter,
which have been construed differently from what they were
intended. I had under my eye, when writing, the manu
facturers of the great cities in the old countries, at the
present time, with whom the want of food and clothing
necessary to sustain life, has begotten a depravity of
morals, a dependence and corruption, which renders them
an undesirable accession to a country whose morals are
sound. My expressions looked forward to the time when
our own great cities would get into the same state. But
they have been quoted as if meant for the present time
here. As yet our manufacturers are as much at their ease,
as independent and moral as our agricultural inhabitants,
and they will continue so as long as there are vacant lands
for them to resort to; because whenever it shall be at
tempted by the other classes to reduce them to the mini
mum of subsistence, they will quit their trades and go to
laboring the earth. A first question is, Whether it is de
sirable for us to receive at present the dissolute and
demoralized handicraftsmen of the old cities of Europe?
A second and more difficult one is, when even good handi-

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craftsmen arrive here, is it better for them to set up their
trade, or go to the culture of the earth? Whether their
labor in their trade is worth more than their labor on the
soil, increased by the creative energies of the earth? Had
I time to revise that chapter, this question should be dis
cussed, and other views of the subject taken, which are
presented by the wonderful changes which have taken
place here since 1781, when the "Notes on Virginia" were
written. Perhaps when I retire, I may amuse myself
with a serious review of this work; at present it is out of
the question. Accept my salutations and good wishes.

Second Inaugural Address — March 4, 1805

Proceeding, fellow-citizens, to that qualification which
the Constitution requires before my entrance on the charge
again conferred upon me, it is my duty to express the deep
sense I entertain of this new proof of confidence from my
fellow-citizens at large, and the zeal with which it inspires
me, so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just
expectations.

On taking this station on a former occasion, I declared
the principles on which I believed it my duty to administer
the affairs of our commonwealth. My conscience tells me
that I have, on every occasion, acted up to that declaration,
according to its obvious import, and to the understanding
of every candid mind.

In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have en
deavored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, and
especially of those with which we have the most important
relations. We have done them justice on all occasions,
favored where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual in
terests and intercourse on fair and equal terms. We are

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

firmly convinced, and we act on that conviction, that with
nations, as with individuals, our interests soundly cal
culated, will ever be found inseparable from our moral
duties; and history bears witness to the fact, that a just
nation is taken on its word, when recourse is had to arma
ments, and wars to bridle others.

At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we
have done well or ill. The suppression of unnecessary
offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us
to discontinue our internal taxes. These covering our land
with officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had
already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which,
once entered, is scarcely to be restrained from reaching
successively every article of produce and property. If
among these taxes some minor ones fell which had not
been inconvenient, it was because their amount would not
have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if
they had any merit, the state authorities might adopt
them, instead of others less approved.

The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign
articles, is paid cheerfully by those who can afford to add
foreign luxuries to domestic comforts, being collected on
our seaboards and frontiers only, and incorporated with
the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the
pleasure and pride of an American to ask, What farmer,
what mechanic, what laborer, ever sees a tax-gatherer of
the United States? These contributions enable us to sup
port the current expenses of the Government, to fulfil
contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native
right of soil within our limits, to extend those limits, and
to apply such a surplus to our public debts, as places at
a short day their final redemption, and that redemption
once effected, the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just
repartition among the States, and a corresponding amend-

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ing of the Constitution, be applied, in time of peace, to
rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and
other great objects within each State. In time of war, if
injustice, by ourselves or others, must sometimes produce
war, increased as the same revenue will be increased by
population and consumption, and aided by other resources
reserved for that crisis, it may meet within the year all the
expenses of the year, without encroaching on the rights of
future generations by burdening them with the debts of
the past. War will then be but a suspension of useful
works, and a return to a state of peace a return to the
progress of improvement.

I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved
had enabled us to extend our limits ; but that extension
may possibly pay for itself before we are called on, and
in the meantime, may keep down the accruing interest; in
all events, it will repay the advances we have made. I
know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disap
proved by some, from a candid apprehension that the en
largement of our territory would endanger its union. But
who can limit the extent to which the federative principle
may operate effectively? The larger our association, the
less will it be shaken by local passions ; and in any view,
is it not better that the opposite bank of the Mississippi
should be settled by our own brethren and children, than
by strangers of another family? With which shall we be
most likely to live in harmony and friendly intercourse ?

In matters of religion, I have considered that its free
exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the
powers of the General Government. I have therefore un
dertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises
suited to it, but have left them, as the Constitution found
them, under the direction and discipline of State or Church
authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have re
garded with the commiseration their history inspires. En
dowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breath
ing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and
occupying a country which left them no desire but to
be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing population
from other regions directed itself on these shores ; with
out power to divert, or habits to contend against, they have
been overwhelmed by the current, or driven before it; now
reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter's state,
humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the
domestic arts ; to encourage them to that industry which
alone can enable them to maintain their place in existence,
and to prepare them in time for that state of society, which
to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind and
morals. We have therefore liberally furnished them with
the implements of husbandry and household use; we have
placed among them instructors in the arts of first necessity ;
and they are covered with the aegis of the law against
aggressors from among ourselves.

But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which
awaits their present course of life, to induce them to ex
ercise their reason, follow its dictates, and change their
pursuits with the change of circumstances, have powerful
obstacles to encounter ; they are combated by the habits of
their bodies, prejudice of their minds, ignorance, pride, and
the influence of interested and crafty individuals among
them, who feel themselves something in the present order
of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. These
persons inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the cus
toms of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did, must be
done through all time ; that reason is a false guide, and to
advance under its counsel, in their physical, moral, or
political condition, is perilous innovation; that their duty

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is to remain as their Creator made them, ignorance being
safety, and knowledge full of danger; in short, my friends,
among them is seen the action and counteraction of good
sense and bigotry ; they, too, have their anti-philosophers,
who find an interest in keeping things in their present
state, who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties
to maintain the ascendancy of habit over the duty of im
proving our reason, and obeying its mandates.

In giving these outlines, I do not mean, fellow-citizens,
to arrogate to myself the merit of the measures ; that is
clue, in the first place, to the reflecting character of our
citizens at large, who, by the weight of public opinion,
influence and strengthen the public measures ; it is due to
the sound discretion with which they select from among
themselves those to whom they confide the legislative
duties ; it is due to the zeal and wisdom of the characters
thus selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness
in wholesome laws, the execution of which alone remains
for others; and it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries,
whose patriotism has associated with me in the executive
functions.

During this course of administration, and in order to dis
turb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against
us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise
or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to
freedom arid science, are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch
as they tend to lessen its usefulness, and to sap its safety;
they might, indeed, have been corrected by the wholesome
punishments reserved and provided by the laws of the sev
eral States against falsehood and defamation; but public
duties more urgent press on the time of public servants,
and the offenders have therefore been left to find their
punishment in the public indignation.

Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

should be fairly and fully made, whether freedom of dis
cussion, unaided by power, is not sufficient for the propa
gation and protection of truth — whether a government,
conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with
zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be un
willing the whole world should witness, can be written
down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment has
been tried; you have witnessed the scene; our fellow-citi
zens have looked on, cool and collected; they saw the latent
source from which these outrages proceeded; they gathered
around their public functionaries, and when the Constitution
called them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced
their verdict, honorable to those who had served them, and
consolatory to the friend of man, who believes he may be
intrusted with his own affairs.

No inference is here intended, that the laws, provided
by the state against false and defamatory publications,
should not be enforced; he who has time renders a service
to public morals and public tranquillity, in reforming these
abuses by the salutary coercions of the law; but the ex
periment is noted to prove that, since truth and reason
have maintained their ground against false opinions in
league with false facts, the press, confined to truth, needs
no other legal restraint; the public judgment will correct
false reasonings and opinions, on a full hearing of all
parties ; and no other definite line can be drawn between
the inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing
licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this
rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in
the censorship of public opinion.

Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested
so generally, as auguring harmony and happiness to our
future course, I offer to our country sincere congratula
tions. With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point,

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the disposition to do so is gaining strength ; facts are pierc
ing through the veil drawn over them, and our doubting
brethren will at length see, that the mass of their fellow-
citizens,, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to
principles and measures, think as they think, and desire
what they desire; that our wish, as well as theirs, is, that
the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public
good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty
unassailed, law and order preserved, equality of rights
maintained, and that state of property, equal or unequal,
which results to every man from his own industry, or that
of his fathers. When satisfied of these views, it is not in
human nature that they should not approve and support
them; in the meantime, let us cherish them with patient
affection; let us do them justice, and more than justice, in
all competitions of interest ; and we need not doubt that
truth, reason, and their own interests, will at length pre
vail, will gather them into the fold of their country, and
will complete their entire union of opinion, which gives to
a nation the blessing of harmony, and the benefit of all its
strength.

I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow-citi
zens have again called me, and shall proceed in the spirit
of those principles which they have approved. I fear not
that any motives of interest may lead me astray; I am
sensible of no passion which could seduce me knowingly
from the path of justice; but the weakness of human nature
and the limits of my own understanding, will produce errors
of judgment sometimes injurious to your interests. I shall
need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experi
enced — the want of it will certainly not lessen with increas
ing years. I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in
whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of
old, from their native land, and planted them in a country

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who
has covered our infancy with His providence, and our riper
years with His wisdom and power; and to whose goodness

*I ask you to join with me in supplications, that He will so
enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils,

"and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do, shall
result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace,
friendship, and approbation of all nations.

On the Conduct of a Newspaper

To John Norvell

WASHINGTON, June 11, 1807.

To your request of my opinion of the manner in which
a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be most useful,
I should answer, "by restraining it to true facts and sound
principles only." Yet I fear such a paper would find few
subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression
of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of
its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to
falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in
a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being
put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state
of misinformation is known only to those who are in situa
tions to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies
of the day. I really look with commiseration over the great
body of my fellow-citizens, who, reading newspapers, live
and die in the belief, that they have known something of
what has been passing in the world in their time; whereas
the accounts they have read in newspapers are just as true
a history of any other period of the world as of the pres
ent, except that the real names of the day are affixed to

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their fables. General facts may indeed be collected from
them, such as that Europe is now at war, that Bonaparte
has been a successful warrior, that he has subjected a great
portion of Europe to his will, etc., etc. ; but no details can
be relied on. I will add, that the man who never looks into
a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them,
inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than
he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. He
who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the
details are all false.

Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some
such way as this. Divide his paper into four chapters,
heading the 1st, Truths. 2d, Probabilities. 3d, Possi
bilities. 4th, Lies. The first chapter would be very
short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers,
and information from such sources, as the editor would be
willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The
second would contain what, from a mature consideration of
all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be prob
ably true. This, however, should rather contain too little
than too much. The third and fourth should be profess
edly for those readers who would rather have lies for their
money than the blank paper they would occupy.

Such an editor, too, would have to set his face against
the demoralizing practice of feeding the public mind
habitually on slander, and the depravity of taste which this
nauseous aliment induces. Defamation is becoming a nec
essary of life; insomuch, that a dish of tea in the morning
or evening cannot be digested without this stimulant. Even
those who do not believe these abominations, still read them
with complaisance to their auditors, and instead of the
abhorrence and indignation which should fill a virtuous
mind, betray a secret pleasure in the possibility that some
may believe them, though they do not themselves. It

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

seems to escape them, that it is not he who prints, but he
who pays for printing a slander, who is its real author.

To Col. Robert Fulton

MONTICELLO, August 16, 1807.

Sir: I consider your torpedoes as very valuable means
of the defence of harbors, and have no doubt that we should
adopt them to a considerable degree. Not that I go the
whole length (as I believe you do) of considering them as
solely to be relied on. Neither a nation nor those intrusted
with its affairs, could be justifiable, however sanguine its
expectations, in trusting solely to an engine not yet suffi
ciently tried, under all the circumstances which may occur,
and against which we know not as yet what means of parry
ing may be devised. If, indeed, the mode of attaching
them to the cable of a ship be the only one proposed, modes
of prevention cannot be difficult. But I have ever looked
to the submarine boat as most to be depended on for at
taching them, and though I see no mention of it in your
letter, or your publications, I am in hopes it is not aban
doned as impracticable. I should wish to see a corps of
young men trained to this service. It would belong to the
engineers if at hand, but being nautical, I suppose we must
have a corps of naval engineers, to practise and use them.
I do not know whether we have authority to put any part
of our existing naval establishment in a course of training,
but it shall be the subject of a consultation with the Sec
retary of the Navy. General Dearborn has informed you
of the urgency of our want of you at New Orleans for the
locks there. I salute you with great respect and esteem.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
Proposed Alliance with Great Britain

To tJie Secretary of State
(James Madison)

MONTICELLO, August 27, 1805.

I think you have misconceived the nature of the treaty
I thought we should propose to England. I have no idea
of committing ourselves immediately or independently of
our further will to the war. The treaty should be provi
sional only, to come into force on the event of our being
engaged in war with either France or Spain during the pres
ent war in Europe. In that event we should make com
mon cause, and England should stipulate not to make peace
without our obtaining the objects for which we go to war,
to wit, the acknowledgment by Spain of the rightful boun
daries of Louisiana (which we should reduce to our mini
mum by a secret article) and indemnification for spolia
tions, for which purpose we should be allowed to make
reprisal on the Floridas and retain them as an indemnifica
tion. Our co-operation in the war (if we should actually
enter into it) would be sufficient consideration for Great
Britain to engage for its object; and it being generally
known to France and Spain that we had entered into treaty
with England, would probably insure us a peaceable and
immediate settlement of both points. But another motive
much more powerful would indubitably induce England to
go much further. Whatever ill-humor may at times have
been expressed against us by individuals of that country,
the first wish of every Englishman's heart is to see us once
more fighting by their sides against France ; nor could the
King or his ministers do an act so popular as to enter into
an alliance with us. The nation would not weigh the con
sideration by grains and scruples. They would consider it

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

as the price and pledge of an indissoluble friendship. I
think it possible that for such a provisional treaty they
would give us their general guarantee of Louisiana and the
Floridas. At any rate we might try them. A failure would
not make our situation worse. If such a one could be ob
tained we might await our own convenience for calling up
the casus fcederis. I think it important that England
should receive an overture as early as possible, as it might
prevent her listening to terms of peace. If I recollect
rightly, we had instructed Moreau, when he went to Paris,
to settle the deposit; if he failed in that object to propose a
treaty to England immediately. We could not be more en
gaged to secure the deposit then than we are the country
now, after paying fifteen millions for it. I do expect,
therefore, that, considering the present state of things as
analogous to that, and virtually within his instructions, he
will very likely make the proposition to England.

Introducing his Grandson — Estimate of
Character

To Dr. Benjamin Rush

WASHINGTON, January 3, 1808.

Dear Sir: In the ensuing autumn, I shall be sending on
to Philadelphia a grandson of about fifteen years of age,
to whom I shall ask your friendly attentions. Without
that bright fancy which captivates, I am in hopes he pos
sesses sound judgment and much observation; and, what I
value more than all tilings, good humor. For thus I esti
mate the qualities of the mind: 1, good humor; 2, integrity;
8, industry; 4, science. The preference of the first to the

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second quality may not at first be acquiesced in ; but cer
tainly we had all rather associate with a good-humored,
light-principled man, than with an ill-tempered rigorist in
morality.

Urging Him to Run for Congress

To William Wirt, Esq.

WASHINGTON, January 10, 1808.

Dear Sir: I pray you that this letter may be sacredly
secret, because it meddles in a line wherein I should myself
think it wrong to intermeddle, were it not that it looks to
a period when I shall be out of office; but others might
think it wrong notwithstanding that circumstance. I sus
pected, from your desire to go into the army, that you dis
liked your profession, notwithstanding that your prospects
in it were inferior to none in the State. Still I know that
no profession is open to stronger antipathies than that of
the law. The object of this letter, then, is to propose to
you to come into Congress. That is the great commanding
theatre of this nation, and the threshold to whatever de
partment of office a man is qualified to enter. With your
reputation, talents, and correct views, used with the neces
sary prudence, you will at once be placed at the head of
the republican body in the House of Representatives ; and
after obtaining the standing which a little time will insure
you, you may look, at your own will, into the military, the
judiciary, diplomatic, or other civil departments, with a cer
tainty of being in either whatever you please. And in the
present state of what may be called the eminent talents of
our country, you may be assured of being engaged through
life Ln the most honorable employments. If you come in at

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the next election, you will begin your course with a new
administration. That administration will be opposed by a
faction, small in numbers, but governed by no principle but
the most envenomed malignity. They will endeavor to bat
ter down the Executive before it will have time, by its pur
ity and correctness, to build up a confidence with the people,
founded on experiment. By supporting them you will lay
for yourself a broad foundation in the public confidence,
and indeed you will become the Colossus of the republican
government of your country. I will not say that public life
is the line for making a fortune. But it furnishes a decent
and honorable support, and places one's children on good
grounds for public favor. The family of a beloved father
will stand with the public on the most favorable ground
of competition. Had General Washington left children,
what would have been denied to them?

Reasons for Refusing to Proclaim a Fast

To the Rev. Samuel Miller

WASHINGTON, January 23, 1808.

Sir: I consider the Government of the United States as
interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with re
ligious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.
This results not only from the provision that no law shall
be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of
religion, but from that also which reserves to the States the
powers not delegated to the United States. Certainly, no
power to prescribe any religious exercise, or to assume
authority in religious discipline, has been delegated to the
General Government. It must then rest with the States,
as far as it can be in any human authority. But it is only

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proposed that I should recommend, not prescribe a day of
fasting arid prayer. That is, that I should indirectly as
sume to the United States an authority over religious exer
cises, which the Constitution has directly precluded them
from. It must be meant, too, that this recommendation is
to carry some authority, and to be sanctioned by some pen
alty on those who disregard it; not indeed of fine and
imprisonment, but of some degree of proscription, perhaps
in public opinion. And does the change in the nature of
the penalty make the recommendation less a law of conduct
for those to whom it is directed ? I do not believe it is for
the interest of religion to invite the civil magistrate to direct
its exercises, its discipline, or its doctrines ; nor of the re
ligious societies, that the General Government should be
invested with the power of effecting any uniformity of time
or matter among them. Fasting and prayer are religious
exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every
religious society has a right to determine for itself the
times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them,
according to their own particular tenets; and this right can
never be safer than in their own hands, where the Consti
tution has deposited it.

On Public Ownership

To William B. Bibb

MONTICELLO, July 28, 1808.

Sir: I received duly your favor of July 1st, covering
an offer of Mr. McDonald of an iron mine to the public,
and I thank you for taking the trouble of making the com
munication, as it might have its utility. But having always
observed that public works are much less advantageously

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

managed than the same are by private hands, I have thought
it better for the public to go to market for whatever it
wants which is to be found there; for there competition
brings it down to the minimum of value. I have no doubt
we can buy brass cannon at market cheaper than we could
make iron ones. I think it material, too, not to abstract the
high executive officers from those functions which nobody
else is charged to carry on, and to employ them in super
intending works which are going on abundantly in private
hands. Our predecessors went on different principles;
they bought iron mines, and sought for copper ones. We
own a mine at Harper's Ferry of the finest iron ever put
into a cannon, which we are afraid to attempt to work.
We have rented it heretofore, but it is now without a tenant.

Advice as to Conduct and Character

WASHINGTON, November 24, 1808.

My dear Jefferson : . . . Your situation, thrown at
such a distance from us, and alone, cannot but give us all
great anxieties for you. As much has been secured for
you, by your particular position and the acquaintance to
which you have been recommended, as could be done
toward shielding you from the dangers which surround
you. But thrown on a wide world, among entire stran
gers, without a friend or guardian to advise, so young, too,
and with so little experience of mankind, your dangers are
great, and still your safety must rest on yourself. A de
termination never to do what is wrong, prudence, and good-
humor, will go far toward securing to you the estimation
of the world. When I recollect that at fourteen years of

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age, the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on
myself entirely, without a relation or friend qualified to ad
vise or guide me, and recollect the various sorts of bad
company with which I associated from time to time, I am
astonished I did not turn off with some of them, and become
as worthless to society as they were. I had the good fort
une to become acquainted very early with some characters
of very high standing, and to feel the incessant wish that I
could ever become what they were. Under temptations and
difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr. Small, Mr.
Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this situation ? What
course in it will insure me their approbation? I am cer
tain that this mode of deciding on my conduct, tended more
to correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed.
Knowing the even and dignified line they pursued, I could
never doubt for a moment which of two courses would be
in character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object
through a process of moral reasoning, and with the jaun
diced eye of youth, I should often have erred. From the
circumstances of my position, I was often thrown into the
society of horse-racers, card-players, fox-hunters, scientific
and professional men, and of dignified men; and many a
time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic moment of the
death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the issue of
a question eloquently argued at the bar, or in the great
council of the nation, well, which of these kinds of reputa
tion should I prefer? That of a horse-jockey, a fox-
hunter, an orator, or the honest advocate of my country's
rights ? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that these little
returns into ourselves, this self-catechising habit, is not
trifling nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection and
steady pursuit of what is right.

I have mentioned good-humor as one of the preservatives
of our peace and tranquillity. It is among the most effect-

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

ual, and its effect is so well imitated and aided, artificially,
by politeness, that this also becomes an acquisition of first-
rate value. In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it
covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering
habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue.
It is the practice of sacrificing to those whom we meet in
society, all the little conveniences and preferences which
will gratify them, and deprive us of nothing worth a mo
ment's consideration ; it is the giving a pleasing and flatter
ing turn to our expressions, which will conciliate others, and
make them pleased with us as well as themselves. How
cheap a price for the good will of another ! When this is
in return for a rude thing said by another, it brings him to
his senses, it mortifies and corrects him in the most salutary
way, and places him at the feet of your good nature in the
eyes of the company. But in stating prudential rules for
our government in society, I must not omit the important
one of never entering into dispute or argument with another.
I never saw an instance of one of two disputants convinc
ing the other by argument. I have seen many, on their
getting warm, becoming rude, and shooting one another.
Conviction is the effect of our own dispassionate reasoning,
either in solitude, or weighing within ourselves, dispas
sionately, what we hear from others, standing uncommit
ted in argument ourselves. It was one of the rules which,
above all others, made Dr. Franklin the most amiable
of men in society, "never to contradict anybody." If he
was urged to announce an opinion, lie did it rather by ask
ing questions, as if for information, or by suggesting
doubts. When I hear another express an opinion which is
not mine, I say to myself, He has a right to his opinion, as
I to mine; why should I question it? His error does me
no injury, and shall I become a Don Quixote, to bring all
men by force of argument to one opinion? If a fact be

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misstated, it is probable he is gratified by a belief of it, and
I have no right to deprive him of the gratification. If he
wants information, he will ask it, and then I will give it
in measured terms ; but if he still believes his own story,
and shows a desire to dispute the fact with me, I hear him
and say nothing. It is his affair, not mine, if he prefers
error. There are two classes of disputants most frequently
to be met with among us. The first is of young students,
just entered the threshold of science, with a first view of
its outlines, not yet filled up with the details and modifica
tions which a further progress would bring to their knowl
edge. The other consists of the ill-tempered and rude men
in society, who have taken up a passion for politics. (Good-
humor and politeness never introduce into mixed society,
a question on which they foresee there will be a difference
here of opinion.) From both of these classes of dispu
tants, my dear Jefferson, keep aloof, as you would from
the infected subjects of yellow fever or pestilence. Con
sider yourself, when with them, as among the patients of
Bedlam, needing medical more than moral counsel. Be a
listener only, keep within j-ourself, and endeavor to estab
lish with yourself the habit of silence, especially on politics.
In the fevered state of our country, no good can ever result
from any attempt to set one of these fiery zealots to
rights, either in fact or principle. They are determined
as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on which
they will act. Get by them, therefore, as you would by
an angry bull; it is not for a man of sense to dispute the
road with such an animal. You will be more exposed
than others to have these animals shaking their horns at
you, because of the relation in which you stand with me.
Full of political venom, and willing to see me and to hate
me as a chief in the antagonist party, your presence will
be to them what the vomit grass is to the sick dog, a

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

nostrum for producing ejaculation. Look upon them ex
actly with that eye, and pity them as objects to whom
you can administer only occasional ease. My character is
not within their power. It is in the hands of my fellow-
citizens at large, and will be consigned to honor or infamy
by the verdict of the republican mass of oui country, ac
cording to what themselves will have seen, not what their
enemies and mine shall have said. Never, therefore, con
sider these puppies in politics as requiring any notice
from you, and always show that you are not afraid to
leave my character to the umpirage of public opinion.
Look steadily to the pursuits which have carried you to
Philadelphia, be very select in the society you attach
yourself to, avoid taverns, drinkers, smokers, idlers, and
dissipated persons generally; for it is with such that
broils and contentions arise, and you will find your path
more easy and tranquil. The limits of my paper warn me
that it is time for me to close with my affectionate adieu.

Valedictory to Congress — December, 1808

Last Annual Message

Availing myself of this the last occasion which will
occur of addressing the two houses of the Legislature at
their meeting, I cannot omit the expression of my sincere
gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested
to me by themselves and their predecessors since my call
to the administration, and the many indulgences experi
enced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments
are due to my fellow-citizens generally, whose support
has been my great encouragement under all embarrass
ments. In the transaction of their business I cannot have

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

escaped error. It is incident to our imperfect nature. But
I may say with truth, my errors have been of the under
standing, not of intention ; and that the advancement of
their rights and interests has been the constant motive for
every measure. On these considerations I solicit their in
dulgence. Looking forward with anxiety to their future
destinies, I trust that in their steady character unshaken
by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law,
and support of the public authorities, I see a sure guar
antee of the permanence of our Republic; and retiring
from the charge of their affairs, I carry with me the con
solation of a firm persuasion that Heaven has in store for
our beloved country long ages to come of prosperity and
happiness.

vice to Indian Chiefs

To Captain Hendrich, the Delarvares, Mohicans, and
Munries

WASHINGTON, December 21, 1808.

My Son and my Children: I am glad to see you here, to
receive your salutations, and to return them by taking you
by the hand, and renewing to you the assurances of my
friendship. I learn with pleasure that the Miamis and
Powtawatamies have given you some of their lands on the
White River to live on, and that you propose to gather there
your scattered tribes, and to dwell on it all your days.

The picture which you have drawn, my son, of the in
crease of our numbers and the decrease of yours is just,
the causes are very plain, and the remedy depends on
yourselves alone. You have lived by hunting the deer and
buffalo — all these have been driven westward; you have

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

sold out on the sea-board and moved westwardly in pur
suit of them. As they became scarce there, your food has
failed you; you have been a part of every year without
food, except the roots and other unwholesome things you
could find in the forest. Scanty and unwholesome food
produce diseases and death among your children, and
hence you have raised few and your numbers have de
creased. Frequent wars, too, and the abuse of spirituous
liquors, have assisted in lessening your numbers. The
whites, on the other hand, are in the habit of cultivating
the earth, of raising stocks of cattle, hogs, and other
domestic animals, in much greater numbers than they could
kill of deer and buffalo. Having always a plenty of food
and clothing they raise abundance of children, they double
their numbers every twenty years, the new swarms are
continually advancing upon the country like flocks of
pigeons, and so they will continue to do. Now, my chil
dren, if we wanted to. diminish our numbers, we would give
up the culture of the earth, pursue the deer and buifalo,
and be always at war; this would soon reduce us to be as
few as you are, and if you wish to increase your numbers
you must give up the deer and buffalo, live in peace, and
cultivate the earth. You see then, my children, that it
depends on yourselves alone to become a numerous and
great people. Let me entreat you, therefore, on the lands
now given you to begin to give every man a farm ; let him
enclose it, cultivate it, build a warm house on it, and when
he dies, let it belong to his wife and children after him.
Nothing is so easy as to learn to cultivate the earth; all
your women understand it, and to make it easier, we are
always ready to teach you how to make ploughs, hoes, and
necessary utensils. If the men will take the labor of the
earth from the women they will learn to spin and weave
and to clothe their families. In this way you will also

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raise many children, you will double your numbers every
twenty years, and soon fill the land your friends have given
you, and your children will never be tempted to sell the
spot on which they have been born, raised, have labored
and called their own. When once you have property, you
will want laws and magistrates to protect your property
and persons, and to punish those among you who commit
crimes. You will find that our laws are good for this
purpose; you will wish to live under them, you will unite
yourselves with us, join in our Great Councils and form
one people with us, and we shall all be Americans ; you
will mix with us by marriage, your blood will run in our
veins, and will spread with us over this great island. In
stead, then, my children, of the gloomy prospect you have
drawn of your total disappearance from the face of the
earth, which is true, if you continue to hunt the deer and
buffalo and go to war, you see what a brilliant aspect is
offered to our future history, if you give up war and hunt
ing. Adopt the culture of the earth and raise domestic
animals ; you see how from a small family you may become
a great nation by adopting the course which from the small
beginning you describe has made us a great nation.

My children, I will give you a paper declaring your right
to hold, against all persons, the lands given you by the
Miamis and Powtawatamies, and that you never can sell
them without their consent. But I must tell you that if
ever they and you agree to sell, no paper which I can give
you can prevent your doing what you please with your
own. The only way to prevent this is to give to every one
of your people a farm, which shall belong to him and his
family, and which the nation shall have no right to take
from them and sell ; in this way alone can you insure the
lands to your descendants through all generations, and that
it shall never be sold from under their feet. It is not the

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

keeping your lands which will keep your people alive on
them after the deer and buffalo shall have left them; it
is the cultivating them alone which can do that. The hun
dredth part in corn and cattle will support you better than
the whole in deer and buffalo.

My son Hendrick, deliver these words to your people.
I have spoken to them plainly, that they may see what is
before them, and that it is in their own power to go on
dwindling to nothing, or to become again a great people.
It is for this reason I wish them to live in peace with all
people, to teach their young men to love agriculture,
rather than war and hunting. Let these words sink deep
in their hearts, and let them often repeat them and consider
them. Tell them that I hold them fast by the hand, and
that I will ever be their friend to advise and to assist them
in following the true path to their future happiness.

To Thomas Leiper

WASHINGTON, January 21, 1809-

I have lately inculcated the encouragement of manufact
ures to the extent of our own consumption, at least, in all
articles of which we raise the raw material. On this the
federal papers and meetings have sounded the alarm of
Chinese policy, destruction of commerce, etc. ; that is to
say, the iron which we make must not be wrought here
into ploughs, axes, hoes, etc., in order that the ship
owner may have the profit of carrying it to Europe, and
bringing it back in a manufactured form, as if after manu
facturing our own raw materials for our own use, there
would not be a surplus produce sufficient to employ a due

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

proportion of navigation in carrying it to market and ex
changing it for those articles of which we have not the
raw material. Yet this absurd hue and cry has contributed
much to federalize New England; their doctrine goes to
the sacrificing agriculture and manufactures to commerce;
to the calling all our people from the interior country to
the sea-shore to turn merchants, and to convert this great
agricultural country into a city of Amsterdam. But I trust
the good sense of our country will see that its greatest
prosperity depends on a due balance between agriculture,
manufactures, and commerce, and not in this protuberant
navigation which has kept us in hot water from the com
mencement of our Government, and is now engaging us
in war. That this may be avoided, if it can be done with
out a surrender of rights, is my sincere prayer. Accept
the assurances of my constant esteem and respect.

On the Annexation of Cuba

To the President of the United States
(James Madison^)

MONTICELLO, April 27, 1809.

As to Bonaparte, I should not doubt the revocation of his
edicts were he governed by reason. But his policy is so
crooked that it eludes conjecture. . . . He ought the
more to conciliate our good will, as we can 'be such an ob
stacle to the new career opening on him in the Spanish
colonies. That he would give us the Floridas to withhold
intercourse with the residue of those colonies, cannot be
doubted. But that is no price; because they are ours in
the first moment of the first war; and until a war they are
of no particular necessity to us. But, although with diffi
culty, he will consent to our receiving Cuba into our Union,

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

to prevent our aid to Mexico and the other provinces. That
would be a price, and I would immediately erect a column
on the southernmost limit of Cuba, and inscribe on it a ne
plus ultra as to us in that direction. We should then have
only to include the North in our Confederacy, which would
be of course in the first war, and we should have such an
empire for Liberty as she has never surveyed since the
creation; and I am persuaded no constitution was ever be
fore so well calculated as ours for extensive empire and
self-government. As the Mentor went away before this
change, and will leave France probably while it is still a
secret in that hemisphere, I presume the expediency of pur
suing her by a swift sailing despatch was considered. It
will be objected to our receiving Cuba, that no limit can
then be drawn to our future acquisitions. Cuba can be de
fended by us without a navy, and this develops the prin
ciple which ought to limit our views. Nothing should ever
be accepted which would require a navy to defend it.

On the Choice of a Profession

To Judge David Campbell

MONTICELLO, January 28, 1810.

Law is quite overdone. It is fallen to the ground, and a
man must have great powers to raise himself in it to either
honor or profit. The mob of the profession get as little
money and less respect than they would by digging the
earth. The followers of Esculapius are also numerous.
Yet I have remarked that wherever one sets himself down in
a good neighborhood, not pre-occupied, he secures to himself
its practice, and if prudent, is not long in acquiring whereon
to retire and live in comfort. The physician is happy in the

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

attachment of the families in which he practises. All think
he has saved some one of them, and he finds himself every
where a welcome guest, a home in every house. If, to the
consciousness of having saved some lives, he can add that of
having at no time, from want of caution, destroyed the boon
he was called on to save, he will enjoy, in age, the happy
reflection of not having lived in vain; while the lawyer has
only to recollect how many, by his dexterity, have been
cheated of their right and reduced to beggary.

On his Marnier of Life

To General Thaddeus Kosciusko

MONTICELLO, February 26, 1810.

So much as to my country. Now a word as to myself.
I am retired to Monticello, where, in the bosom of my fam
ily, and surrounded by my books, I enjoy a repose to which
I have been long a stranger. My mornings are devoted to
correspondence. From breakfast to dinner, I am in my
shops, my garden, or on horseback among my farms ; from
dinner to dark, I give to society and recreation with my
neighbors and friends ; and from candle-light to early bed
time, I read. My health is perfect; and my strength con
siderably reenforced by the activity of the course I pursue;
perhaps it is as great as usually falls to the lot of near
sixty-seven years of age. I talk of ploughs and harrows,
of seeding and harvesting, with my neighbors, and of poli
tics, too, if they choose, with as little reserve as the rest of
my fellow-citizens, and feel, at length, the blessing of being
free to say and do what I please, without being responsible
for it to any mortal. A part of my occupation, and by no
means the least pleasing, is the direction of the studies of

194.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

such young men as' ask it. They place themselves in the
neighboring village, and have the use of my library and
counsel, and make a part of my society. In advising the
course of their reading, I endeavor to keep their attention
fixed on the main objects of all science, the freedom and
happiness of man. So that coming to bear a share in the
councils and governments of their country, they will keep
ever in view the sole objects of all legitimate government.

On the Breeding of Kings

To Governor John Langdon

MONTICELLO, March 5, 1810.

When I observed, that the King of England was a cipher,
I did not mean to confine the observation to the mere indi
vidual now on that throne. The practice of Kings marry
ing only in the families of Kings has been that of Europe
for some centuries. Now, take any race of animals, confine
them in idleness and inaction, whether in a sty, a stable,
or a state-room, pamper them with high diet, gratify all
their sexual appetites, immerse them in sensualities, nourish
their passions, let everything bend before them, and banish
whatever might lead them to think, and in a few generations
they become all body and no mind ; and this, too, by a law of
nature, by that very law by which we are in the constant
practice of changing the characters and propensities of
the animals we raise for our own purposes. Such is the reg
imen in raising Kings, and in this way they have gone on
for centuries. While in Europe, I often amused myself
with contemplating the characters of the then reigning sov
ereigns of Europe. Louis the XVI. was a fool, of my own
knowledge, and in despite of the answers made for him at

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his trial. The King of Spain was a fool, and of Naples the
same. They passed their lives in hunting, and despatched
two couriers a week, one thousand miles, to let each
other know what game they had killed the preceding days.
The King of Sardinia was a fool. All these were Bourbons.
The Queen of Portugal, a Braganza, was an idiot by nature.
And so was the King of Denmark. Their sons, as regents,
exercised the powers of government. The King of Prussia,
successor to the great Frederick, was a mere hog in body as
well as in mind. Gustavus of Sweden, and Joseph of
Austria, were really crazy, and George of England, you
know, was in a strait-waistcoat. There remained, then,
none but old Catharine, who had been too lately picked up
to have lost her common sense. In this state Bonaparte
found Europe ; and it was this state of its rulers which lost
it with scarce a struggle. These animals had become with
out mind and powerless ; and so will every hereditary mon
arch be after a few generations. Alexander, the grandson
of Catharine, is as yet an exception. He is able to hold his
own. But he is only of the third generation. His race is
not yet worn out. And so endeth the book of Kings, from
all of whom the Lord deliver us, and have you, my friend,
and all such good men and true, in His holy keeping.

Account of Break idth Adams

To Doctor Benjamin Rush

MONTICELLO, January 16, 1811.

Dear Sir: I receive with sensibility your observations on
the discontinuance of friendly correspondence between Mr.
Adams and myself, and the concern you take in its restora
tion. This discontinuance has not proceeded from me, nor

196

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

from the want of sincere desire and of effort on my part, to
renew our intercourse. You know the perfect coincidence of
principle and of action, in the early part of the Revolution,
which produced a high degree of mutual respect and esteem
between Mr. Adams and myself. Certainly no man was
ever truer than he was, in that day, to those principles of
rational republicanism which, after the necessity of throw
ing off our monarchy, dictated all our efforts in the estab
lishment of a new government. And although he swerved,
afterward, toward the principles of the English constitution,
our friendship did not abate on that account. While he was
Vice-President, and I Secretary of State, I received a letter
from President Washington, then at Mount Vernon, desir
ing me to call together the heads of departments, and to in
vite Mr. Adams to join us (which, by the bye, was the only
instance of that being done) in order to determine on some
measure which required despatch ; and he desired me to
act on it, as decided, without again recurring to him. I in
vited them to dine with me, and after dinner, sitting at our
wine, having settled our question, other conversation came
on, in which a collision of opinion arose between Mr. Adams
and Colonel Hamilton, on the merits of the British constitu
tion, Mr. Adams giving it as his opinion, that, if some of its
defects and abuses were corrected, it would be the most per
fect constitution of government ever devised by man. Ham
ilton, on the contrary, asserted that, with its existing vices,
it was the most perfect model of government that could be
formed ; and that the correction of its vices would render it
an impracticable government. And this you may be as
sured was the real line of difference between the political
principles of these two gentlemen. Another incident took
place on the same occasion, which will further delineate Mr.
Hamilton's political principles. The room being hung
around with a collection of the portraits of remarkable men,

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

among them those of Bacon, Newton, and Locke, Ham
ilton asked me who they were. I told him they were my
trinity of the three greatest men the world had ever pro
duced, naming them. He paused for some time: "The
greatest man," said he, "that ever lived, was Julius Cassar."
Mr. Adams was honest as a politician, as well as a man ;
Hamilton honest as a man, but, as a politician, believing in
the necessity of either force or corruption to govern men.

You remember the machinery which the federalists played
off, about that time, to beat down the friends to the real
principles of our Constitution, to silence by terror every
expression in their favor, to bring us into war with France
and alliance with England, and finally to homologize our
Constitution with that of England. Mr. Adams, you know,
was overwhelmed with feverish addresses, dictated by the
fear, and often by the pen, of the bloody buoy, and was se
duced by them into some open indications of his new prin
ciples of government, and, in fact, was so elated as to mix
with his kindness a little superciliousness toward me. Even
Mrs. Adams, with all her good sense and prudence, was sen
sibly flushed. And you recollect the short suspension of our
intercourse, and the circumstance which gave rise to it,
which you were so good as to bring to an early explanation,
and have set to rights, to the cordial satisfaction of us all.
The nation at length passed condemnation on the political
principles of the federalists, by refusing to continue Mr.
Adams in the Presidency. On the day on which we learned
in Philadelphia the vote of the city of New York, which it
was well known would decide the vote of the State, and
that, again, the vote of the Union, I called on Mr. Adams
on some official business. He was very sensibly affected,
and accosted me with these words: "Well, I understand
that you are to beat me in this contest, and I will only say
that I will be as faithful a subject as any you will have."

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

"Mr. Adams/' said I, "this is no personal contest between
you and me. Two systems of principles on the subject of
government divide our fellow-citizens into two parties.
With one of these you concur, and I with the other. As we
have been longer on the public stage than most of those now
living, our names happen to be more generally known. One
of these parties, therefore, has put your name at its head,
the other mine. Were we both to die to-day, to-morrow two
other names would be in the place of ours, without any
change in the motion of the machinery. Its motion is from
its principle, not from you or myself." "I believe you are
right," said he, "that we are but passive instruments, and
should not suffer this matter to affect our personal disposi
tions." But he did not long retain this just view of the sub
ject. I have always believed that the thousand calumnies
which the federalists, in bitterness of heart, and mortiiica-
tion at their ejection, daily invented against me, were carried
to him by their busy intriguers, and made some impression.
When the election between Burr and myself was kept in
suspense by the federalists, and they were meditating to
place the President of the Senate at the head of the Govern
ment, I called on Mr. Adams with a view to have this des
perate measure prevented by his negative. He grew warm
in an instant, and said with a vehemence he had not used
toward me before, "Sir, the event of the election is within
your own power. You have only to say you will do jus
tice to the public creditors, maintain the navy, and not dis
turb those holding offices and the Government will instantly
be put into your hands. We know it is the wish of the peo
ple it should be so." "Mr. Adams," said I, "I know not
what part of my conduct, in either public or private life, can
have authorized a doubt of my fidelity to the public engage
ments. I say, however, I will not come into the Government
by capitulation. I will not enter on it, but in perfect free-

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dom to follow the dictates of my own judgment." I had
before given the same answer to the same intimation from
Gouverneur Morris. "Then/' said he, "things must take
their course." I turned the conversation to something else,
and soon took my leave. It was the first time in our lives
we had ever parted with anything like dissatisfaction. And
then followed those scenes of midnight appointment, which
have been condemned by all men. The last day of his po
litical power, the last hours, and even beyond the midnight,
were employed in filling all offices, and especially permanent
ones, with the bitterest federalists, and providing for me the
alternative, either to execute the Government by my enemies,
whose study it would be to thwart and defeat all my meas
ures, or to incur the odium of such numerous removals from
office, as might bear me down. A little time and reflection
effaced in my mind this temporary dissatisfaction with Mr.
Adams, and restored me to that just estimate of his virtues
and passions, which a long acquaintance had enabled me to
fix. And my first wish became that of making his retire
ment easy by any means in my power, for it was understood
he was not rich. I suggested to some republican members
of the delegation from his State, the giving him, either
directly or indirectly, an office, the most lucrative in that
State, and then offered to be resigned, if they thought he
would not deem it affrontive. They were of opinion he
would take great offence at the offer; and moreover, that the
body of Republicans would consider such a step in the out
set as auguring very ill of the course I meant to pursue. I
dropped the idea, therefore, but did not cease to wish for
some opportunity of renewing our friendly understanding.
Two or three years after, having had the misfortune to
lose a daughter, between whom and Mrs. Adams there had
been a considerable attachment, she made it the occasion of
writing me a letter, in which, with the tenderest expressions

200

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

of concern at this event, she carefully avoided a single one
of friendship toward myself, and even concluded it with
the wishes "of her who once took pleasure in subscribing
herself your friend, Abigail Adams." Unpromising as was
the complexion of this letter, I determined to make an effort
toward removing the cloud from between us. This brought
on a correspondence which I now enclose for your perusal,
after which be so good as to return it to me, as I have
never communicated it to any mortal breathing, before. I
send it to you, to convince you I have not been wanting
either in the desire, or the endeavor to remove this misunder
standing. Indeed, I thought it highly disgraceful to us
both, as indicating minds not sufficiently elevated to prevent
a public competition from affecting our personal friendship.
I soon found from the correspondence that conciliation was
desperate, and yielding to an intimation in her last letter, I
ceased from further explanation. I have the same good
opinion of Mr. Adams which I ever had. I know him to
be an honest man, an able one with his pen, and he was
a powerful advocate on the floor of Congress. He has been
alienated from me, by belief in the lying suggestions,
contrived for electioneering purposes, that I perhaps mixed
in the activity and intrigues of the occasion. My most
intimate friends can testify that I was perfectly passive.
They would sometimes, indeed, tell me what was going
on ; but no man ever heard me take part in such conversa
tions ; and none ever misrepresented Mr. Adams in my pres
ence, without my asserting his just character. With very
confidential persons I have doubtless disapproved of the
principles and practices of his administration. This was
unavoidable. But never with those with whom it could do
him any injury. Decency would have required this conduct
from me, if disposition had not; and I am satisfied Mr.
Adams's conduct was equally honorable toward me. But

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I think it part of his character to suspect foul play in
those of whom he is jealous, and not easily to relinquish
his suspicions.

I have gone., my dear friend, into these details, that you
might know everything which had passed between us, might
be fully possessed of the state of facts and dispositions,
and judge for yourself whether they admit a revival of that
friendly intercourse for which you are so kindly solicitous.
I shall certainly not be wanting in anything on my part
which may second your efforts, which will be the easier with
me, inasmuch as I do not entertain a sentiment of Mr.
Adams, the expression of which could give him reasonable
offence. And I submit the whole to yourself, with the
assurance that whatever be the issue, my friendship and
respect for yourself will remain unaltered and unalterable.

Personalia

To Dr. Benjamin Rush

POPLAR FOREST, August 17, 1811.

Dear Sir: I write to you from a place ninety miles from
Monticello, near the New London of this State, which I
visit three or four times a year, and stay from a fortnight
to a month at a time. I have fixed myself comfortably,
keep some books here, bring others occasionally, am in the
solitude of a hermit, and quite at leisure to attend to my
absent friends. I note this to show that I am not in a
situation to examine the dates of our letters, whether I
have overgone the annual period of asking how you do?
I know that within that time I have received one or more
letters from you, accompanied by a volume of your intro
ductory lectures, for which accept my thanks. I have read

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

them with pleasure and edification, for I acknowledge
facts in medicine as far as they go, distrusting only their
extension by theory. Having to conduct my grandson
through his course of mathematics, I have resumed that
study with great avidity. It was ever my favorite one. We
have no theories there, no uncertainties remain on the mind ;
all is demonstration and satisfaction. I have forgotten
much, and recover it with more difficulty than when in the
vigor of my mind I originally acquired it. It is wonderful
to me that old men should not be sensible that their minds
keep pace with their bodies in the progress of decay. Our
old Revolutionary friend Clinton, for example, who was a
hero, but never a man of mind, is wonderfully jealous on
this head. He tells eternally the stories of his younger days
to prove his memory, as if memory and reason were the
same faculty. Nothing betrays imbecility so much as the
being insensible of it. Had not a conviction of the danger
to which an unlimited occupation of the executive chair
would expose the republican Constitution of our Govern
ment, made it conscientiously a duty to retire when I did,
the fear of becoming a dotard and of being insensible of it,
would of itself have resisted all solicitations to remain. I
have had a long attack of rheumatism, without fever and
without pain while I keep myself still. A total prostra
tion of the muscles of the back, hips, and thighs, deprived
me of the power of walking, and leaves it still in a very
impaired state. A pain when I walk, seems to have fixed
itself in the hip, and to threaten permanence. I take mod
erate rides, without much fatigue; but my journey to this
place, in a hard-going gig, gave me great sufferings which
I expect will be renewed on my return as soon as I am
able. The loss of the power of taking exercise would be
a sore affliction to me. It has been the delight of my re
tirement to be in constant bodily activity looking after my

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affairs. It was never damped, as the pleasures of reading
are, by the question of cui bono? for what object? I hope
your health of body continues firm. Your works show that
of your mind. The habits of exercise which your calling
has given to both, will tend long to preserve them. The
sedentary character of my public occupations sapped a con
stitution naturally sound and vigorous, and draws it to an
earlier close. But it will still last quite as long as I wish
it. There is a fulness of time when men should go, and
not occupy too long the ground to which others have a
right to advance. We must continue while here to ex
change occasionally our mutual good wishes. I find friend
ship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the
true old man's milk and restorative cordial. God bless you
and preserve you through a long and healthy old age.

Federalists and Republicans

To John Melish

MONTICELLO, January 13, 1812.

The candor with which you have viewed the manners
and condition of our citizens, is so unlike the narrow preju
dices of the French and English travellers preceding you,
who, considering each the manners and habits of their own
people as the only orthodox, have viewed everything differ
ing from that test as boorish and barbarous, that your work
will be read here extensively, and operate great good.

Amid this mass of approbation which is given to every
other part of the work, there is a single sentiment which
I cannot help wishing to bring to what I think the correct
one; and, on a point so interesting, I value your opinion
too highly not to ambition its concurrence with my own.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

Stating in volume one, page sixty-three, the principle of
difference between the two great political parties here, you
conclude it to be, "whether the controlling power shall be
vested in this or that set of men." That each party en
deavors to get into the administration of the Government,
and exclude the other from power, is true, and may be
stated as a motive of action ; but this is only secondary, the
primary motive being a real and radical difference of
political principle. I sincerely wish our differences were
but personally who should govern, and that the principles
of our Constitution were those of both parties. Unfortu
nately, it is otherwise ; and the question of preference
between monarchy and republicanism, which has so long
divided mankind elsewhere, threatens a permanent division
here.

Among that section of our citizens called federalists,
there are three shades of opinion. Distinguishing between
the leaders and people who compose it, the leaders consider
the English constitution as a model of perfection, some,
with a correction of its vices, others, with all its corruptions
and abuses. This last was Alexander Hamilton's opinion,
which others, as well as myself, have often heard him de
clare, and that a correction of what are called its vices,
would render the English an impracticable Government.
This Government they wished to have established here, and
only accepted and held fast, at first, to the present Con
stitution, as a stepping-stone to the final establishment of
their favorite model. This party has therefore always
clung to England as their prototype and great auxiliary
in promoting and effecting this change. A weighty MI
NORITY, however, of these leaders, considering the vol
untary conversion of our Government into a monarchy as
too distant, if not desperate, wish to break off from our
Union its Eastern fragment, as being, in truth, the hot-bed

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

of American monnrchism, with a view to a commencement
of their favorite Government, from whence the other States
may gangrene by degrees, and the whole be thus brought
finally to the desired point. For Massachusetts, the prime
mover in this enterprise, is the last State in the Union
to mean a final separation, as being of all the most de
pendent on the others. Not raising bread for the suste
nance of her own inhabitants, not having a stick of timber
for the construction of vessels, her principal occupation, nor
an article to export in them, where would she be, excluded
from the ports of the other States, and thrown into de
pendence on England, her direct, and natural, but now in
sidious rival? At the head of this MINORITY is what is
called the Essex Junto of Massachusetts. But the MAJOR
ITY of these leaders do not aim at separation. In this, they
adhere to the known principle of General Hamilton, never,
under any views, to break the Union. Anglomany, mon
archy, and separation, then, are the principles of the Essex
federalists ; Anglomany and monarchy, those of the Hamil-
tonians, and Anglomany alone, that of the portion among
the people who call themselves federalists. These last are
as good Republicans as the brethren whom they oppose,
and differ from them only in their devotion to England and
hatred of France, which they have imbibed from their
leaders. The moment that these leaders should avowedly
propose a separation of the Union, or the establishment
of regal government, their popular adherents would quit
them to a man, and join the republican standard; and the
partisans of this change, even in Massachusetts, would thus
find themselves an army of officers without a soldier.

The party called Republican is steadily for the support
of the present Constitution. They obtained at its com
mencement all the amendments to it they desired. These
reconciled them to it perfectly, and if they have any ulterior

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

view, it is only, perhaps, to popularize it further by short
ening the senatorial term and devising a process for the
responsibility of judges, more practicable than that of
impeachment. They esteem the people of England and.
France equally, and equally detest the governing powers of
both.

This I verily believe, after an intimacy of forty years
with the public councils and characters, is a true statement
of the grounds on which they are at present divided, and
that it is not merely an ambition for power. An honest
man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over
his fellow-citizens. And considering as the only offices of
power those conferred by the people directly, that is to
say, the executive and legislative functions of the General
and State Governments, the common refusal of these, and
multiplied resignations, are proofs sufficient that power is
not alluring to pure minds, and is not, with them, the pri
mary principle of contest. This is my belief of it; it is
that on which I have acted; and had it been a mere con
test who should be permitted to administer the Government
according to its genuine republican principles, there has
never been a moment of my life in which I should have
relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm,
my friends, and books.

You expected to discover the difference of our party prin
ciples in General Washington's valedictory, and my in
augural address. Not at all. General Washington did not
harbor one principle of federalism. He was neither an
Angloman, a monarchist, nor a separatist. He sincerely
wished the people to have as much self-government as they
were competent to exercise themselves. The only point on
which he and I ever differed in opinion, was, that I had
more confidence than he had in the natural integrity and
discretion of the people, and in the safety and extent to

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

which they might trust themselves with a control over their
Government. He has asseverated to me a thousand times
his determination that the existing Government should have
a fair trial, and that in support of it he would spend
the last drop of his blood. He did this the more repeatedly,
because he knew General Hamilton's political bias, and my
apprehensions from it. It is a mere calumny, therefore,
in the monarchists, to associate General Washington with
their principles. But that may have happened in this case
which has been often seen in ordinary cases, that, by oft
repeating an untruth, men come to believe it themselves.
It is a mere artifice in this party to bolster themselves up
on the revered name of that first of our worthies. If I
have dwelt longer on this subject than was necessary, it
proves the estimation in which I hold your ultimate opin
ions, and my desire of placing the subject tridy before
them. In so doing, I am certain I risk no use of the com
munication which may draw me into contention before
the public. Tranquillity is the summum bonum of a
Septagenaire.

On Reconciliation

MONTICELLO, January 21, 1812.

A letter from you calls up recollections very dear
to my mind. It carries me back to the times when, be
set with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow-laborers
in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to
man, his right of self-government. Laboring always at
the same oar, with some wave ever a head, threatening to
overwhelm us, and yet passing harmless under our bark,

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

we knew not how we rode through the storm with heart
and hand, and made a happy port. Still, we did not ex
pect to be without rubs and difficulties ; and we have had
them. First, the detention of the western posts, then the
coalition of Pilnitz, outlawing our commerce with France,
and the British enforcement of the outlawry. In your day,
French depredations ; in mine, English, and the Berlin and
Milan decrees; now, the English orders of council, and the
piracies they authorize. When these shall be over, it will be
the impressment of our seamen or something else; and so we
have gone on, and so we shall go on, puzzled and prospering
beyond example in the history of man. And I do believe we
shall continue to grow, to multiply and prosper until we ex
hibit an association, powerful, wise, and happy, beyond
what has yet been seen by men. As for France and Eng
land, with all their preeminence in science, the one is a den
of robbers, and the other of pirates. And if science pro
duces no better fruits than tyranny, murder, rapine and
destitution of national morality, I would rather wish our
country to be ignorant, honest, and estimable, as our neigh
boring savages are. But whither is senile garrulity leading
me? Into politics, of which I have taken final leave. I
think little of them and say less. I have given up news
papers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton
and Euclid, and I find myself much the happier. Some
times, indeed, I look back to former occurrences, in remem
brance of our old friends and fellow-laborers, who have
fallen before us. Of the signers of the Declaration of In
dependence, I see now living not more than half a dozen on
your side of the Potomac, and on this side, myself alone.
You and I have been wonderfully spared, and myself with
remarkable health, and a considerable activity of body and
mind. I am on horseback three or four hours of every day;
visit three or four times a year a possession I have ninety

20J

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

miles distant, performing the winter journey on horseback.
I walk little, however, a single mile being too much for me,
and I live in the midst of my grandchildren, one of whom
has lately promoted me to be a great-grandfather. I have
heard with pleasure that you also retain good health, and
a greater power of exercise in walking than I do. But I
would rather have heard this from yourself, and that, writ
ing a letter like mine, full of egotisms, and of details of
your health, your habits, occupations, and enjoyments, I
should have the pleasure of knowing that in the race of
life, you do not keep, in its physical decline, the same
distance ahead of me which you have done in political
honors and achievements. No circumstances have lessened
the interest I feel in these particulars respecting yourself;
none have suspended for one moment my sincere esteem for
you, and I now salute you with unchanged affection and
respect.

On Foreign Affairs

To James Maury

MONTICELLO, April 25, 1812.

My dear and ancient Friend and Classmate : Often
has my heart smote me for delaying acknowledgments to
you, receiving, 'as I do, such frequent proofs of your kind
recollection in the transmission of papers to me. But in
stead of acting on the good old maxim of not putting off
to to-morrow what we can do to-day, we are too apt to
reverse it, and not to do to-day what we can put off to to
morrow. But this duty can be no longer put off. To-day
we are at peace; to-morrow, war. The curtain of separa
tion is drawing between us, and probably will not be with-

210

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

drawn till one, if not both of us, will be at rest with our
fathers. Let me now, then, while I may, renew to you the
declarations of my warm attachment, which in no period
of life has ever been weakened, and seems to become
stronger as the remaining objects of our youthful affections
are fewer.

Our two countries are to be at war, but not you and
I. And why should our two countries be at war, when by
peace we can be so much more useful to one another?
Surely the world will acquit our Government from having
sought it. Never before has there been an instance of a
nation's bearing so much as we have borne. Two items
alone in our catalogue of wrongs will forever acquit us of
being the aggressors: the impressment of our seamen, and
the excluding us from the ocean. The first foundations of
the social compact would be broken up, were we definitively
to refuse to its members the protection of their persons and
property, while in their lawful pursuits. I think the war
will not be short, because the object of England, long
obvious, is to claim the ocean as her domain, and to exact
transit duties from every vessel traversing it. This is the
sum of her orders of council, which were only a step in this
bold experiment, never meant to be retracted if it could be
permanently maintained. And this object must continue
her in war with all the world. To this I see no termina
tion, until her exaggerated efforts, so much beyond her
natural strength and resources, shall have exhausted her to
bankruptcy. The approach of this crisis is, I think, visible
in the departure of her precious metals, and depreciation
of her paper medium. We, who have gone through that
operation, know its symptoms, its course, and consequences.
In England they will be more serious than elsewhere, be
cause half the wealth of her people is now in that medium,
the private revenue of her money-holders, or rather of her

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

paper-holders, being, I believe, greater than that of her
land-holders. Such a proportion of property, imaginary
and baseless as it is, cannot be reduced to vapor but with
great explosion. She will rise out of its ruins, however,
because her lands, her houses, her arts will remain, and the
greater part of her men. And these will give her again
that place among nations which is proportioned to her nat
ural means, and which we all' wish her to hold. We believe
that the just standing of all nations is the health and
security of all. We consider the. overwhelming power of
England on the ocean, and of France on the land, as de
structive of the prosperity and happiness of the world, and
wish both to be reduced only to the necessity of observing
moral duties. We believe no more in Bonaparte's fighting
merely for the liberty of the seas, than in Great Britain's
fighting for the liberties of mankind. The object of both
is the same, to draw to themselves the power, the wealth,
and the resources of other nations. WTe resist the enter
prises of England first, because they first come vitally home
to us. And our feelings repel the logic of bearing the lash
of George the III. for fear of that of Bonaparte at some
: future day. When the wrongs of France shall reach us
with equal effect, we shall resist them also. But one at
! a time is enough ; and having offered a choice to the cham
pions, England first takes up the gauntlet.

The English newspapers suppose me the personal enemy
of their nation. I am not so. I am an enemy to its
injuries, as I am to those of France. If I could permit
myself to have national partialities, and if the conduct of
England would have permitted them to be directed to
ward her, they would have been so. I thought that in the
administration of Mr. Addington, I discovered some dis
positions toward justice, and even friendship and respect
for us, and began to pave the way for cherishing these

212

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

dispositions, and improving them into ties of mutual good
will. But we had then a federal minister there, whose
dispositions to believe himself, and to inspire others with a
belief, in our sincerity, his subsequent conduct has brought
into doubt; and poor Merry, the English minister here, had
learned nothing of diplomacy but its suspicions, without
head enough to distinguish when they were misplaced. Mr.
Addington and Mr. Fox passed away too soon to avail the
two countries of their dispositions. Had I been personally
hostile to England, and biassed in favor of either the char
acter or views of her great antagonist, the affair of the
Chesapeake put war into my hand. I had only to open it
and let havoc loose. But if ever I was gratified with the
possession of power, and of the confidence of those who
had intrusted me with it, it was on that occasion when
I was enabled to use both for the prevention of war, tow
ard which the torrent of passion here was directed almost
irresistibly, and when not another person in the United
States, less supported by authority and favor, could have
resisted it. And now that a definitive adherence to her
impressments and orders of council renders war no longer
avoidable, my earnest prayer is that our Government may
enter into no compact of common cause with the other bel
ligerents, but keep us free to make a separate peace, when
ever England will separately give us peace and future
security. But Lord Liverpool is our witness that this can
never be but by her removal from our neighborhood.

I have thus, for a moment, taken a range into the field
of politics, to possess you with the view we take of things
here. But in the scenes which are to ensue I am to be
but a spectator. I have withdrawn myself from all politi
cal intermeddlings, to indulge the evening of my life with
what have been the passions of every portion of it, books,
science, my farms, my family and friends. To these every

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

hour of the day is now devoted. I retain a good activity
of mind, not quite as much of body, but uninterrupted
health. Still the hand of age is upon me. All my old
friends are nearly gone. Of those in my neighborhood,
Mr. Divers and Mr. Lindsay alone remain. If you could
make it a partie quarree, it would be a comfort indeed. We
would beguile our lingering hours with talking over our
youthful exploits, our hunts on Peter's mountain, with a
long train of et cetera, in addition, and feel, by recollection,
at least, a momentary flash of youth. Reviewing the course
of a long and sufficiently successful life, I find in no por
tion of it happier moments than those were. I think the
old hulk in which you are, is near her wreck, and that,
like a prudent rat, you should escape in time. However,
here, there, and everywhere, in peace or in war, you will
have my sincere affections and prayers for your life, health,
and happiness.

On the English Common Law in America

To Judge John Tyler

MONTICELLO, June 17, 1812.

Dear Sir: On the other subject of your letter, the ap
plication of the common law to our present situation, I de
ride with you the ordinary doctrine, that we brought with us
from England the common law rights. This narrow notion
was a favorite in the first moment of rallying to our rights
against. Great Britain. But it was that of men who felt
their rights before they had thought of their explanation.
The truth is, that we brought with us the rights of men
— of expatriated men. On our arrival here, the question
would at once arise, By what law will we govern ourselves ?

211

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

The resolution seems to have been, by that system, with
which we are familiar, to be altered by ourselves occasion
ally, and adapted to our new situation. The proofs of this
resolution are to be found in the form of the oaths of the
judges, 1. Hening's Stat. 169, 187; of the Governor, ib.
504 ; in the act for a provisional government, ib. 372 ; in the
preamble to the laws of 1661-62; the uniform current of
opinions and decisions, and in the general recognition of
all our statutes, framed on that basis. But the state of
the English law at the date of our emigration, constituted
the system adopted here. We may doubt, therefore, the
propriety of quoting in our courts English authorities sub
sequent to that adoption ; still more, the admission of au
thorities posterior to the Declaration of Independence, or
rather to the accession of that King, whose reign, ab initio,
was the very tissue of wrongs which rendered the Declara
tion at length necessary. The reason for it had inception
at least as far back as the commencement of his reign.
This relation to the beginning of his reign, would add the
advantage of getting us rid of all Mansfield's innovations,
or civilizations of the common law. For however I admit
the superiority of the civil over the common law code, as a
system of perfect justice, yet an incorporation of the two
would be like Nebuchadnezzar's image of metals and clay,
a thing without cohesion of parts. The only natural im
provement of the common law is through its homogeneous
ally, the chancery, in which new principles are to be ex
amined, concocted, and digested. But when, by repeated
decisions and modifications, they are rendered pure and cer
tain, they should be transferred by statute to the courts of
common law, and placed within the pale of juries. The
exclusion from the courts of the malign influence of all
authorities after the Georgium sidus became ascendant,
would uncanonize Blackstone, whose book, although the

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

most elegant and best digested of our law catalogue, has
been perverted more than all others, to the degeneracy of
legal science. A student finds there a smattering of every
thing, and his indolence easily persuades him that if he
understands that book, he is master of the whole body of
the law. The distinction between these, and those who
have drawn their stores from the deep and rich mines of
Coke and Littleton, seems well understood even by the un
lettered common people, who apply the appellation of
Blackstone lawyers to these ephemeral insects of the law.

Whether we should undertake to reduce the common law,
our own, and so much of the English statutes as we have
adopted, to a text, is a question of transcendent difficulty.
It was discussed at the first meeting of the committee of
the revised code, in 1776, and decided in the negative, by
the opinions of Wythe, Mason, and myself, against Pendle-
ton and Thomas Lee. Pendleton proposed to take Black-
stone for that text, only purging him of what was inap
plicable or unsuitable to us. In that case, the meaning of
every word of Blackstone would have become a source of
litigation, until it had been settled by repeated legal de
cisions. And to come at that meaning, we should have had
produced, on all occasions, that very pile of authorities
from which it would be said he drew his conclusion, and
which, of course, would explain it, and the terms in which
it is couched. Thus we should have retained the same
chaos of law-lore from which we wished to be emancipated,
added to the evils of the uncertainty which a new text and
new phrases would have generated. An example of this
may be found in the old statutes, and commentaries on
them, in Coke's second institute, but more remarkably in
the institute of Justinian, and the vast masses explanatory
or supplementary of that which fill the libraries of the
civilians. We were deterred from the attempt by these

216

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

considerations, added to which, the bustle of the times did
not admit leisure for such an undertaking.

Your request of my opinion on this subject has given
you the trouble of these observations. If your firmer mind
in encountering difficulties would have added your vote to
the minority of the committee, you would have had on your
side one of the greatest men of our age, and, like him,
have detracted nothing from the sentiments of esteem and
respect which I bore to him, and tender with sincerity the
assurance of to yourself.

On Practical Politics

MONTICELLO, June 15, 1813.

One of the questions, you know, on which our parties
took different sides, was on the improvability of the human
mind in science, in ethics, in government, etc. Those who
advocated reformation of institutions, pari passu with the
progress of science, maintained that no definite limits
could be assigned to that progress. The enemies of re
form, on the other hand, denied improvement, and advo
cated stead}7 adherence to the principles, practices, and
institutions of our fathers, which they represented as the
consummation of wisdom, and acme of excellence, beyond
which the human mind could never advance. Although in
the passage of your answer alluded to, you expressly dis
claim the wish to influence the freedom of inquiry, you
predict that that will produce nothing more worthy of
transmission to posterity than the principles, institutions,
and systems of education received from their ancestors. I
do not consider this as your deliberate opinion. You pos-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

sess, yourself, too much science, not to see how much is
still ahead of you, unexplained and unexplored. Your
own consciousness must place you as far before our an
cestors as in the rear of our posterity. I consider it as an
expression lent to the prejudices of your friends; and
although I happened to cite it from you, the whole letter
shows I had them only in view. In truth, my dear sir, we
were far from considering you as the author of all the
measures we blamed. They were placed under the protec
tion of your name, but we were satisfied they wanted much
of your approbation. We ascribed them to their real
authors, the Pickerings, the Wolcotts, the Tracys, the
Sedgwicks, et id genus omne, with whom we supposed you
in a state of duresse. I well remember a conversation with
you in the morning of the day on which you nominated to
the Senate a substitute for Pickering, in which you ex
pressed a just impatience under "the legacy of secretaries
which General Washington had left you," and whom you
seemed, therefore, to consider as under public protection.
Many other incidents showed how differently you would
have acted with less impassioned advisers; and subsequent
events have proved that your minds were not together.
You would do me great injustice, therefore, by taking to
yourself what was intended for men who were then your
secret, as they are now your open enemies. Should you
write on the subject, as your propose, I am sure we shall
see you place yourself farther from them than from us.

218

On Finance — National Debt — Paper Money

To John W. Eppes

MONTICELLO, June 24, 1813.

It is a wise rule, and should be fundamental in a gov
ernment disposed to cherish its credit, and at the same
time to restrain the use of it within the limits of its facul
ties, "never to borrow a dollar without laying a tax in the
same instant for paying the interest annually, and the
principal within a given term; and to consider that tax
as pledged to the creditors on the public faith." On such
a pledge as this, sacredly observed, a government may al
ways command, on a reasonable interest, all the lendable
money of their citizens, while the necessity of an equivalent
tax is a salutary warning to them and their constituents
against oppressions, bankruptcy, and its inevitable conse
quence, revolution. But the term of redemption must be
moderate, and at any rate within the limits of their
rightful powers. But what limits, it will be asked, does
this prescribe to their powers ? What is to hinder them
from creating a perpetual debt? The laws of nature, I
answer. The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.
The will and the power of man expire with his life, by
nature's law. Some societies give it an artificial continu
ance, for the encouragement of industry; some refuse it,
as our aboriginal neighbors, whom we call barbarians.
The generations of men may be considered as bodies or
corporations. Each generation has the usufruct of the
earth during the period of its continuance. When it ceases
to exist, the usufruct passes on to the succeeding genera
tion, free and unincumbered, and so on, successively, from
one generation to another forever. We may consider each

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generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of
its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the suc
ceeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another
country. Or the case may be likened to the ordinary one
of a tenant for life, who may hypothecate the land for
his debts, during the continuance of his usufruct; but at his
death, the reversioner (who is also for life only) receives
it exonerated from all burthen. The period of a generation,
or the term of its life, is determined by the laws of mor
tality which, varying a little only in different climates,
offer a general average, to be found by observation. I
turn, for instance, to Buffon's tables, of twenty-three
thousand nine hundred and ninety-four deaths, and the
ages at which they happened, and I find that of the num
bers of all ages living at one moment, half will be dead
in twenty-four years and eight months. But (leaving out
minors, who have not the power of self-government) of
the adults (of twenty-one years of age) living at one mo
ment, a majority of whom act for the society, one-half
will be dead in eighteen years and eight months. At nine
teen years, then, from the date of a contract, the majority
of the contractors are dead, and their contract with them.
Let this general theory be applied to a particular case.
Suppose the annual births of the State of New York to
be twenty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety-four,
the whole number of its inhabitants, according to Buffon,
Avill be six hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred
and three, of all ages. Of these there would constantly
be two hundred and sixty-nine thousand two hundred and
eighty-six minors, and three hundred and forty-eight
thousand four hundred and seventeen adults, of which last,
one hundred and seventy-four thousand two hundred and
nine will be a majority. Suppose that majority, on the
first day of the year 1794, had borrowed a sum of money

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

equal to the fee-simple value of the State, and to have
consumed it in eating, drinking, and making merry in their
day; or, if you please, in quarrelling and fighting with
their unoffending neighbors. Within eighteen years and
eight months, one-half of the adult citizens were dead. Till
then, being the majority, they might rightfully levy the in
terest of their debt annually on themselves and their fellow-
revellers or fellow-champions. But at that period, say at
this moment, a new majority have come into place, in their
own right, and not under the rights, the conditions, or laws
of their predecessors. Are they bound to acknowledge the
debt, to consider the preceding generation as having had
a right to eat up the whole soil of their country, in the
course of a life, to alienate it from them, (for it would
be an alienation to the creditors), and would they think
themselves either legally or morally bound to give up their
country and emigrate to another for subsistence? Every
one will say no; that the soil is the gift of God to the
living, as much as it had been to the deceased generation;
and that the laws of nature impose no obligation on them
to pay this debt. And although, like some other natural
rights, this has not yet entered into any declaration of
rights, it is no less a law, and ought to be acted on by
honest governments. It is, at the same time, a salutary
curb on the spirit of war and indebtment, which, since
the modern theory of the perpetuation of debt, has
drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants
under burdens ever accumulating. Had this principle been
declared in the British bill of rights, England would have
been placed under the happy disability of waging eternal
war, and of contracting her thousand millions of public
debt. In seeking, then, for an ultimate term for the re
demption of our debts, let us rally to this principle, and
provide for their payment within the term of nineteen

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years at the farthest. Our Government has not, as yet,
begun to act on the rule of loans and taxation going hand
in hand. Had any loan taken place in my time, I should
have strongly urged a redeeming tax. For the loan which
has been made since the last session of Congress, we
should now set the example of appropriating some particu
lar tax, sufficient to pay the interest annually, and the
principal within a fixed term, less than nineteen years.
And I hope yourself and your committee will render the
immortal service of introducing this practice. Not that it
is expected that Congress should formally declare such a
principle. They wisely enough avoid deciding on abstract
questions. But they may be induced to keep themselves
within its limits.

I am sorry to see our loans begin at so exorbitant an
interest. And yet, even at that you will soon be at the
bottom of the loan-bag. We are an agricultural nation.
Such an one employs its sparings in the purchase or im
provement of land or stocks. The lendable money among
them is chiefly that of orphans and wards in the hands
of executors and guardians, and that which the farmer
lays by till he has enough for the purchase in view. In
such a nation there is one and one only resource for loans,
sufficient to carry them through the expense of a war,
and that will always be sufficient, and in the power of
an honest government, punctual in the preservation of its
faith. The fund I mean, is the mass of circulating coin.
Every one knows, that although not literally, it is nearly
true, that every paper dollar emitted banishes a silver one
from the circulation. A nation, therefore, making its pur
chases and payments with bills fitted for circulation,
thrusts an equal sum of coin out of circulation. This is
equivalent to borrowing that sum, and yet the vendor re
ceiving payment in a medium as effectual as coin for his

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

purchases or payments, has no claim to interest. And so
the nation may continue to issue its bills as far as its
wants require, and the limits of the circulation will admit.
Those limits are understood to extend with us at present
to two hundred millions of dollars, a greater sum than
would be necessary for any war. But this, the only re
source which the Government could command with cer
tainty, the States have unfortunately fooled away, nay,
corruptly alienated to swindlers and shavers, under the
cover of private banks. Say, too, as an additional evil,
that the disposal funds of individuals, to this great amount,
have thus been withdrawn from improvement and useful
enterprise, and employed in the useless, usurious, and de
moralizing practices of bank directors and their accomplices.
In the war of 1755, our State availed itself of this fund
by issuing a paper-money bottomed on a specific tax for
its redemption, and, to insure its credit, bearing an interest
of five per cent. Within a very short time, not a bill of
this emission was to be found in circulation. It was
locked up in the chests of executors, guardians, widows,
farmers, etc. We then issued bills bottomed on a redeem
ing tax, but bearing no interest. These were readily re
ceived, and never depreciated a single farthing. In the
Revolutionary War, the old Congress and the States issued
bills without interest, and without tax. They occupied the
channels of circulation very freely, till those channels were
overflowed by an excess beyond all the calls of circulation.
But although we have so improvidently suffered the field
of circulating medium to be filched from us by private
individuals, yet I think we may recover it in part, and
even in the whole, if the States will co-operate with us. If
treasury bills are emitted on a tax appropriated for their
redemption in fifteen years, and (to insure preference in
the first moments of competition) bearing an interest of

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six per cent., there is no one who would not take them in
preference to the bank paper now afloat, on a principle of
patriotism as well as interest and they would be withdrawn
from circulation into private hoards to a considerable
amount. Their credit once established, others might be
emitted, bottomed also on a tax, but not bearing interest;
and if ever their credit faltered, open public loans, on
which these bills alone should be received as specie.
These, operating as a sinking fund, would reduce the quan
tity in circulation, so as to maintain that in an equilibrium
with specie. It is not easy to estimate the obstacles which,
in the beginning, we should encounter in ousting the banks
from their possession of the circulation; but a steady and
judicious alternation of emissions and loans, would reduce
them in time. But, while this is going on, another measure
should be pressed, to recover ultimately our right to the
circulation. The States should be applied to, to transfer
the right of issuing circulating paper to Congress ex
clusively, in perpetuum, if possible, but, during the war, at
least, with a saving of charter rights. I believe that every
State west and south of Connecticut River, except Dela
ware, would immediately do it, and the others would follow
in time. Congress would, of course, begin by obliging un-
chartered banks to wind up their affairs within a short
time, and the others as their charters expired, forbidding
the subsequent circulation of their paper. This they would
supply with their own, bottomed, every emission, on an
adequate tax, and bearing or not bearing interest, as the
state of the public pulse should indicate. Even in the non-
complying States, these bills would make their way, and
supplant the unfunded paper of their banks, by their
solidity, by the universality of their currency, and by their
receivability for customs and taxes. It would be in
their power, too, to curtail those banks to the amount of

224

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

their actual specie, by gathering up their paper, and run
ning it constantly on them. The national paper might thus
take place even in the non-complying States. In this way, I
am not without a hope, that this great, this sole resource for
loans in an agricultural country, might yet be recovered for
the use of the nation during war, and, if obtained in per-
petuum, it would always be sufficient to carry us through
any war; provided, that in the interval between war and
war, all the outstanding paper should be called in, coin be
permitted to flow in again, and to hold the field of circula
tion until another war should require its yielding place
again to the national medium.

But, it will be asked, are we to have no banks ? Are
merchants and others to be deprived of the resource of
short accommodations, found so convenient? I answer, let
us have banks; but let them be such as are alone to be
found in any country on earth, except Great Britain.
There is not a bank of discount on the Continent of
Europe (at least there was not one when I was there)
which offers anything but cash in exchange for discounted
bills. No one has a natural right to the trade of a money
lender, but he who has the money to lend. Let those then
among us, who have a moneyed capital, and who prefer
employing it in loans rather than otherwise, set up banks,
and give cash or national bills for the notes they discount.
Perhaps, to encourage them, a larger interest than is legal
in the other cases might be allowed them, on the condition
of their lending for short periods only. It is from Great
Britain we copy the idea of giving paper in exchange for
discounted bills ; and while we have derived from that
country some good principles of government and legisla
tion, we unfortunately run into the most servile imitation
of all her practices, ruinous as they prove to her, and with
the gulf yawning before us into which these very practices

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

are precipitating her. The unlimited emission of bank
paper has banished all her specie, and is now, by a depreci
ation acknowledged by her own statesmen, carrying her
rapidly to bankruptcy, as it did France, as it did us, and
will do us again, and every country permitting paper to be
circulated, other than that by public authority, rigorously
limited to the just measure for circulation. Private fort
unes, in the present state of our circulation, are at the
mercy of those self-created money-lenders, and are pros
trated by the floods of nominal money with which their
avarice deluges us. He who lent his money to the public
or to an individual, before the institution of the United
States Bank, twenty years ago, when wheat was well sold
at a dollar the bushel, and receives now his nominal sum
when it sells at two dollars, is cheated of half his fortune;
and by whom? By the banks, which, since that, have
thrown into circulation ten dollars of their nominal money
where was one at that time.

On Political History

To John Adams

MONTICELLO, June 27, 1813.
€5 iro\v8ei>8pov avrjp 'v\r)TOfj,o<s cA.$an/

Traptovros aSrjv, TroOev apteral epyco
Ti Trparov KaraAe^w; CTTEC Trapa /xvpta

And I, too, my dear sir, like the wood-cutter of Ida,
should doubt where to begin, were I to enter the forest of
opinions, discussions, and contentions which have occurred
in our day. I should say with Theocritus, Tt irparov
CTTCI Trapa /xvpta fnrrjv. But I shall not do it.
226

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

The summum bonum with me is now truly Epicurean, ease
of body and tranquillity of mind; and to these I wish to
consign my remaining days. Men have differed in opinion,
and been divided into parties by these opinions, from the
first origin of societies, and in all governments where they
have been permitted freely to think and to speak. The
same political parties which now agitate the United States,
have existed through all time. Whether the power of the
people or that of the apurroi. should prevail, were ques
tions which kept the States of Greece arid Rome in eternal
convulsions, as they now schismatize every people whose
minds and mouths are not shut up by the gag of a despot.
And, in fact, the terms of whig and tory belong to natural
as well as to civil history. They denote the temper and
constitution of mind of different individuals. To come to
our own country, and to the times when you and I became
first acquainted, we will remember the violent parties which
agitated the old Congress, and their bitter contests. There
you and I were together, and the Jays, and the Dickinsons,
and other anti-independents, were arrayed against us.
They cherished the monarchy of England, and we the
rights of our countrymen. When our present Government
was in the mew, passing from Confederation to Union, how
bitter was the schism between the Feds and Antis ! Here
you and I were together again. For although, for a mo
ment, separated by the Atlantic from the scene of action,
I favored the opinion that nine States should confirm the
Constitution, in order to secure it, and the others hold off
until certain amendments, deemed favorable to freedom,
should be made. I rallied in the first instant to the wiser
proposition of Massachusetts, that all should confirm, and
then all instruct their delegates to urge those amendments.
The amendments were made, and all were reconciled to the
Government. But as soon as it was put into motion, the

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

line of division was again drawn. We broke into two
parties, each wishing to give the Government a different
direction : the one to strengthen the most popular branch,
the other the more permanent branches, and to extend
their permanence. Here you and I separated for the first
time, and as we had been longer than most others on the
public theatre, and our names therefore were more familiar
to our countrymen, the party which considered you as
thinking with them, placed your name at their head; the
other, for the same reason, selected mine. But neither
decency nor inclination permitted us to become the advo
cates of ourselves, or to take part personally in the violent
contests which followed. We suffered ourselves, as you
so well expressed it, to be passive subjects of public dis
cussion. And these discussions, whether relating to men,
measures, or opinions, were conducted by the parties with
an animosity, a bitterness, and an indecency which had
never been exceeded. All the resources of reason and of
wrath were exhausted by each party in support of its own,
and to prostrate the adversary opinions ; one was up
braided with receiving the anti-federalists, the other the old
tories and refugees, into their bosom. Of this acrimony,
the public papers of the day exhibit ample testimony, in
the debates of Congress, of State Legislatures, of stump-
orators, in addresses, answers, and newspaper essays ; and
to these, without question, may be added the private cor
respondences of individuals; and the less guarded in these,
because not meant for the public eye, not restrained by the
respect due to that, but poured forth from the over
flowings of the heart into the bosom of a friend, as a mo
mentary easement of our feelings. In this way, and in
answers to addresses, you and I could indulge ourselves.
We have probably done it, sometimes with warmth, often
with prejudice, but always, as we believed, adhering to

228

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

truth. I have not examined my letters of that day. I
have no stomach to revive the memory of its feelings. But
one of these letters, it seems, has got before the public,
by accident and infidelity, by the death of one friend to
whom it was written, and of his friend to whom it had been
communicated, and by the malice and treachery of a third
person, of whom I had never before heard, merely to make
mischief, and in the same satanic spirit in which the same
enemy had intercepted and published, in 1776, your letter
animadverting on Dickinson's character. How it happened
that I quoted you in my letter to Dr. Priestley, and for
whom, and not for yourself, the strictures were meant, has
been explained to you in my letter of the 15th, which
had been committed to the post eight days before I re
ceived yours of the 10th, llth, and 1-lth. That gave you
the reference which these asked to the particular answer
alluded to in the one to Priestley. The renewal of these
old discussions, my friend, would be equally useless and
irksome. To the volumes then written on these subjects,
human ingenuity can add nothing new, and the rather, as
lapse of time has obliterated many of the facts. And
shall you and I, my dear sir, at our age, like Priam of old,
gird on the "arma, diu desueta, trementibus cevo humeris?"
Shall we, at our age, become the Athletae of party, and ex
hibit ourselves as gladiators in the arena of the newspa
pers? Nothing in the universe could induce me to it. My
mind has been long fixed to bow to the judgment of the
world, who will judge by my acts, and will never take
counsel from me as to what that judgment shall be. If
your objects and opinions have been misunderstood, if the
measures and principles of others have been wrongfully
imputed to you, as I believe they have been, that you
should leave an explanation of them, would be an act of
justice to yourself. I will add, that it has been hoped that

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

you would leave such explanations as would place every
saddle on its right horse, and replace on the shoulders of
others the burdens they shifted on yours.

But all this, my friend, is offered merely for your con
sideration and judgment, without presuming to anticipate
what you alone are qualified to decide for yourself. I
mean to express my own purpose only, and the reflections
which have led to it. To me, then, it appears that there
have been differences of opinion and party differences, from
the first establishment of governments to the present day,
and on the same question which now divides our own coun
try; that these will continue through all future time; that
every one takes his side in favor of the many or of the
few, according to his constitution and the circumstances in
which he is placed; that opinions, which are equally honest
on both sides, should not affect personal esteem or social
intercourse; that as we judge between the Claudii and the
Gracchi, the Wentworths and the Hampdens of past ages,
so of those among us whose names may happen to be re
membered for a while, the next generations will judge,
favorably or unfavorably, according to the complexion of
individual minds and the side they shall themselves have
taken ; that nothing new can be added by you or me to
what has been said by others, and will be said in every age
in support of the conflicting opinions on government; and
that wisdom and duty dictate an humble resignation to the
verdict of our future peers. In doing this myself, I shall
certainly not suffer moot questions to affect the sentiments
of sincere friendship and respect consecrated to you by so
long a course of time, and of which I now repeat sincere
assurances.

230

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
On Term of Office and Massachusetts Politics

To James Martin

MONTICELLO, September 20, 1813.

Sir: Your quotation from the former paper alludes, as
I presume, to the term of office to our Senate; a term, like
that of the judges, too long for my approbation. I am for
responsibilities at short periods, seeing neither reason nor
safety in making public functionaries independent of the
nation for life, or even for long terms of years. On this
principle I prefer the Presidential term of four years, to
that of seven years, which I myself had at first suggested,
annexing to it, however, ineligibility forever after; and I
wish it were now annexed to the second quadrennial election
of President.

The conduct of Massachusetts, which is the subject of
your address to Mr. Quincy, is serious, as embarrassing the
operations of the war, and joepardizing its issue; and still
more so, as an example of contumacy against the Constitu
tion. One method of proving their purpose, would be to
call a convention of their State, and to require them to
declare themselves members of the Union, and obedient to
its determinations, or not members, and let them go. Put
this question solemnly to their people, and their answer
cannot be doubtful. One-half of them are republicans, and
would cling to the Union from principle. Of the other
half, the dispassionate part would consider: 1st. That they
do not raise bread sufficient for their own subsistence, and
must look to Europe for the deficiency, if excluded from
our ports, which vital interests would force us to do. 2d.
That they are navigating people without a stick of tim
ber for the hull of a ship, or a pound of anything to ex-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

port in it, which would be admitted at any market. 3d.
That they are also a manufacturing people, and left by
the exclusive system of Europe, without a market but ours.
4th. That as the rivals of England in manufactures, in
commerce, in navigation, and fisheries, they would meet her
competition in every point. 5th. That England would feel
no scruples in making the abandonment and ruin of such a
rival the price of a treaty with the producing States, whose
interest, too, it would be to nourish a navigation beyond the
Atlantic, rather than a hostile one at our own door. And
6th. That in case of war with the Union, which occurrences
between coterminous nations frequently produce, it would
be a contest of one against fifteen. The remaining portion
of the federal moiety of the State would, I believe, brave
all these obstacles, because they are monarchists in prin
ciple, bearing deadly hatred to the republican fellow-
citizens, impatient under the ascendancy of republican
principles, devoted in their attachment to England, and
preferring to be placed under her despotism, if they cannot
hold the helm of government here. I see, in their separa
tion, no evil but the example, and I believe that the effect
of that would be corrected by an early and humiliating re
turn to the Union, after losing much of the population of
their country, insufficient in its own resources to feed her
numerous inhabitants, and inferior in all its allurements to
the more inviting soils, climates, and governments of the
other States. Whether a dispassionate discussion before the
public, of the advantages and disadvantages of separation
to both parties, would be the best medicine for this dialytic
fever, or to consider it as sacrilege ever to touch, the ques
tion, may be doubted. I am, myself, generally disposed to
indulge, and to follow reason; and believe that in no case
would it be safer than in the present. Their refractory
course, however, will not be unpunished by the indignation

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

of their co-States, their loss of influence with them, the
censures of history, and the stain on the character of their
State.

The Monroe Doctrine Foreshadowed

Baron Alexander von Humboldt

MONTPELIER, December 6, 1813.

I think it most fortunate that your travels in those
countries were so timed as to make them known to the
world in the moment they were about to become actors
on its stage. That they will throw off their European de
pendence I have no doubt, but in what kind of government
their revolution will end I am not so certain. History, I
believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people
maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest
grade of ignorance, of which their civil as well as religious
leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.
The vicinity of New Spain to the United States, and their
consequent intercourse, may furnish schools for the higher,
and example for the lower classes of their citizens. And
Mexico, where we learn from you that men of science are
not wanting, may revolutionize itself under better auspices
than the Southern provinces. These last, I fear, must end
in military despotisms. The different castes of their in
habitants, their mutual hatreds and jealousies, their pn>-
found ignorance and bigotry, will be played off by cunning
leaders, and each be made the instrument of enslaving the
others. But of all this you can best judge, for in truth we
have little knowledge of them to be depended on, but
through you. But in whatever governments they end they
will be American governments, no longer to be involved in
the never-ceasing broils of Europe. The European nations

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

constitute a separate division of the globe; their localities
make them part of a distinct system; they have a set of
interests of their own in which it is our business never to
engage ourselves. America has a hemisphere to itself. It
must have its separate system of interests, which must not
be subordinated to those of Europe. The insulated state
in which nature has placed the American continent, should
so far avail it that no spark of war kindled in the other
quarters of the globe should be wafted across the wide
oceans which separate us from them. And it will be so.
In fifty years more the United States alone will contain
fifty millions of inhabitants, and fifty years are soon gone
over. The peace of 1763 is within that period. I was
then twenty years old, and of course remember well all the
transactions of the war preceding it. And you will live to
see the epoch now equally ahead of us ; and the numbers
which will then be spread over the other parts of the Ameri
can hemisphere, catching long before that the principles of
our portion of it, and concurring with us in the maintenance
of the same system. You see how readily we run into ages
beyond the grave; and even those of us to whom that grave
is already opening its quiet bosom. I am anticipating
events of which you will be the bearer to me in the Elysian
fields fifty years hence.

On the Character of Washington

To Dr. Walter Jones

MONTICELLO, January 2, 1814.

I think I knew General Washington intimately and
thoroughly ; and were I called on to delineate his character,
it should be in terms like these.

234

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

His mind was great and powerful, without being of the
very first order ; his penetration strong, though not so acute
as that of a Newton, Bacon, or Locke ; and as far as he
saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in opera
tion, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure
in conclusion. Hence the common remark of his officers,
of the advantage he derived from councils of war, where
hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever was best; and
certainly no general ever planned his battles more judi
ciously. But if deranged during the course of the action,
if any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden cir
cumstances, he was slow in re-adjustment. The conse
quence was, that he often failed in the field, and rarely
against an enemy in station, as at Boston and York. He
was incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the
calmest unconcern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his
character was prudence, never acting until every circum
stance, every consideration, was maturely weighed; refrain
ing if he saw a doubt, but, when once decided, going
through with his purpose, whatever obstacles opposed. His
integrity was most pure, his justice the most indexible I
have ever known, no motives of interest or consanguinity,
of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision.
He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good,
and a great man. His temper was naturally irritable and
high toned; but reflection and resolution had obtained a
firm and habitual ascendancy over it. If ever, however, it
broke its bonds, he was most tremendous in his wrath. In
his expenses he was honorable, but exact; liberal in con
tributions to whatever promised utility; but frowning and
unyielding on all visionary projects, and all unworthy calls
on his charity. His heart was not warm in its affections;
but he exactly calculated every man's value, and gave him
a solid esteem proportioned to it. His person, you know,

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fine, his stature exactly what one would wish, his de
portment easy, erect and noble; the best horseman of his
age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on
horseback. Although in the circle of his friends, where
he might be unreserved with safety, he took a free share
in conversation, his colloquial talents were not above medioc
rity, possessing neither copiousness of ideas, nor fluency of
words. In public, when called on for a sudden opinion,
he was unready, short and embarrassed. Yet he wrote
readily, rather diffusely, in an easy and correct style. This
he had acquired by conversation with the world, for his edu
cation was merely reading, writing and common arithmetic,
to which he added surveying at a later day. His time was
employed in action chiefly, reading little, and that only
in agriculture and English history. His correspondence
became necessarily extensive, and, with journalizing his
agricultural proceedings, occupied most of his leisure hours
within doors. On the whole, his character was, in its mass,
perfect, in nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it
may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune com
bine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him
in the siine constellation with whatever worthies have
merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his
was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies
of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the
establishment of its independence ; of conducting its councils
through the birth of a government, new in its forms and
principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly
train ; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the
whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history
of the world furnishes no other example.

How, then, can it be perilous for you to take such a man
on your shoulders ? I am satisfied the great body of re
publicans think of him as I do. We were, indeed, dis-

236

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

satisfied with him on his ratification of the British treaty.
But this was short-lived. We knew his honesty, the wiles
with which he was encompassed, and that age had already
begun to relax the firmness of his purposes; and I am con
vinced he is more deeply seated in the love and gratitude
of the republicans, than in the Pharisaical homage of the
federal monarchists. P'or he was no monarchist from pref
erence of his judgment. The soundness of that gave him
correct views of the rights of man, and his severe justice
devoted him to them. He has often declared to me that he
considered our new Constitution as an experiment on the
practicability of republican government, and with what
dose of liberty man could be trusted for his own good ; that
he was determined the experiment should have a fair trial,
and would lose the last drop of his blood in support of it.
And these declarations he repeated to me the oftener and
more pointedly, because he knew my suspicions of Colonel
Hamilton's views, and probably had heard from him the
same declarations which I had, to wit, "that the British
constitution, with its unequal representation, corruption and
other existing abuses, was the most perfect government
which had ever been established on earth, and that a ref
ormation of those abuses would make it an impracticable
government." I do believe that General Washington had
not a firm confidence in the durability of our government.
He was naturally distrustful of men, and inclined to gloomy
apprehensions ; and I was ever persuaded that a belief that
we must at length end in something like a British constitu
tion, had some weight in his adoption of the ceremonies of
levees, birthdays, pompous meetings with Congress, and
other forms of the same character, calculated to prepare us
gradually for a change which he believed possible, and to
let it come on with as little shock as might be to the public
mind.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

These are my opinions of General Washington, which I
would vouch at the judgment seat of God, having been
formed on an acquaintance of thirty years. I served with
him in the Virginia legislature from 1769 to the Revolu
tionary war, and again, a short time in Congress, until he
left us to take command of the army. During the war
and after it we corresponded occasionally, and in the four
years of my continuance in the office of Secretary of State,
our intercourse was daily, confidential and cordial. After
I retired from that office, great and malignant pains were
taken by our federal monarchists, and not entirely without
effect, to make him view me as a theorist, holding French
principles of government, which would lead infallibly to
licentiousness and anarchy. And to this he listened the
more easily, from my known disapprobation of the British
treaty. I never saw him afterwards, or these malignant in
sinuations should have been dissipated before his just judg
ment, as mists before the sun. I felt on his death, with my
countrymen, that "verily a great man hath fallen this day
in Israel."

More time and recollection would enable me to add many
other traits of his character; but why add them to you who
knew him well? And I cannot justify to myself a longer
detention of your paper.

Vole, proprieque tuum, me esse tibi persuadeas.

On the Basis of Morality

To Thomas Law

POPLAR FOREST, June 13, 1811.

Of all the theories on this question, the most whim
sical seems to have been that of Wollaston, who con-

238

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

siders truth as the foundation of morality. The thief who
steals your guinea does wrong only inasmuch as he acts a
lie in using your guinea as if it were his own. Truth is
certainly a branch of morality, and a very important one
to society. But presented as its foundation, it is as if a
tree taken up by the roots, had its stem reversed in the
air, and one of its branches planted in the ground. Some
have made the love of God the foundation of morality.
This, too, is but a branch of our moral duties, which are
generally divided into duties to God and duties to man.
If we did a good act merely from the love of God and a
belief that it is pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality
of the Atheist? It is idle to say, as some do, that no such
being exists. We have the same evidence of the fact as
of most of those we act on, to wit: their own affirmations,
and their reasonings in support of them. I have observed,
indeed, generally, that while in Protestant countries the
defections from the Platonic Christianity of the priests is
to Deism, in Catholic countries they are to Atheism. Did
erot, D'Alembert, D'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have
been among the most virtuous of men. Their virtue, then,
must have had some other foundation than the love of
God.

The To KaXov of others is founded in a different faculty,
that of taste, which is not even a branch of morality. We
have indeed an innate sense of what we call beautiful, but
that is exercised chiefly on subjects addressed to the fancy,
whether through the eye in visible forms, as landscape, ani
mal figure, dress, drapery, architecture, the composition of
colors, etc., or to the imagination directly, as imagery, style,
or measure in prose or poetry, or whatever else constitutes
the domain of criticism or taste, a faculty entirely distinct
from the moral one. Self-interest, or rather self-love, or
egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

morality. But I consider our relations with others as consti
tuting the boundaries of morality. With ourselves we stand
on the ground of identity, not of relation, which last, re
quiring two subjects, excludes self-love confined to a single
one. To ourselves, in strict language, we can owe no duties,
obligation requiring also two parties. Self-love, therefore,
is no part of morality. Indeed it is exactly its counterpart.
It is the sole antagonist of virtue, leading us constantly by
our propensities to self-gratification in violation of our
moral duties to others. Accordingly, it is against this
enemy that are erected the batteries of moralists and re
ligionists, as the only obstacle to the practice of morality.
Take from man his selfish propensities, and he can have
nothing to seduce him from the practice of virtue. Or sub
due those propensities by education, instruction or restraint,
and virtue remains without a competitor. Egoism, in a
broader sense, has been thus presented as the source of
moral action. It has been said that we feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, bind up the wounds of the man beaten
by thieves, pour oil and wine into them, set him on our
own beast and bring him to the inn, because we receive
ourselves pleasure from these acts. . . . These good acts
give us pleasure, but how happens it that they give us
pleasure? Because nature hath implanted in our breasts a
love of others, a sense of duty to them, a moral instinct,
in short, which prompts us irresistibly to feel and to
succor their distresses. . . . The Creator would indeed
have been a bungling artist, had he intended man for a
social animal, without planting in him social dispositions.
It is true they are not planted in every man, because there
is no rule without exceptions ; but it is false reasoning which
converts exceptions into the general rule. Some men are
born without the organs of sight, or of hearing, or without
hands. Yet it would be wrong to say that man is born

2-10

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

without these faculties, and sight, hearing, and hands may
with truth enter into the general definition of man.

The want or imperfection of the moral sense in some
men, like the want or imperfection of the senses of sight
and hearing in others, is no proof that it is a general char
acteristic of the species. When it is wanting, we endeavor
to supply the defect by education, by appeals to reason and
calculation, by presenting to the being so unhappily con
formed, other motives to do good and to eschew evil, such
as tLe lov , or the hatred, or rejection of those among whom
he lives, and whose society is necessary to his happiness and
even existence ; demonstrations by sound calculation that
honesty promotes interest in the long run; the rewards and
penalties established by the laws ; and ultimately the pros
pects of a future state of retribution for the evil as well
as the good done while here. These are the correctives
which are supplied by education, and which exercise the
functions of the moralist, the preacher, and legislator; and
they lead into a course of correct action all those whose
disparity is not too profound to be eradicated. Some have
argued against the existence of a moral sense, by saying
that if nature had given us such a sense, impelling us
to virtuous actions, and warning us against those which are
vicious, then nature would also have designated, by some
particular ear-marks, the two sets of actions which are, in
themselves, the one virtuous and the other vicious. V»"here-
as, we find, in fact, that the same actions are deemed virt
uous in one country and vicious in another. The answer
is, that nature has constituted utility to man, the standard
and test of virtue. Men living in different countries, under
different circumstances, different habits and regimens, may
have different utilities; the same act, therefore, may be
useful, and consequently virtuous in one country which is
injurious and vicious in another differently circumstanced.

241

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

I sincerely, then, believe with you in the general existence
of a moral instinct. I think it the brightest gem with which
the human character is studded, and the want of it as more
degrading than the most hideous of the bodily deformities.

Comparison of Great Britain and the United

States

To Dr. Thomas Cooper

MOXTICELLO, September 10, 1814.

A comparison of the conditions of Great Britain and
the United States, which is the subject of your letter
of August 17th, would be an interesting theme indeed.
To discuss it minutely and demonstratively would be far
beyond the limits of a letter. I will give you, therefore,
in brief only, the result of my reflections on the subject.
I agree with you in your facts, and in many of your re
flections. My conclusion is without doubt, as I am sure
yours will be, when the appeal to your sound judgment is
seriously made. The population of England is composed
of three descriptions of persons (for those of minor note
are too inconsiderable to affect a general estimate). These
are, 1. The aristocracy, comprehending the nobility, the
wealthy commoners, the high grades of priesthood, and the
officers of government. 2. The laboring class. 3. The elee
mosynary class, or paupers, who are about one-fifth of the
whole. The aristocracy, which have the laws and govern
ment in their hands, have so managed them as to reduce the
third description below the means of supporting life, even
by labor; and to force the second, whether employed in
agriculture or the arts, to the maximum of labor which the
construction of the human body can endure, and to the
minimum of food, and of the meanest kind, which will

242

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

preserve it in life, and in strength sufficient to perform its
functions. To obtain food enough, and clothing, not only
their whole strength must be unremittingly exerted, but the
utmost dexterity also which they can acquire; and those of
great dexterity only can keep their ground, while those of
less must sink into the class of paupers. Nor is it manual
dexterity alone, but the acutest resources of the mind also
which are impressed into this struggle for life; and such as
have means a little above the rest, as the master-workmen,
for instance, must strengthen themselves by acquiring as
much of the philosophy of their trade as will enable them to
compete with their rivals, and keep themselves above ground.
Hence the industry and manual dexterity of their journey
men and day-laborers, and the science of their master-work
men, keep them in the foremost ranks of competition with
those of other nations; and the less dexterous individuals,
falling into the eleemosynary ranks, furnish materials for
armies and navies to defend their country, exercise piracy
on the ocean, and carry conflagration, plunder and devasta
tion, on the shores of all those who endeavor to withstand
their aggressions. A society thus constituted possesses cer
tainly the means of defence. But what does it defend?
The pauperism of the lowest class, the abject oppression
of the laboring, and the luxury, the riot, the domination and
the vicious happiness of the aristocracy. In their hands,
the paupers are used as tools to maintain their own wretch
edness, and to keep down the laboring portion by shooting
them whenever the desperation produced by the cravings of
their stomachs drives them into riots. Such is the happi
ness of scientific England; now let us see the American side
of the medal.

And, first, we have no paupers, the old and crippled
among us, who possess nothing and have no families to take
care of them, being too few to merit notice as a separate

2-13

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

section of society, or to affect a general estimate. The
great mass of our population is of laborers; our rich, who
can live without labor, either manual or professional, being
few, and of moderate wealth. Most of the laboring class
possess property, cultivate their own lands, have families,
and from the demand for their labor are enabled to exact
from the rich and the competent such prices as enable them
to be fed abundantly, clothed above mere decency, to labor
moderately and raise their families. They are not driven
to the ultimate resources of dexterity and skill, because their
wares will sell although not quite so nice as those of Eng
land. The wealthy, on the other hand, and those at their
ease, know nothing of what the Europeans call luxury.
They have only somewhat more of the comforts and de
cencies of life than those who furnish them. Can any
condition of society be more desirable than this ? Nor in
the class of laborers do I mean to withhold from the com
parison that portion whose color has condemned them, in
certain parts of our Union, to a subjection to the will of
others. Even these are better fed in these States, warmer
clothed, and labor less than the journeymen or day-laborers
of England. They have the comfort, too, of numerous
families, in the midst of whom they live without want, or
fear of it; a solace which few of the laborers of England
possess. They are subject, it is true, to bodily coercion;
but are not the hundreds of thousands of British soldiers
and seamen subject to the same, without seeing, at the end
of their career, when age and accident shall have rendered
them unequal to labor, the certainty, which the other has,
that he will never want? And has not the British seaman,
as much as the African, been reduced to this bondage by
force, in flagrant violation of his own consent, and of his
natural right in his own person? and with the laborers of
England generally, does not the moral coercion of want

244-

OF THOMAS JEFFERSOX

subject their will as despotically to that of their employer,
as the physical constraint does the soldier, the seaman, or
the slave? But do not mistake me. I am not advocating
slavery. I am not justifying the wrongs we have com
mitted on a foreign people, by the example of another na
tion committing equal wrongs on their own subjects. On
the contrary, there is nothing I would not sacrifice to a
practicable plan of abolishing every vestige of this moral
and political depravity. But I am at present comparing
the condition and degree of suffering to which oppression
has reduced the man of one color, with the condition and
degree of suffering to which oppression has reduced the
man of another color ; equally condemning both. Now let
us compute by numbers the sum of happiness of the two
countries. In England, happiness is the lot of the aristoc
racy only, and the proportion they bear to the laborers
and paupers, you know better than I do. Were I to guess
that they are four in every hundred, then the happiness of
the nation would be to its misery as one in twenty-five. In
the United States it is as eight millions to zero, or as all
to none. But it is said they possess the means of defence,
and that we do not. How so ? Are we not men ? Yes ;
but our men are so happy at home that they will not hire
themselves to be shot at for a shilling a day. Hence we
can have no standing armies for defence, because we have
no paupers to furnish the materials. The Greeks and
Romans had no standing armies, yet they defended them
selves. The Greeks by their laws, and the Romans by the
spirit of their people, took care to put into the hands of
their rulers no such engine of oppression as a standing
army. Their system was to make every man a soldier, and
oblige him to repair to the standard of his country when
ever that was reared. This made them invincible ; and the
same remedy will make us so.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

To Dr. Thomas Cooper

MOXTICELLO, October 7, 1814.

I agree with yours of the 22d, that a professorship of
Theology should have no place in our institution. But
we cannot always do what is absolutely best. Those with
whom we act, entertaining different views, have the power
and the right of carrying -them into practice. Truth ad
vances, and error recedes step by step only; and to do to
our fellow men the most good in our power, we must lead
where we can, follow where we cannot, and still go with
them, watching always the favorable moment for helping
them to another step. Perhaps I should concur with you
also in excluding the theory (not the practice} of medicine.
This is the charlatanerie of the body, as the other is of the
mind. For classical learning I have ever been a zealous
advocate; and in this, as in his theory of bleeding and
mercury, I was ever opposed to my friend Rush, whom I
greatly loved ; but who has done much harm, in the sincerest
persuasion that he was preserving life and happiness to
all around him. I have not, however, carried so far as you
do my ideas of the importance of a hypercritical knowledge
of the Latin and Greek languages. I have believed it suf
ficient to possess a substantial understanding of their
authors.

246

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

On Banks

To Albert Gallatin

MONTICELLO, October 16, 1815.

We are undone, my dear Sir, if this banking mania
be not suppressed. Aut Carthago, out Roma delenda
est. The war, had it proceeded, would have upset our
government; and a new one, whenever tried, will do it.
And so it must be while our money, the nerve of war, is
much or little, real or imaginary, as our bitterest enemies
choose to make it. Put down the banks, and if this coun
try could not be carried through the longest war against
her most powerful enemy, without ever knowing the want
of a dollar, without dependence on the traitorous classes of
her citizens, without bearing hard on the resources of the
people, or loading the public with an indefinite burden of
debt, I know nothing of my countrymen. Not by any
novel project, not by any charlatanerie, but by ordinary and
well-experienced means ; by the total prohibition of all pri
vate paper at all times, by reasonable taxes in war aided by
the necessary emissions of public paper of circulating size,
this bottomed on special taxes, redeemable annually as this
special tax comes in, and finally within a moderate period
— even with the flood of private paper by which we were
deluged, would the treasury have ventured its credit in bills
of circulating size, as of five or ten dollars, etc., they would
have been greedily received by the people in preference to
bank paper. But unhappily the towns of America were
considered as the nation of America, the dispositions of the
inhabitants of the former as those of the latter, and the
treasury, for want of confidence in the country, delivered
itself bound hand and foot to bold and bankrupt advent-

247

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

urers and pretenders to be money-holders., whom it could
have crushed at any moment. Even the last half-bold,
half-timid threat of the treasury, showed at once that these
jugglers were at the feet of government. For it never was,
and is not, any confidence in their frothy bubbles, but the
want of all other medium, which induced, or now in vjces,
the country people to take their paper; and at this raiment,
when nothing else is to be had, no man will receive it but to
pass it away instantly, none for distant purposes. V.Te are
now without any common measure of the value of prop
erty, and private fortunes are up or down at the will of
the worst of our citizens. Yet there is no hope of relief
from the legislatures who have immediate control over this
subject. As little seems to be known of the principles of
political economy as if nothing had ever been written or
practised on the subject, or as was known in old times, when
the Jews had their rulers under the hammer. It is an evil,
therefore, which we must make up our minds to meet and
to endure as those of hurricanes, earthquakes and other
casualties: let us turn over therefore another leaf.

On Local Government

To Joseph C. Cabell

MONTICELLO, February 2, 1816.

No, my friend, the way to have good and safe gov
ernment, is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it
among the many, distributing to every one exactly the
functions he is competent to. Let the national government
be intrusted with the defence of the nation, and its foreign
and federal relations ; the State governments with the civil
rights, laws, police, and administration of what concerns

248

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

the State generally; the counties with the local concerns of
the counties, and each ward direct the interests within itself.
It is by dividing and subdividing these republics from the
great national one down through all its subordinations, until
it ends in the administration of every man's farm by him
self; by placing under every one what his own eye may
superintend, that all will be done for the best. What has
destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every govern
ment which has ever existed under the sun? The general
izing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body,
no matter whether of the autocrats of Russia or France,
or of the aristocrats of a Venetian senate. And I do be
lieve that if the Almighty has not decreed that man shall
never be free (and it is a blasphemy to believe it), that
the secret will be found to be in the making himself the
depositary of the powers respecting himself, so far as he
is competent to them, and delegating only what is beyond
his competence by a synthetical process, to higher and
higher orders of functionaries, so as to trust fewer and
fewer powers in proportion as the trustees become more
and more oligarchical. The elementary republics of the
wards, the county republics, the State republics, and the
republic of the Union, would form a gradation of author
ities, standing each on the basis of law, holding every one
its delegated share of powers, and constituting truly a sys
tem of fundamental balances and checks for the govern
ment. Where every man is a sharer in the direction of his
ward-republic, or of some of the higher ones, and feels
that he is a participator in the government of affairs, not
merely at an election one day in the year, but every day;
when there shall not be a man in the State who will not
be a member of some one of its councils, great or small, he
will let the heart be torn out of his body sooner than his
power be wrested from him by a Caesar or a Bonaparte.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

How powerfully did we feel the energy of this organization
in the case of embargo? I felt the foundations of the gov
ernment shaken under my feet by the New England town
ships. There was not an individual in their States whose
body was not thrown with all its momentum into action;
and although the whole of the other States were known
to be in favor of the measure, yet the organization of this
little selfish minority enabled it to overrule the Union.
What would the unwieldy counties of the Middle., the South,
and the West do? Call a county meeting, and the drunken
loungers at and about the court-houses would have collected,
the distances being too great for the good people and the
industrious generally to attend. The character of those
who really met would have been the measure of the weight
they would have had in the scale of public opinion. As
Cato, then, concluded every speech with the words, "Car
thago delenda est," so do I every opinion, with the injunc
tion, "divide the counties into wards." Begin them only
for a single purpose; they will soon show for what others
they are the best instruments.

On Aiding the South American Colonies of Spain

To James Monroe

MONTICELLO, February 4, 1816.

The ground you have taken with Spain is sound in
every part. It is the true ground, especially, as to the
South Americans. When subjects are able to maintain
themselves in the field, they are then an independent power
as to all neutral nations, are entitled to their commerce, and
to protection within their limits. Every kindness which can
be shown the South Americans, every friendly office and aid

250

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

within the limits of the law of nations, I would extend to
them, without fearing Spain or her Swiss auxiliaries. For
this is but an assertion of our own independence. But to
join in their war, as General Scott proposes, and to which
even some members of Congress seem to squint, is what we
ought not to do as yet. On the question ot our interest in
their independence, were that alone a sufficient motive of
action, much may be said on both sides. When they are
free, they will drive every article of our produce from every
market, by underselling it, and change the condition of our
existence, forcing us into other habits and pursuits. We
shall, indeed, have in exchange some commerce with them,
but in what I know not, for we shall have nothing to offer
which they cannot raise cheaper; and their separation from
Spain seals our everlasting peace with her. On the other
hand, so long as they are dependent, Spain, from her jeal
ousy, is our natural enemy, and always in either open or
secret hostility with us. These countries, too, in war, will
be a powerful weight in her scale, and, in peace, totally
shut to us. Interest then, on the whole, would wish their
independence, and justice makes the wish a duty. They
have a right to be free, and we a right to aid them, as a
strong man has a right to assist a weak one assailed by
a robber or murderer. That a war is brewing between us
and Spain cannot be doubted. When that disposition is
matured on both sides, and open rupture can no longer be
deferred, then will be the time for our joining the South
Americans, and entering into treaties of alliance with them.
There will then be but one opinion, at home or abroad, that
we shall be justifiable in choosing to have them with us,
rather than against us. In the meantime, they will have
organized regular governments, and perhaps have formed
themselves into one or more confederacies; more than one
I hope, as in single mass they would be a very formidable

251

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

neighbor. The geography of their country seems to indi
cate three: 1. What is north of the Isthmus. 2. What is
south of it on the Atlantic; and 3. The southern part on
the Pacific. Jn this form, we might be the balancing power.

On the Philosophy of Life

To John Adams

MONTICELLO, April 8, 1816.

You ask, if I would agree to live my seventy or rather
seventy-three years over again? To which I say, yea. I
think with you, that it is a good world on the whole; that
it has been framed on a principle of benevolence, and
more pleasure than pain dealt out to us. There are, indeed,
(who might say nay) gloomy and hypochondriac minds, in
habitants of diseased bodies, disgusted with the present, and
despairing of the future; always counting that the worst
will happen, because it may happen. To these I say, how
much pain have cost us the evils which have never hap
pened ! My temperament is sanguine. I steer my bark
with Hope in the head, leaving Fear astern. My hopes,
indeed, sometimes fail; but not oftener than the forebod
ings of the gloomy. There are, I acknowledge, even in the
happiest life, some terrible convulsions, heavy set-offs
against the opposite page of the account. I have often
wondered for what good end the sensations of grief could
be intended. All our other passions, within proper bounds,
have an useful object. And the perfection of the moral
character is, not in a stoical apathy, so hypocritically
vaunted, and so untruly too, because impossible, but in a
just equilibrium of all the passions. I wish the pathol-
ogists then, would tell us what is the use of grief in the

252

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

economy, and of what good it is the cause, proximate or
remote.

On Educational Qualifications

To Monsieur Dupont de Nemours

POPLAR FOREST, April 24, 1816.

In the Constitution of Spain, as proposed by the late
Cortes, there was a principle entirely new to me, and
not noticed in yours, that no person, born after that
day, should ever acquire the rights of citizenship until he
could read and write. It is impossible sufficiently to esti
mate the wisdom of this provision. Of all those which have
been thought of for securing fidelity in the administration
of the government, constant ralliance to the principles of
the Constitution, and progressive amendments with the pro
gressive advances of the human mind, or changes in hu
man affairs, it is the most effectual. Enlighten the people
generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind
will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. Although
I do not, with some enthusiasts, believe that the human con
dition will ever advance to such a state of perfection as
that there shall no longer be pain or vice in the world,
yet I believe it susceptible of much improvement, and most
of all, in matters of government and religion; and that the
diffusion of knowledge among the people is to be the in
strument by which it is to be effected.

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES
On the True Republic

To John Taylor

MONTICELLO, May 28, 1816.

It must be acknowledged, that the term republic is of
very vague application in every language. Witness the
self-styled republics of Holland, Switzerland, Genoa,
Venice, Poland. Were I to assign to this term a pre
cise and definite idea, I would say, purely and simply,
it means a government by its citizens in mass, acting di
rectly and personally, according to rules established by the
majority; and that every other government is more or less
republican in proportion, as it has in its composition more
or less of this ingredient of the direct action of the citizens.
Such a government is evidently restrained to very narrow
limits of space and population. I doubt if it would be
practicable beyond the extent of a New England township.
The first shade from this pure element, which, like that of
pure vital air, cannot sustain life of itself, would be where
the powers of the government, being divided, should be ex
ercised each by representatives chosen either pro hac vice,
or for such short terms as should render secure the duty of
expressing the will of their constituents. This I should
consider as the nearest approach to a pure republic, which
is practicable on a large scale of country or population.
And we have examples of it in some of our State Constitu
tions, which, if not poisoned by priest-craft, would prove its
excellence over all mixtures with other elements; and, with
only equal doses of poison, would still be the best. Other
shades of republicanism may be found in other forms of
government, where the executive, judiciary and legislative
functions, and the different branches of the latter, are
chosen by the people more or less directly, for longer terms

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

of years, or for life, or made hereditary ; or where there are
mixtures of authorities, some dependent on, and others in
dependent of the people. The further the departure from
direct and constant control by the citizens, the less has the
government of the ingredient of republicanism; evidently
none where the authorities are hereditary, as in France,
Venice, etc., or self-chosen, as in Holland; and little, where
for life, in proportion as the life continues in being after
the act of election.

The purest republican feature in the government of our
own State, is the House of Representatives. The Senate is
equally so the first year, less the second, and so on. The
Executive still less, because not chosen by the people di
rectly. The Judiciary seriously anti-republican, because
for life; and the national arm wielded, as you observe, by
military leaders, irresponsible but to themselves. Add to
this the vicious constitution of our county courts (to whom
the justice, the executive administration, the taxation, police,
the military appointments of the county, and nearly all our
daily concerns are confided), self-appointed, self -continued,
holding their authorities for life, and with an impossibility
of breaking in on the perpetual succession of any faction
once possessed of the bench. They are in truth, the execu
tive, the j udiciary, and the military of their respective coun
ties, and the sum of the counties makes the State. And add,
also, that one-half of our brethren who fight and pay taxes,
are excluded, like Helots, from the rights of representation,
as if society were instituted for the soil, and not for the
men inhabiting it; or one-half of these could dispose of the
rights and the will of the other half, without their consent.

"What constitutes a State?
Not high-raised battlements, or labor'd mound,

Thick wall, or moated gate ;

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd ;
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No : men, high-minded men ;
Men, who their duties know ;

But know their rights ; and knowing, dare maintain.
These constitute a S^ate."

In the General Government, the House of Representa
tives is mainly republican; the Senate scarcely so at all, as
not elected by the people directly, and so long secured even
against those who do elect them; the Executive more re
publican than the Senate, from its shorter term, its election
by the people, in practice, (for they vote for A only on an
assurance that he will vote for B), and because, in practice
also, a principle of rotation seems to be in a course of estab
lishment; the judiciary independent of the nation, their co
ercion by impeachment being found nugatory.

If, then, the control of the people over the organs of
their government be the measure of its republicanism, and
I confess I know no other measure, it must be agreed that
our governments have much less of republicanism than
ought to have been expected; in other words, that the peo
ple have less regular control over their agents, than their
rights and their interests require. And this I ascribe, not
to any want of republican dispositions in those who formed
these Constitutions, but to a submission of true principle
to European authorities, to speculators on government,
whose fears of the people have been inspired by the popu
lace of their own great cities, and were unjustly entertained
against the independent, the happy, and therefore orderly
citizens of the United States. Much I apprehend that the
golden moment is past for reforming these heresies. The
functionaries of public power rarely strengthen in their
dispositions to abridge it, and an unorganized call for
timely amendment is not likely to prevail against an or
ganized opposition to it. We are always told that things
are going on well; why change them? "Chi sta bene, non

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

si muove," said the Italian, "let him who stands well, stand
still." This is true; and I verily believe they would go
on well with us under an absolute monarch, while our pres
ent character remains, of order, industry and love of peace,
and restrained, as he would be, by the proper spirit of the
people. But it is while it remains such, we should provide
against the consequences of its deterioration. And let us
rest in the hope that it will yet be done, and spare our
selves the pain of evils which may never happen.

On this view of the import of the term republic, instead
of saying, as has been said, "that it may mean anything
or nothing," we may say with truth and meaning, that gov
ernments are more or less republican, as they have more or
less of the element of popular election and control in their
composition ; and believing, as I do, that the mass of the
citizens io the safest depositary of their own rights and
especially, that the evils flowing from the duperies of the
people, are less injurious than those from the egoism of
their agents, I am a friend to that composition of govern
ment which has in it the most of this ingredient. And I
sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are
more dangerous than standing armies; and that the prin
ciple of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the
name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large
scale.

Concerning Ms Religion

To Mrs. M. Harrison Smith

MONTICELLO, August 6, 181 6.

I have ever thought religion a concern purely between
our God and our consciences, for which we were ac-

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countable to Him, and not to the priests. I never told
my own religion, nor scrutinized that of another. I never
attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change an
other's creed. I have ever judged of the religion of others
by their lives, and by this test, my dear Madam, I have
been satisfied yours must be an excellent one, to have pro
duced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For
it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion
must be read. By the same test the world must judge me.

On Slavery

To Dr. Thomas Humphreys

MONTICELLO, February 8, 1817.

Dear Sir: Your favor of January 2d did not come
to my hands until the 5th instant. I concur entirely in
your leading principles of gradual emancipation, of estab
lishment on the coast of Africa, and the patronage of our
nation until the emigrants shall be able to protect them
selves. The subordinate details might be easily arranged.
But the bare proposition of purchase by the United States
generally, would excite infinite indignation in all the
States north of Maryland. The sacrifice must fall on the
States alone which hold them ; and the difficult question will
be how to lessen this so as to reconcile our fellow citizens
to it. Personally I am ready and desirous to make any
sacrifice which shall insure their gradual but complete re
tirement from the State, and effectually, at the same time,
establish them elsewhere in freedom and safety. But I
have not perceived the growth of this disposition in the
rising generation, of which I once had sanguine hopes. No
symptoms inform me that it will take place in my day.

258

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

I leave it, therefore, to time, and not at all without hope
that the day will come, equally desirable and welcome to us
as to them. Perhaps the proposition now on the carpet at
Washington to provide an establishment on the coast of
Africa for voluntary emigrations of people of color, may
be the corner stone of this future edifice. Praying for its
completion as early as may most promote the good of all,
I salute you with great esteem and respect.

On Internal Improvements

To Albert Gallatin

MONTICELLO, June 16, 1817.

You will have learned that an act for internal im
provement, after passing both Houses, was negatived by
the President. The act was founded, avowedly, on the prin
ciple that the phrase in the Constitution which authorizes
Congress "to lay taxes, to pay the debts and provide for
the general welfare/' was an extension of the powers spe
cifically enumerated to whatever would promote the general
welfare; and this, you know, was the federal doctrine.
Whereas, our tenet ever was, and, indeed, it is almost the
only landmark which now divides the federalists from the
republicans, that Congress had not unlimited powers to pro
vide for the general welfare, but were restrained to those
specifically enumerated; and that, as it was never meant
they should provide for that welfare but by the exercise of
the enumerated powers, so it could not have been meant
they should raise money for purposes which the enumera
tion did not place under their action ; consequently, that the
specification of powers is a limitation of the purposes
for which they may raise money. J think the passage

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and rejection of this bill a fortunate incident. Every State
will certainly concede the power; and this will be a national
confirmation of the grounds of appeal to them, and will
settle forever the meaning of this phrase, which, by a mere
grammatical quibble, has countenanced the General Gov
ernment in a claim of universal power. For in the phrase,
"to lay taxes, to pay the debts and provide for the general
welfare," it is a mere question of syntax, whether the two
last infinitives are governed by the first or are distinct and
co-ordinate powers ; a question unequivocally decided by the
exact definition of powers immediately following. It is
fortunate for another reason, as the States, in conceding
the power, will modify it, either by requiring the federal
ratio of expense in each State, or otherwise, so as to secure
us against its partial exercise. Without this caution, in
trigue, negotiation, and the barter of votes might become
as habitual in Congress, as they are in those Legislatures
which have the appointment of officers, and which, with us,
is called "logging," the term of the farmers for their ex
changes of aid in rolling together the logs of their newly-
cleared grounds.

On the Tax on Wine

To M. de Neuville

MONTICELLO, December 13, 1818.

I rejoice, as a moralist, at the prospect of a reduction
of the duties on wine, by our national legislature. It is
an error to view a tax on that liquor as merely a tax on
the rich. It is a prohibition of its use to the middling
class of our citizens, and a condemnation of them to the
poison of whiskey, which is desolating their houses. No

260

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober,
where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the
common beverage. It is, in truth, the only antidote to the
bane of whiskey. Fix but the duty at the rate of other
merchandise, and we can drink wine here as cheap as we
do grog; and who will not prefer it? Its extended use will
carry health and comfort to a much enlarged circle. Every
one in easy circumstances (as the bulk of our citizens are)
will prefer it to the poison to which they are now driven
by their government. And the treasury itself will find that
a penny apiece from a dozen, is more than a groat from a
single one.

Personal Regimen

To Dr. Vine Utley

MONTICELLO, March 21, 1819-

Sir: The request of the history of my physical habits
would have puzzled me not a little, had it not been for
the model with which you accompanied it, of Dr. Rush's
answer to a similar inquiry. I live so much like other peo
ple, that I might refer to ordinary life as the history of
my own. Like my friend the Doctor, I have lived tem
perately, eating little animal food, and that not as an ali
ment, so much as a condiment for the vegetables, which
constitute my principal diet. I double however, the Doc
tor's glass and a half of wine, and even treble it with a
friend; but halve its effects by drinking the weak wines
only. The ardent wines I cannot drink, nor do I use ardent
spirits in any form. Malt liquors and cider are my table
drinks, and my breakfast, like that also of my friend, is
of tea and coffee. I have been blessed with organs of di-

261

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gestion which accept and concoct, without ever murmuring,,
whatever the palate chooses to consign to them, and I have
not yet lost a tooth by age. I was a hard student until
I entered on the business of life, the duties of which leave
no idle time to those disposed to fulfil them; and now,
retired, and at the age of seventy-six, I am again a hard
student. Indeed, my fondness for reading and study re
volts me from the drudgery of letter- writing. And a stiff
wrist, the consequence of an early dislocation, makes writ
ing both slow and painful. I am not so regular in my sleep
as the Doctor says he was, devoting to it from five to eight
hours, according as my company or the book I am reading
interests me; and I never go to bed without an hour, or half
hour's previous reading of something moral whereon to
ruminate in the intervals of sleep. But whether I retire to
bed early or late, I rise with the sun. I use spectacles at
night, but not necessarily in the day, unless in reading small
print. My hearing is distinct in particular conversation,
but confused when several voices cross each other, which
unfits me for the society of the table. I have been more
fortunate than my friend in the article of health. So free
from catarrhs that I have not had one, (in the breast, I
mean) on an average of eight or ten years through life.
I ascribe this exemption partly to the habit of bathing my
feet in cold water every morning, for sixty years past. A
fever of more than twenty-four hours I have not had above
two or three times in my life. A periodical headache has
afflicted me occasionally, once, perhaps, in six or eight years,
for two or three weeks at a time, which seems now to have
left me; and except on a late occasion of indisposition, I
enjoy good health; too feeble, indeed, to walk much, but
riding without fatigue six or eight miles a day, and some
times thirty or forty. I may end these egotisms, therefore,
as I began, by saying that my life has been so much like

262

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

that of other people, that I might say with Horace, to every
one "nomine mutato, narratur fabula de te." I must not
end, however, without due thanks for the kind sentiments
of regard you are so good as to express toward myself;
and with my acknowledgments for these, be pleased to
accept the assurances of my respect and esteem.

On the Supreme Court

To Judge Spencer Roane

POPLAR FOREST, September 6, 1819-

Dear Sir: In denying the right they [the judiciary]
usurp of exclusively explaining the Constitution, I go
further than you do, if I understand rightly your quotation
from the Federalist, of an opinion that "the judiciary is the
last resort in relation to the other departments of the gov
ernment, but not in relation to the rights of the parties
to the compact under which the judiciary is derived." If
this opinion be sound, then indeed is our Constitution a com
plete felo de se. For intending to establish three depart
ments, co-ordinate and independent, that they might check
and balance one another, it has given, according to this
opinion, to one of them alone, the right to prescribe rules
for the government of the others, and to that one, too, which
is unelected by, and independent of the nation. For ex
perience has already shown that the impeachment it has
provided is not even a scare-crow; that such opinions as the
one you combat, sent cautiously out, as you observe also,
by detachment, not belonging to the case often, but sought
for out of it, as if to rally the public opinion beforehand
to their views, and to indicate the line they are to walk in,
have been so quietly passed over as never to have excited.

263

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

Animadversion, even in a speech of any one of the body
intrusted with impeachment. The Constitution, on this
hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the
judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form
they please. It should be remembered, as an axiom of eter
nal truth in politics, chat whatever power in any government
is independent, is absolute also; in theory only, at first,
while the spirit of the people is up, but in practice, as fast
as that relaxes. Independence can be trusted nowhere but
with the people in mass. They are inherently independent
of all but moral law. My construction of the Constitution
is very different from that you quote. It is that each de
partment is truly independent of the others, and has an
equal right to decide for itself what is the meaning of the
Constitution in the cases submitted to its action; and espe
cially, where it is to act ultimately and without appeal.

On the Possibility of Secession

To John Holmes

MONTICELLO, April 22, 1820.

I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind
as to send me of the letter to your constituents on the Mis
souri question. It is a perfect justification to them. I had
for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any
attention to public affairs, confident they were in good
hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the
shore from which I am not distant. But this momentous
question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened and filled
me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the
Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this
is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical

264

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and politi
cal, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of
men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will
mark it deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious truth,
that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more
than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in
any practicable way. The cession of that kind of prop
erty, for so it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which would not
cost me a second thought, if, in that way, a general eman
cipation and expatriation could be effected; and, gradually,
and with due sacrifices, I think it might be. But as it is,
we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him,
nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-
preservation in the other. Of one thing I am certain, that
as the passage of slaves from one State to another, would
not make a slave of a single human being who would not
be so without it, so their diffusion over a greater surface
would make them individually happier, and proportionally
facilitate the accomplishment of their emancipation, by
dividing the burden on a greater number of coadjutors. An
abstinence too, from this act of power, would remove the
jealousy excited by the undertaking of Congress to regulate
the condition of the different descriptions of men compos
ing a State. This certainly is the exclusive right of every
State, which nothing in the Constitution has taken from
them and given to the General Government. Could Con
gress, for example, say, that the non-freemen of Connecti
cut shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate into
any other State?

I regret that I am now to die in the belief, that the use
less sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776, to
acquire self-government and happiness to their country,
is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions
of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be, that

265

LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

I live not to weep over it. If they would but dispassion
ately weigh the blessings they will throw away, against
an abstract principle more likely to be effected by union
than by scission, they would pause before they would per
petrate this act of suicide on themselves, and of treason
against the hopes of the world. To yourself, as the faith
ful advocate of the Union, I tender the offering of my high
esteem and respect.

On Religion

To William Short

MONTICELLO, August 4, 1820.

Dear Sir: I owe you a letter for your favor of June the
29th, which was received in due time; and there being no
subject of the day, of particular interest, I will make this
a supplement to mine of April the 13th. My aim in that
was to justify the character of Jesus against the fictions of
His pseudo-followers, which have exposed Him to the in
ference of being an impostor. For if we could believe that
He really countenanced the follies, the falsehoods, and the
charlatanisms which His biographers father on Him, and
admit the misconstructions, interpolations, and theorizations
of the fathers of the earl}r, and fanatics of the latter ages,
the conclusion would be irresistible by every sound mind,
that He was an impostor. I give no credit to their falsifica
tions of His actions and doctrines, and to rescue His char
acter, the postulate in my letter asked only what is granted
in reading every other historian. . . . This free exercise
of reason is all I ask for the vindication of the char
acter of Jesus. We find in the writings of His biographers
matter of two distinct descriptions. First, a ground-work

266

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions,
fanaticisms, and fabrications. Intermixed with these,
again, are sublime ideas of the Supreme Being, aphorisms,
and precepts of the purest morality and benevolence, sanc
tioned by a life of humility, innocence, and simplicity of
manners, neglect of riches, absence of worldly ambition
and honors, with an eloquence and persuasiveness which
have not been surpassed. These could not be inventions
of the grovelling authors who relate them. They are far
beyond the powers of their feeble minds. They show that
there was a character, the subject of their history, whose
splendid conceptions were above all suspicion of being in
terpolations from their hands. Can we be at a loss in
separating such materials, and ascribing each to its genuine
author? The difference is obvious to the eye and to the
understanding, and we may read as we run to each his
part; and I will venture to affirm, that he who, as I have
done, will undertake to winnow this grain from the chaff,
will find it not to require a moment's consideration. The
parts fall asunder of themselves, as would those of an
image of metal and clay.

There are, I acknowledge, passages not free from ob
jection, which we may, with probability, ascribe to Jesus
Himself; but claiming indulgence from the circumstances
under which He acted. His object was the reformation
of some articles in the religion of the Jews, as taught by
Moses. That sect had presented for the object of their
worship, a Being of terrific character, cruel, vindictive,
capricious, and unjust. Jesus, taking for His type the
best qualities of the human head and heart, wisdom,
justice, goodness, and adding to them power, ascribed all
of these, but in infinite perfection, to the Supreme Being,
and formed Him really worthy of their adoration. Moses
had either not believed in a future state of existence, or

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

liad not thought it essential to be explicitly taught to his
people. Jesus inculcated that doctrine with emphasis and
precision. Moses had bound the Jews to many idle cere
monies, mummeries, and observances, of no effect toward
producing the social utilities which constitute the essence of
virtue; Jesus exposed their futility and insignificance. The
one instilled into his people the most anti-social spirit tow
ard other nations ; the other preached philanthropy and
universal charity and benevolence. The office of reformer
of the superstitions of a nation, is ever dangerous. Jesus
had to walk on the perilous confines of reason and religion;
and a step to right or left might place Him within the
grasp of the priests of the superstition, a bloodthirsty
race, as cruel and remorseless as the Being whom they
represented as the family God of Abraham, of Isaac and
of Jacob, and the local God of Israel. They were con
stantly laying snares, too, to entangle Him in the web of
the law. He was justifiable, therefore, in avoiding these
by evasions, by sophisms, by misconstructions and misap
plications of scraps of the prophets, and in defending
Himself with these their own weapons, as sufficient, ad
homines, at least. That Jesus did not mean to impose
Himself on mankind as the Son of God, physically speak
ing, I have been convinced by the writings of men more
learned than myself in that lore. But that He might con
scientiously believe himself inspired from above, is very
possible. The whole religion of the Jew, inculcated on
Him from His infancy, was founded in the belief of divine
inspiration. The fumes of the most disordered imagina
tions were recorded in their religious code, as special com
munications of the Deity; and as it could not but happen
that, in the course of ages, events would now and then
turn up to which some of these vague rhapsodies might
be accommodated by the aid of allegories, figures, types,

268

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

and other tricks upon words, they have not only preserved
their credit with the Jews of all subsequent times, but
are the foundation of much of the religions of those who
have schismatized from them. Elevated by the enthusiasm
of a warm and pure heart, conscious of the high strains
of an eloquence which had not been taught Him, He might
readily mistake the coruscations of His own fine genius
for inspirations of a higher order. This belief carried,
therefore, no more personal imputation, than the belief of
Socrates, that himself was under the care and admonitions
of a guardian Daemon. And how many of our wisest men
still believe in the reality of these inspirations, while per
fectly sane on all other subjects. Excusing, therefore, on
these considerations, those passages in the Gospels which
seem to bear marks of weakness in Jesus, ascribing to Him
what alone is consistent with the great and pure character
of which the same writings furnish proofs, and to their
proper authors their own trivialities and imbecilities, I
think myself authorized to conclude the purity and distinc
tion of His character, in opposition to the impostures which
those authors would fix upon Him; and that the postulate
of my former letter is no more than is granted in all other
historical works.

On the Spoils System

To James Madison

POPLAR FOREST, November 29, 1820.
Dear Sir: The enclosed letter ... is a sample of the
effects we may expect from the late mischievous law vacat
ing every four years nearly all the executive offices of the
government. It saps the constitutional and salutary func-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

tions of the President, and introduces a principle of in
trigue and corruption, which will soon leaven the mass, not
only of Senators, but of citizens. It is more baneful than
the attempt which failed in the beginning of the govern
ment, to make all officers irremovable but with the consent
of the Senate. This places, every four years, all appoint
ments under their power, and even obliges them to act on
every one nomination. It will keep in constant excitement
all the hungry cormorants for office, render them, as well
as those in place, sycophants to their Senators, engage
these in eternal intrigue to turn out one and put in an
other, in cabals to swap work; and make of them what all
executive directories become, mere sinks of corruption and
faction. This must have been one of the midnight signa
tures of the President, when he had not time to consider,
or even to read the law; and the more fatal as being ir-
repealable but with the consent of the Senate, which will
never be obtained.

On the Kentucky Resolutions

To Mr. Nicholas

MONTICELLO, December 11, 1821.

Dear Sir: Your letter of December the 19th places me
under a dilemma, which I cannot solve but by an exposi
tion of the naked truth. I would have wished this rather
to have remained as hitherto, without inquiry; but your
inquiries have a right to be answered. I will do it as
exactly as the great lapse of time and a waning memory
will enable me. I may misremember indifferent circum
stances, but can be right in substance.

At the time when the republicans of our country were
270

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

so much alarmed at the proceedings of the federal ascend
ancy in Congress, in the executh e and the judiciary de
partments, it became a matter of serious consideration how
head could be made against their enterprises on the Con
stitution. The leading republicans in Congress found
themselves of no use there, browbeaten, as they were, by
a bold and overwhelming majority. They concluded to
retire from that field, take a stand in the State legisla
tures, and endeavor there to arrest their progress. The
alien and sedition laws furnished the particular occasion.
The sympathy between Virginia and Kentucky was more
cordial, and more intimately confidential, than between any
other two States of republican policy. Mr. Madison came
into the Virginia legislature. I was then in the Vice-
Presidency, and could not leave my station. But your
father, Colonel W. C. Nicholas, and myself happening to
be together, the engaging the co-operation of Kentucky in
an energetic protestation against the constitutionality of
those laws, became a subject of consultation. Those gen
tlemen pressed me strongly to sketch resolutions for that
purpose, your father undertaking to introduce them to that
legislature, with a solemn assurance, which I strictly re
quired, that it should not be known from what quarter they
came. I drew and delivered them to him, and in keej)ing
their origin secret, he fulfilled his pledge of honor. Some
years after this, Colonel Nicholas asked me if I would have
any objection to its being known that I had drawn them.
I pointedly enjoined that it should not. Whether he had
unguardedly intimated it before to any one, I know not;
but I afterwards observed in the papers repeated imputa
tions of them to me; on which, as has been my practice
on all occasions of imputation, I have observed entire si
lence. The question, indeed, has never before been put to
me, nor should I answer it to any other than yourself; see-

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ing no good end to be proposed by it, and the desire of
tranquillity inducing witL me a wish to be withdrawn from
public notice. Your father's zeal and talents were too
well known, to derive any additional distinction from the
penning these resolutions. That circumstance, surely, was
of far less merit than the proposing and carrying them
through the legislature of his State. The only fact in
this statement, on which my memory is not distinct, is the
time and occasion of the consultation with your father and
Colonel Nicholas. It took place here, I know ; but whether
any other person was present, or communicated with, is
my doubt. I think Mr. Madison was cither with us, or
consulted, but my memory is uncertain as to minute details.

On ilic Annexation of Cuba

To the President of the United States
(James Monroe)

MONTICELLO, June 23, 1823.

Dear Sir: I have been lately visited by a Mr. Miralla,
. . . resident in Cuba for the last seven or eight years ;
a person of intelligence, of much information, and frankly
communicative. I believe, indeed, he is known to you.
I availed myself of the opportunity of learning what was
the state of public sentiment in Cuba as to their future
course. He says they would be satisfied to remain as they
are; but all are sensible that that cannot be; that whenever
circumstances shall render a separation from Spain neces
sary, a perfect independence would be their choice, pro
vided they could see a certainty of protection ; but that,
without that prospect, they would be divided in opinion be
tween an incorporation with Mexico, and with the United

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

States — Colombia being too remote for prompt support.
The considerations in favor of Mexico are that then Havana
would be the emporium for all the produce of that im
mense and wealthy country, and, of course, the medium of
all its commerce; that having no ports on its eastern coast,
Cuba would become the depot of its naval stores and
strength, and, in effect, would, in a great measure, have
the sinews of the government in its hands. That in favor
of the United States is the fact that three-fourths of the
exportations from Havana come to the United States, that
they are a settled government, the power which can most
promptly succor them, rising to an eminence promising
future security; and of which they would make a member
of the sovereignty, while as to England, they would be
only a colony, subordinated to her interest, and that there
is not a man in the island who would not resist her to the
bitterest extremity. Of this last sentiment I had not the
least idea at the date of my late letters to you. I had
supposed an English interest there quite as strong as that
of the United States, and therefore, that, to avoid war,
and keep the island open to our own commerce, it would
be best to join that power in mutually guaranteeing its in
dependence. But if there is no danger of its falling into
the possession of England, I must retract an opinion
founded on an error of fact. We are surely under no
obligation to give her, gratis, an interest which she has not ;
and the whole inhabitants being averse to her, and the
climate mortal to strangers, its continued military occupa
tion by her would be impracticable. It is better then to
lie still in readiness to receive that interesting incorporation
when solicited by herself. For, certainly, her addition to
our confederacy is exactly what is wanting to round our
power as a nation to the point of its utmost interest.

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On Religion

To John Adams

MONTICELLO, April 11, 1823.

Dear Sir: The wishes expressed in your last favor, that
I may continue in life and health until I become a Cal-
vinist, at least in his exclamation of "Mon Dieu! jusqu'a
quand!" would make me immortal. I can never join Cal
vin in addressing his God. He was indeed an atheist,
which I can never be; or rather his religion was daemonism.
If ever man worshipped a false God he did. The Being
described in his five points, is not the God whom you and
I acknowledge and adore, the Creator and benevolent Gov
ernor of the world ; but a daemon of malignant spirit. It
would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all, than
to blaspheme Him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin.
Indeed, I think that every Christian sect gives a great
handle to atheism by their general dogma, that, without a
revelation, there would not be sufficient proof of the being
of a God. . . . The truth is, that the greatest enemies
to the doctrines of Jesus are those, calling themselves the
expositors of them, who have perverted them for the struct
ure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and
without any foundation in His genuine words. And the
day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by
the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin,
will be classed with the fable of the generation of Mi
nerva, in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the
dawn of reason, and freedom of thought in these United
States, will do away all this artificial scaffolding, and re
store to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this the
most venerated Reformer of human errors.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

So much for your quotation of Calvin's "A/on Dieu!
jusqu'a quand!" in which, when addressed to the God of
Jesus, and our God, I join you cordially, and await His
time and will with more readiness than reluctance. May
we meet there again, in Congress, with our ancient col
leagues, and receive with them the seal of approbation,
"Well done, good and faithful servants."

On Home and Foreign Missions

To Michael Megear

MONTICELLO, May 29, 1823.

I thank you, Sir, for the copy of the letters of Paul and
Amicus, which you have been so kind as to send me, and
shall learn from them with satisfaction the peculiar tenets
of the Friends, and particularly their opinions on the in
comprehensibilities (otherwise called the mysteries) of the
Trinity. I think with them on many points, and especially
on missionary and Bible societies. While we have so many
around us, within the same social pale, who need instruc
tion and assistance, why carry to a distance, and to
strangers what our own neighbors need ? It is a duty cer
tainly to give our sparings to those who want; but to see
also that they are faithfully distributed, and duly appor
tioned to the respective wants of those receivers. And why
give through agents whom we know not, to persons whom
we know not, and in countries from which we get no ac
count, when we can do it at short hand, to objects under
our eye, through agents we know, and to supply wants we
see? I do not know that it is a duty to disturb by mis
sionaries the religion and peace of other countries, who
may think themselves bound to extinguish by fire and fagot

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the heresies to which we give the name of conversions, and
quote our own example for it. Were the Pope, or his
holy allies, to send in mission to us some thousands of
Jesuit priests to convert us to their orthodoxy, I suspect
that we should deem and treat it as a national aggression
on our peace and faith. I salute you in the spirit of peace
and good will.

On the Monroe Doctrine

To the President of the United States
(James Monroe^)

MONTICELLO, October 24, 1823.

Dear Sir: The question presented by the letters you
have sent me, is the most momentous which has ever been
offered to my contemplation since that of Independence.
That made us a nation, this sets our compass and points the
course which we are to steer through the ocean of time
opening on us. And never could we embark on it under
circumstances more auspicious. Our first and fundamental
maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils
of Europe. Our second, never to suffer Europe to inter
meddle with cis-atlantic affairs. America, North and South,
has a set of interests distinct from those of Europe, and
peculiarly her own. She should therefore have a sys
tem of her own, separate and apart from that of Europe.
While the last is laboring to become the domicile of despot
ism, our endeavor should surely be, to make our hemisphere
that of freedom. One nation, most of all, could disturb
us in this pursuit; she now offers to lead, aid, and accom
pany us in it. By acceding to her proposition, we detach
her from the bands, bring her mighty weight into the scale

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

of free government, and emancipate a continent at one
stroke, which might otherwise linger long in doubt and
difficulty. Great Britain is the nation which can do us the
most harm of any one, or all on earth; and with her on
our side we need not fear the whole world. With her then,
we should most sedulously cherish a cordial friendship;
and nothing would tend more to knit our affections than
to be fighting once more, side by side, in the same cause.
Not that I would purchase even her amity at the price of
taking part in her wars. But the war in which the present
proposition might engage us, should that .be its conse
quence, is not her war, but ours. Its object is to intro
duce and establish the American system, of keeping out
of our land all foreign powers, of never permitting those
of Europe to intermeddle with the affairs of our nations.
It is to maintain our own principle, not to depart from
it. And if, to facilitate this, we can effect a division in the
body of the European powers, and draw over to our side
its most powerful member, surely we should do it. But I
am clearly of Mr. Canning's opinion, that it will prevent
instead of provoking war. With Great Britain withdrawn
from their scale and shifted into that of our two continents,
all Europe combined would not undertake such a war. For
how would they propose to get at either enemy without
superior fleets? Nor is the occasion to be slighted which
this proposition offers, of declaring our protest against the
atrocious violations of the rights of nations, by the inter
ference of any one in the internal affairs of another, so
flagitiously begun by Bonaparte, and now continued by the
equally lawless Alliance, calling itself Holy.

But we have first to ask ourselves a question. Do we
wish to acquire to our own confederacy any one or more
of the Spanish provinces? I candidly confess, that I have
ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which

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could ever be made to our system of States. The control
which, with Florida Point, this island would give us over
the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus border
ing on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it,
would fill up the measure of our political well-being. Yet,
as I am sensible that this can never be obtained, even with
her own consent, but by war; and its independence, which
is our second interest (and especially its independence of
England), can be secured without it, I have no hesitation
in abandoning my first wish to future chances, and accept
ing its independence, with peace and the friendship of
England, rather than its association, at the expense of war
and her enmity.

I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration pro
posed, that we aim not at the acquisition of any of those
possessions, that we will not stand in the way of any
amicable arrangement between them and the Mother coun
try ; but that we will oppose, with all our means, the
forcible interposition of any other power, as auxiliary, sti
pendiary, or under any other form or pretext, and most
especially, their transfer to any power by conquest, cession,
or acquisition in any other way. I should think it, there
fore, advisable, that the Executive should encourage the
British government to a continuance in the dispositions
expressed in these letters, by an assurance of his concur
rence with them as far as his authority goes; and that
as it may lead to war, the declaration of which requires
an act of Congress, the case shall be laid before them
for consideration at their first meeting, and under the rea
sonable aspect in which it is seen by himself.

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

On Amendments to the Constitution

To Robert J. Garnett

MONTICELLO, February 14, 1824.

Dear Sir: I have to thank you for the copy of Colonel
Taylor's "New Views of the Constitution," and shall read
them with the satisfaction and edification which I have ever
derived from whatever he has written. But I fear it is
the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Those who
formerly usurped the name of federalists, which, in fact,
they never were, have now openly abandoned it, and are
as openly marching by the road of construction, in a direct
line to that consolidation which was always their real
object. They, almost to a man, are in possession of one
branch of the government, and appear to be very strong
in yours. The three great questions of amendment now
before you, will give the measure of their strength. I
mean, 1st, the limitation of the term of Presidential
service; 2d, the placing the choice of President effectually
in the hands of the people; 3d, the giving to Congress the
power of internal improvement, on condition that each
State's federal proportion of the moneys so expended, shall
be employed within the State. The friends of consolidation
would rather take these powers by construction than ac
cept them by direct investiture from the States. Yet, as to
internal improvement particularly, there is probably not a
State in the Union which would not grant the power on
the condition proposed, or which would grant it without
that.

The best general key for the solution of questions of
power between our governments is the fact that "every
foreign and federal power is given to the federal govern-

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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES

ment, and to the States every power purely domestic."
I recollect but one instance of control vested in the federal,
over the State authorities, in a matter purely domestic,
which is that of metallic tenders. The federal is, in truth,
our foreign government, which department alone is taken
from the sovereignty of the separate States.

The real friends of the Constitution in its federal form,
if they wish it to be immortal, should be attentive, by
amendments, to make it keep pace with the advance of
the age in science and experience. Instead of this, the
European governments have resisted reformation, until the
people, seeing no other resource, undertake it themselves
by force, their only weapon, and work it out through blood,
desolation and long-continued anarchy. Here it will be by
large fragments breaking off, and refusing re-union but on
condition of amendment, or perhaps permanently. If I
can see these three great amendments prevail, I shall con
sider it as a renewed extension of the term of our lease,
shall live in more confidence, and die in more hope. And
I do trust that the republican mass, which Colonel Taylor
justly says is the real federal one, is still strong enough
to carry these truly federo-republican amendments. With
my prayers for the issue, accept my friendly and respect
ful salutations.

Concerning Parti/ Names and Purposes

To William Short

MONTICELLO, January 8, 1825.

He [Harper] takes great pains to prove, for instance,
that Hamilton was no monarchist, by exaggerating his own
intimacy with him, and the impossibility, if he was so, that

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

he should not, at some time, have betrayed it to him. This
may pass with uninformed readers, but not with those who
have had it from Hamilton's own mouth. I am one of
those, and but one of many. At my own table, in presence
of Mr. Adams, Knox, Randolph, and myself, in a dis
pute between Mr. Adams and himself, he avowed his
preference of monarchy over every other government,
and his opinion that the English was the most perfect
model of government ever devised by the wit of man, Mr.
Adams agreeing "if its corruptions were done away."
While Hamilton insisted that "with these corruptions it was
perfect and without them it would be an impracticable
government." Can any one read Mr. Adams's defence of
the American Constitutions without seeing that he was a
monarchist? And J. Q. Adams, the son, was more explicit
than the father, in his answer to Paine's "Rights of Man."
So much for leaders. Their followers were divided. Some
went the same lengths; others, and I believe the greater
part, only wished a stronger Executive.

When I arrived at New York in 1790, to take a part in
the administration, being fresh from the French Revolu
tion, while in its first and pure stage, and consequently
somewhat whetted up in my own republican principles,
I found a state of things, in the general society of the
place, which I could not have supposed possible. Being
a stranger there, I was feasted from table to table, at
large set dinners, the parties generally from twenty to
thirty. The revolution I had left, and that we had just
gone through in the recent change of our own government,
being the common topics of conversation, I was astonished
to find the general prevalence of monarchical sentiments,
insomuch that in maintaining those of republicanism, I
had always the whole company on my hands, never scarcely
finding among them a single co-advocate in that argument,

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unless some old member of Congress happened to be pres
ent. The furthest that any one would go, in support of
the republican features of our new government, would be
to say, "the present Constitution is well as a beginning, and
may be allowed a fair trial ; but it is, in fact, only a step
ping-stone to something better." Among their writers,
Denny, the editor of the Portfolio, who was a kind of
oracle with them, and styled the Addison of America,
openly avowed his preference of monarchy over all other
forms of government, prided himself on the avowal, and
maintained it by argument freely and without reserve, in
his publications. I do not, myself, know that the Essex
junto of Boston were monarchists, but I have always heard
it so said, and never doubted.

These, my dear Sir, are but detached items from a great
mass of proofs then fully before the public. They are
unknown to you, because you were absent in Europe, and
they are now disavowed by the party. But, had it not
been for the firm and determined stand then made by a
counter-party, no man can say what our government would
have been at this day. Monarchy, to be sure, is now de
feated, and they wish it should be forgotten that it was
ever advocated. They see that it is desperate, and treat
its imputation to them as a calumny; and I verily believe
that none of them have it now in direct aim. Yet the
spirit is not done away. The same party takes now what
they deem the next best ground, the consolidation of the
government; the giving to the federal member of the gov
ernment, by unlimited constructions of the Constitution, a
control over all the functions of the States, and the con
centration of all power ultimately at Washington.

The true history of that conflict of parties will never
be in possession of the public until, by the death of the
actors in it, the hoards of their letters shall be broken up

2S2

OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

and given to the world. I should not fear to appeal to
those of Harper himself, if he has kept copies of them,
for abundant proof that he was himself a monarchist. I
shall not live to see these unrevealed proofs, nor probably
you; for time will be requisite. But time will, in the end,
produce the truth. And, after all, it is but a truth
which exists in every country, where not suppressed by
the rod of despotism. Men, according to their constitu
tions, and the circumstances in which they are placed, differ
honestly in opinion. Some are Whigs, Liberals, Demo
crats, call them what you please. Others are Tories, Ser-
viles, Aristocrats, etc. The latter fear the people, and
wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society;
the former consider the people as the safest depository
of power in the last resort; they cherish them, therefore,
and wish to leave in them all the powers to the exercise
of which they are competent. This is the division of
sentiment now existing in the United States. It is the
common division of Whig and Tory, or according to our
denominations of republican and federal; and is the most
salutary of all divisions, and ought, therefore, to be fos
tered, instead of being amalgamated. For, take away this,
and some more dangerous principle of division will take
its place.

To Thomas Jefferson Smith

MONTICELLO, February 21, 1825.

This letter will, to you, be as one from the dead. The
writer will be in the grave before you can .weigh its
counsels. Your affectionate and excellent father has re-

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quested that I would address to you something which might
possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life
you have to run, and I too, as a namesake, feel an interest
in that course. Few words will be necessary, with good
dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence and
cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and
your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true.
Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life
into which you have entered be the portal to one of eternal
and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to
care for the things of this world, every action of your
life will be under my regard. Farewell.

The Portrait of a Good Man by the most Sublime of Poets,
for your Imitation

Lord, who's the happy man that may to Thy blest courts repair,
Not stranger-like to visit them, but to inhabit there ?
Tis he whose every thought and deed by rules of virtue moves,
Whose generous tongue disdains to speak the thing his heart dis
proves.

Who never did a slander forge, his neighbor's fame to wound,
Nor hearken to a false report, by malice whispered round.
Who vice, in all its pomp and power, can treat with just neglect ;
And piety, though clothed in rags, religiously respect.
Who to his plighted vows and trust has ever firmly stood,
And though he promise to his loss, he makes his promise good.
Whose soul in usury disdains his treasure to employ.
Whom no rewards can ever bribe the guiltless to destroy.
The man who, by this steady course, has happiness insur'd,
When earth's foundations shake, shall stand, by Providence secur'd.

A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life

1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.

2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
.3. Never spend your money before you have it.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap;
it will be dear to you.

5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

6. We never repent of having eaten too little.

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have
never happened.

9. Take things always by their smooth handle.

10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very
angry, an hundred.

On Slavery

To Miss Frances Wright

MONTICELLO, August 7, 1825.

My health is very low, not having been able to leave
the house for three months, and suffering much at times.
In this state of body and mind, your letter could not have
found a more inefficient counsellor, one scarcely able to
think or to write. At the age of eighty-two, with one foot
in the grave, and the other uplifted to follow it, I do not
permit myself to take part in any new enterprises, even
for bettering the condition of man, not even in the great
one which is the subject of your letter, and which has
been through life that of my greatest anxieties. The march
of events has not been such as to render its completion
practicable within the limits of time allotted to me; and
I leave its accomplishment as the work of another genera
tion. And I am cheered when I see that on which it is
devolved, taking it up with so much good-will, and such
minds engaged in its encouragement. The abolition of the
evil is not impossible; it ought never therefore to be

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despaired of. Every plan should be adopted, every ex
periment tried, which may do something toward the ul
timate object. That which you propose is well worthy
of trial. It has succeeded with certain portions of our
white brethren, under the care of a Rapp and an Owen;
and why may it not succeed with the man of color? An
opinion is hazarded by some, but proved by none, that
moral urgencies are not sufficient to induce him to labor;
that nothing can do this but physical coercion. But this
is a problem which the present age alone is prepared to
solve by experiment. It would be a solecism to suppose
a race of animals created, without sufficient foresight and
energy to preserve their own existence. It is disproved,
too, by the fact that they exist, and have existed through
all the ages of history. We are not sufficiently acquainted
with all the nations of Africa, to say that there may not
be some in which habits of industry are establisbed, and
the arts practised which are necessary to render life com
fortable. The experiment now in progress in St. Domingo,
those of Sierra Leone and Cape Mesurado, are but begin
ning. Your proposition has its aspects of promise also;
and should it not answer fully to calculations in figures,
it may yet, in its developments, lead to happy results.
These, however, I must leave to another generation. The
enterprise of a different, but yet important character, in
which I have embarked too late in life, I find more than
sufficient to occupy the enfeebled energies remaining to me,
and that to divert them to other objects, would be a de
sertion of these. You are young, dear Madam, and have
powers of mind which may do much in exciting others
in this arduous task. I am confident they will be so ex
erted, and I pray to Heaven for their success, and that
you may be rewarded with the blessings which such efforts
merit.

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
On State Rights

To William B. Giles

MONTICELLO, December 26, 1825.

Dear Sir: I wrote you a letter yesterday, of which you
will be free to make what use you please. This will con
tain matters not intended for the public eye. I see, at
you do, and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides
with which the federal branch of our Government is ad
vancing toward the usurpation of all the rights reserved
to the States, and the consolidation in itself of all powers,
foreign and domestic; and that too, by constructions which,
if legitimate, leave no limits to their power. Take to
gether the decisions of the federal court, the doctrines of
the President, and the misconstructions of the constitu
tional compact acted on by the legislature of the federal
branch, and it is but too evident, that the three ruling
branches of that department are in combination to strip
their colleagues, the State authorities, of the powers re
served by them, and to exercise themselves all functions
foreign and domestic. Under the power to regulate com
merce, they assume indefinitely that also over agriculture
and manufactures, and call it regulation to take the earn
ings of one of these branches of industry, and that, too,
the most depressed, and put them into the pockets of the
other, the most flourishing of all. Under the authority to
establish post roads, they claim that of cutting down moun
tains for the construction of roads, of digging canals, and
aided by a little sophistry on the words "general welfare,"
a right to do, not only the acts to effect that, which are
specifically enumerated and permitted, but whatsoever they
shall think, or pretend will be for the general welfare.

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And what is our resource for the preservation of the Con
stitution? Reason and argument? You might as well rea
son and argue with the marble columns encircling them.
The representatives chosen by ourselves? They are joined
in the combination, some from incorrect views of govern
ment, some from corrupt ones, sufficient voting together to
outnumber the sound parts; and with majorities only of
one, two, or three, bold enough to go forward in defiance.
Are we then to stand to our arms, with the hot-headed
Georgian? No. That must be the List resource, not to
be thought of until much longer and greater sufferings.
If every infraction of a compact of so many parties is
to be resisted at once, as a dissolution of it, none can ever
be formed which would last one year. We must have pa
tience and longer endurance then with our brethren while
under delusion ; give them time for reflection and experi
ence of consequences; keep ourselves in a situation to profit
by the chapter of accidents ; and separate from our com
panions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dis
solution of our Union, with them or submission to a govern
ment without limitation of powers. Between these two
evils, when we must make a choice, there can be no hesita
tion. But in the meanwhile, the States should be watch
ful to note every material usurpation on their rights ; to
denounce them as they occur in the most peremptory terms ;
to protest against them as wrongs to which our present
submission shall be considered, not as acknowledgments
or precedents of right, but as a temporary yielding to the
lesser evil, until their accumulation shall overweigh that of
separation. I would go still further, and give to the
federal member, by a regular amendment of the Constitu
tion, a right to make roads and canals of intercommunica
tion between the States, providing sufficiently against cor
rupt practices in Congress, (log-rolling, etc.) by declaring

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OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

that the federal proportion of each State of the moneys
so employed, shall be in works within the State, or else
where with its consent, and with a due salvo of jurisdiction.
This is the course which I think safest and best as yet.

On Slavery

To the Honorable Edward Everett

MONTICELLO, April 8, 1826.

Dear Sir: I thank you for the very able and eloquent
speech you have been so kind as to send me on the amend
ment of the Constitution, proposed by Mr. McDuffie. I
have read it with pleasure and satisfaction, and concur
with much of its contents. On the question of the law
fulness of slavery, that is of the right of one man to ap
propriate to himself the faculties of another without his
consent, I certainly retain my early opinions. On that,
however, of third persons to interfere between the parties,
and the effect of conventional modifications of that pre
tension, we are probably nearer together. I think with
you, also, that the Constitution of the United States is
a compact of independent nations subject to the rules
acknowledged in similar cases, as well that of amendment
provided within itself, as, in case of abuse, the justly
dreaded but unavoidable ultimo ratio gentium.

289

Jefferson s Inscription for his Tombstone

HERE WAS BURIED
THOMAS JEFFERSON

AUTHOR

OF THE DECLARATION OF
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA

FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND

FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY

OF VIRGINIA.

BORN APRIL 2o,

174-3 O. S.

DIED [JULY 4]

[1826]

290

LIFE OF JEFFERSON

Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Va., on the
second of April,, 1743. He came of a good family. The
Jeffersons, like the Washingtons, were landed proprietors,
men of standing and influence in the community, Thomas
Jefferson the elder being Justice of the Peace and Vestry
man in his county, and holding at the time of his death 1,900
acres of land and thirty slaves. Thomas was the third of
ten children and, though only fourteen when his father died,
had given promise of such unusual powers that strict pro
vision was made in the will for his education. At fifteen he
entered William and Mary College where he graduated four
years later and entered upon the study of the law.

From the first he showed aptitude as well as ambition for
public affairs. When he came of age he was elected Justice.
At twenty-five he was chosen to the House of Burgesses and
remained a member until the Assembly was closed by the
Revolution. Then he was sent to Congress and in 1779
was elected Governor of Virginia. From that time until
near the close of his life he was almost constantly engaged
in the public service, acting successively as Member of
Congress, Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice-
President, and President.

When he was fifty-seven he drew up a brief statement in
the nature of an apologia pro vita sua which forms a modest
account of his achievements up to that time.

"I have sometimes asked myself, whether my country is
the better for my having lived at all? I do not know that
it is. I have been the instrument of doing the following
things ; but they would have been done by others ; some of
them, perhaps, a little better:

291

LIFE OF JEFFERSON

"The Rivanna had never been used for navigation;
scarcely an empty canoe had ever passed down it. Soon
after I came of age, I examined its obstructions, set on foot
a subscription for removing them, got an Act of Assembly
passed, and the thing effected, so as to be used completely
and fully for carrying down all our produce.

"The Declaration of Independence.

"I proposed the demolition of the church establishment
and the freedom of religion. It could only be done by de
grees; to wit, the Act of 1776, c. 2, exempted dissenters
from contributions to the Church, and left the Church clergy
to be supported by voluntary contributions of their own
sect, was continued from year to year, and made perpetual
1779, c. 36. I prepared the act for religious freedom in
1777, as part of the revisal, which was not reported to the
Assembly till 1779, and that particular law not passed till
1785, and then by the efforts of Mr. Madison.

"The act of putting an end to entails.

"The act prohibiting the importation of slaves.

"The act concerning citizens, and establishing the natural
right of man to expatriate himself at will.

"The act changing the course of descents, and giving the
inheritance to all the children, etc., equally, I drew as part
of the revisal.

"The act for apportioning crimes and punishments, part
of the same work, I drew. . . .

"In 1 789 and 1 790, I had a great number of olive plants,
of the best kind, sent from Marseilles to Charleston, for
South Carolina and Georgia. They were planted, and are
flourishing; and, though not yet multiplied, they will be the
germ of that cultivation in those States.

"In 1790, I got a cask of heavy upland rice, from the river
Denbigh, in Africa, about lat. 9° 30' north, which I sent
to Charleston, in hopes it might supersede the culture of the

292

LIFE OF JEFFERSON

wet rice, which renders South Carolina and Georgia so pes
tilential through the summer. It was divided, and a part
sent to Georgia. I know not whether it has been attended
to in South Carolina, but it has spread in the upper parts
of Georgia, so as to have become almost general, and is
highly prized. Perhaps it may answer in Tennessee and
Kentucky. The greatest service which can be rendered any
country is to add a useful plant to its culture, especially
a bread grain; next in value to bread is oil."

This list of achievements necessarily omits the Purchase
of Louisiana — historically of only less importance than the
Declaration — since that was not accomplished until two
years later.

The true importance of Jefferson does not depend, how
ever, upon these specific acts, but rather, as Lincoln pointed
out in a letter written in 1859, upon his general influence:

"All honor to Jefferson — to the man, who in the con
crete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a
single people, had the coolness, forecast, and sagacity to
introduce into a merely revolutionary document an abstract
truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so embalm
it there that to-day and in all coming days it shall be a re
buke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of reap
pearing tyranny and oppression."

293

THE STORY OF THE BOOK

Thomas Jefferson was a statesman not an author. In
fact, few public men have had so little desire to appear in
print. Writing in 1809 to a Mr. Campbell, he said:

"In answer to your proposition for publishing a complete
edition of my different writings, I must observe that no
writings of mine, other than those merely official, have been
published, except the 'Notes on Virginia' and a small pam
phlet under the title of 'A Summary View of the Rights of
British America.'

"I do not mention the 'Parliamentary Manual/ published
for the use of the Senate of the United States, because it
was a mere compilation, into which nothing entered of my
own but the arrangement and a few observations necessary
to explain that and some of the cases.

"I do not know whether your view extends to official
papers of mine which have been published. Many of these
would be like old newspapers, materials for future his
torians, but no longer interesting to the readers of the day.
They would consist of reports, correspondences, messages,
answers to addresses; a few of my reports while Secretary
of State, might, perhaps, be read by some as essays on ab
stract subjects. Such as the report on measures, weights,
and coins, on the mint, on the fisheries, on commerce, on the
use of distilled sea-water, etc. The correspondences with
the British and French ministers, Hammond and Genet,
were published by Congress. The messages to Congress,
which might have been interesting at the moment, would
scarcely be read a second time, and answers to addresses
are hardly read a first time.

"So that on a review of these various materials, I see
nothing encouraging a printer to a republication of them.

294

THE STORY OF THE BOOK

They would probably be bought by those only who are in
the habit of preserving state papers, and who are not many."

In spite of his indifference to fame of this sort, his "Notes
on Virginia," first published in 1784, ran through sixteen
editions during his life time and has been reprinted a num
ber of times since.

The first collected edition of Jefferson's works was that
published in 1854 by order of Congress. A more complete
and carefully edited edition was prepared by Paul Leicester
Ford in 1892-99, and in 1904 was published the very full
and elaborate edition of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Society of America, upon which this volume has principally
been based.

Jefferson has always been the prophet of American
Democracy, and the interest in his writings is unlikely ever
to cease, were it only for the political theory they contain.
But a glance over the contents of this selection from his
letters and papers will disclose a nature rich and many-
sided, profoundly interested in science, in commerce, in edu
cation, no less than in government — in fact, a nature so opu
lent in resources that it may be taken as an epitome of
his age.

295

NOTES ON THE TEXT

8 A Youthful Attachment. The "picture and watch-
paper" was that of Rebecca Burwell, who is referred to
also in the letter which follows this on page 10. She was
married in 1764 to Jacqueline Ambler.

16 Declaration of Independence. The action of the
Continental Congress on the Declaration of Independence
was as follows. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee,
acting on instructions from the Virginia Assembly, intro
duced a resolution that "these United Colonies are, and of
Right ought to be, Free and Independent States." On
June 1 1 Congress appointed to draft a Declaration a
Committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert A. Liv
ingston. Jefferson drafted the Declaration, which, after
slight alteration by Adams and Franklin, was accepted by
the Committee. On July 2, Congress adopted Lee's orig
inal resolution, and on July 4>, Jefferson's Declaration with
some omissions and changes, the most important of which
were the omission of the denunciation of the British peo
ple (page 21) and of the slave-trade (pages 19—20). The
Declaration was not signed by the Congress until August 2.

23 On Retiring from Public Life. This letter seems
to refer to Jefferson's refusal of a reappointment to Con
gress in December, 1781. At that time he was being very
severely criticised for his conduct as Governor of Virginia
during the invasion of Cornwallis.

24 "Notes on Virginia." This, the most extensive of
the separate works of Jefferson, was compiled in response
to the inquiries of Marbois, the French agent, as to the
resources of the states. Written during Jefferson's retire-

296

NOTES ON THE TEXT

ment (1781-2), the "Notes" are of a remarkable frankness
and freedom of expression, which make them invaluable as
a revelation of character. They were published in French
at Paris in 1784, translated, and repeatedly republished.
They gave to Jefferson a place in the scientific world of
Europe second only to Franklin, and are to-day the best
account of Revolutionary Virginia.

24 The American Genius. The instrument proper to
them is the Banjar, which they brought hither from Africa,
and which is the original of the guitar, its chords being
precisely the four lower chords of the guitar.

24 On Slavery. Throughout his life Jefferson was out
spoken in his condemnation of slavery, for its ill effects
on the whites (page 26) as well as on the blacks. Like
Washington and the other opponents of slavery in the
South, Jefferson saw that the fundamental difficulty was
to find a place for the negro in society. Slavery was one
solution, but, he believed, wasteful, injurious to the whites,
and unjust to the blacks. He advocated gradual emanci
pation (with compensation) and the colonization of the
free negroes. He heartily supported the later project of
transporting the free negroes to Sierra Leone. For fur
ther information as to his attitude, compare the selections
on pages 26, 34, 63, 146, 258, 285, 289-

30 Martha Jefferson. Born Oct. 19, 1748, daughter
of John Wayles. Married Jefferson in 1772, being at that
time a widow, her first husband, Bathurst Skelton, having
died several years previously. She died at Monticello in
1782.

34 Peter Carr. A nephew of Jefferson, and one of
the six children of Dabney Carr. They were brought up
by Jefferson after the premature death of their father.

38 Inferiority of Commerce and Manufactures to Agri
culture. In letters of 1805 (page 167) Jefferson explained

297

NOTES ON THE TEXT

that he condemned manufactures and commerce because of
the wretched conditions of city life in Europe, but that,
as these conditions did not exist in a new country like
America, the condemnation did not as yet apply there.
(Compare page 191.)

41 Superiority of the United States to France. It
should be noted that Jefferson's belief in the absolute de
pendence of a people's happiness on its political freedom
inevitably darkened his pictures of European life. Com
pare selections on pages 43, 242.

45 On New States. The organization of the western
territory into states and their admission into the Union
were subjects of the deepest interest to Jefferson. In
1784, when Virginia had completed the cession of her west
ern claims to the Confederacy, Jefferson introduced an
Ordinance into Congress which ( 1 ) forbade slavery in the
territory after 1800; (2) divided it into small states with
geographical names — Pelisipia, Metropotamia, etc.; (3)
provided for a temporary territorial government and
speedy admission to the Union. The third section alone
was adopted, but it became the foundation of the territorial
policy of the United States. The prohibition of slavery
reappears in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

47 Force in the Barbary States. Not until Jefferson
was President, in the Barbary wars 1802-6, were these
pirates and blackmailers compelled by force to respect the
United States.

48 The Society of the Cincinnati. The native and for
eign officers of the Revolutionary Army organized this so
ciety on May 13, 1783 to "perpetuate the remembrance of
this vast event [the Revolution] and . . . mutual friend
ship." The membership was restricted to the officers and
their male heirs in direct line. The exclusive character of
the membership and the hereditary element suggested to

298

NOTES ON THE TEXT

the supersensitive public opinion of the time an hereditary
aristocracy and aroused widespread fear and dislike. The
society still exists, with the thirteen original chapters.

53 The Navigation of the Mississippi. The claim of
Spain to the control of the Mississippi furnished one of
the most difficult problems of the Confederacy. The river
was the only outlet for the products of the settlers in the
Ohio valley, and the indifference of the Northern and East
ern States very nearly drove these to open revolt. Jeffer
son fully appreciated the importance of the free navigation
of the Mississippi and as Minister to France and as Secre
tary of State (see pages 81, 92) used his utmost endeavors
to secure it.

61 Co-ngress of the Confederation. The weakness of
Congress was due to the lack of a separate executive, and
to its very limited power. It could not take any important
action without the agreement of nine States ; it could not
impose a tax of any sort, or enforce its laws except through
the State authorities.

62 Shay's Rebellion. After the Revolution the States
passed through a time of profound economic depression.
The circulating medium was in hopeless confusion, paper
money nearly worthless, specie withdrawn from circulation.
The markets were glutted with English goods, the taxes
high, and the laws against debtors very severe. Popular
risings occurred in Pennsylvania, New York, New Hamp
shire, and especially in Western Massachusetts under Dan
iel Shay in 1786-7. The object of this rebellion was to
close the courts, to stop the collection of debts and taxes,
and to secure favorable legislation. The State militia put
down the rising without bloodshed.

65 Adoption of the Constitution. Jefferson later (see
page 227) enthusiastically adopted a modification of the
absolute rejection of the Constitution by the four latest

299

NOTES ON THE TEXT

conventions, by which the States adopted the Constitution,
but recommended amendments equivalent to a Declaration
of Rights. These were later adopted as the first ten Amend
ments. Jefferson at first (see page 231) advocated a Presi
dential term of seven years, without reelection, and later a
term of four years, with two terms as the maximum. (See
also pages 67, 279-)

72 The French Revolution. Jefferson's political the
ories were profoundly modified by his contact with the
French Revolution in its earlier and better stages. (See
page 74.)

80 Hamilton's Finance — Post-Roads. This first extract
in which the opposition of Hamilton and Jefferson appears,
should be read, like many of those which follow, in the
light of that opposition. Jefferson was not a great finan
cier, and his criticism, though perfectly sincere, is of minor
value from a financial point of view. The apprehensions
of Jefferson as to the abuse of public improvements have
proved only too well founded ; his attitude toward their
constitutionality plainly foreshadows the strict construc-
tionist policy. But compare pages 170, 259, 279-

85 On the Constitutionality of a National Bank. The
divergence in political theory between Hamilton and Jeffer
son came to a head on this question. Washington asked
his Cabinet to express their opinions in writing, and Jef
ferson's is given in the selection. It was the first definite
statement of the strict constructionist view of the Consti
tution and served as a party platform. The practical dan
gers of a strong National Bank are well stated on pages
160-161.

95 Party Politics. This letter, which purports to be a
petition to Washington to serve a second term, was really
an attack on the Federalist policy of Hamilton. It is of
great importance as outlining the specific issue between

300

NOTES ON THE TEXT

Hamilton and Jefferson in 1792, when the political parties
were just crystallizing. Jefferson's belief that a National
Debt was a tremendously dangerous means of corruption
appears repeatedly in his writings (e.g. page 126);
the injustice of such debt to posterity is forcibly pre
sented on page 219- Gallatin, Jefferson's Secretary of the
Treasury, reduced the debt to a minimum, but the commer
cial difficulties leading to the war of 1812 prevented its
extinction.

103 Twenty-four Years of Public Service. 1769—1775,
Virginia House of Burgesses; 1775, Virginia Convention;
1775-1776, Continental Congress; 1776-1778, Virginia
Assembly; 1779-1781, Governor of Virginia; 1782-1784,
Congress of the Confederation; 178-1—1789, Minister to
France; 1790-1793, Secretary of State.

104 Report on Trade and the Tariff. Interesting as
indorsing a tariff that was to be incidentally protective in
character. Protection did not become a political issue until
after the war of 1812.

110 Jay Treaty. This treaty with Great Britain was
intrinsically very unsatisfactory, but probably the most
favorable that could be procured at the time, and as such
the Senate ratified it. The House, however, very nearly
succeeded in defeating it by withholding the appropriations
to carry it out. Jefferson's theory of the participation
of the House in the treaty-making power has not found
favor with constitutional writers nor been established in
practice.

111 Mazzei Letter. This extract, the end of a long
letter of a personal nature, was published in the Federalist
newspapers, and served as a text for some of the most vio
lent denunciations of his career. He was charged with
referring to Washington, Adams, and others as "apostates"
and supporters of monarchy.

301

NOTES ON THE TEXT

112 "P instead of A." The reference is an intrigue
of Hamilton to withhold votes from Adams and thus secure
the election of Thomas Pinckney, the Federalist candidate
for Vice-President.

115 Relations rvith Great Britain. In 1797 relations
both with Great Biitain and France were very strained
because of depredations on American commerce, and in the
case of England, the imprisonment of American sailors.
The Federalists clamored for war with France, while the
Republicans regarded England as the chief offender. (See
page 118.)

122 Newspaper Libels. The license of the press, from
which Washington himself was not exempt, was almost un
limited in the early years of the Republic. The private
characters of the leading men were blackened by the most
barefaced libels. Porcupine and Fenno were the leading
Federalist editors and pamphleteers, at whose attacks Jef
ferson suffered keenly despite his attempt at philosophic
calm. (See also page 175.)

123 ... "unwise" . . . This is the reading of the
edition of 1829 and of the Congressional edition. But
George Tucker, in the Southern Literary Magazine for
May 1838 (vol. iv. p. 344) asserts that the correct reading
was "unusual," and that the error was due to the fading
of the letter. Jefferson's copy of the letter was destroyed
before that date, so the emendation cannot be fully estab
lished.

123 Sectional Politics. For an explanation of the con
ditions to which this letter refers, see the note on "Kentucky
Resolutions," page 127.

127 Kentucky Resolutions. The way in which Jeffer
son came to draft these resolutions for the Kentucky Legis
lature is clearly explained by Jefferson in the selection on
page 270. The occasion for the resolutions was the legis-

302

NOTES ON THE TEXT

lation referred to in the text; legislation unwise, unjust,
and probably unconstitutional. These laws were directed
primarily against the small but very active group of French
and English refugees who were the main-stay of the Repub
licans in the newspaper world. Besides making naturaliza
tion very difficult, the laws empowered the President to
transport aliens in time of peace, provided for the exile
of aliens in time of war, and widened the definition of
sedition to include newspaper attacks on the Executive or
Congress. The resolutions were adopted in their entirety
by Kentucky in 1799- With the more moderate Virginia
Resolutions of Madison, they were the armory of the strict
constructionist and State Rights party until the Civil War.
It is not clear that Jefferson regarded secession as a
peaceful and legal remedy; certainly he did not advo
cate secession in 1798; the doctrine of peaceful seces
sion, however, could be and was logically deduced from
them. In 1798, however, the Resolutions were intended
as a formal protest (see page 123). Two copies of
these resolutions are preserved among the manuscripts
of the author, both in his own handwriting. One is
a rough draft, and the other very neatly and carefully
prepared. The probability is, that they are the orig
inal of the celebrated Kentucky Resolutions on the same
subject.

135 First Inaugural Address. This was perhaps the
most characteristic address of Jefferson, revealing at once
the far-sighted statesman and the wonderful political tac
tician. The policy or ideal of government outlined on pages
138 and 139 would be enthusiastically subscribed to by
Americans of all periods, while the graceful appeal to
forget party differences, and the studious avoidance of the
earlier doctrines of 1798 were well calculated to disarm
his opponents.

303

NOTES ON THE TEXT

140 Letter to the Senate. In communicating his first
message to Congress, President Jefferson addressed this
letter to the presiding officer of each branch of the national
legislature.

153 The Constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase.
Jefferson always believed that the purchase of Louisiana
was necessary, but unconstitutional, because beyond the
delegated powers. On receiving the news of the successful
negotiations he at once drafted an elaborate amendment to
the Constitution; in August, 1803, another and briefer one.
But his own Cabinet and leading supporters dissuaded him
from appealing to Congress, and Monroe at Paris urged
a speedy ratification. Jefferson reluctantly sacrificed his
own beliefs to the good of the nation, and contented him
self with the tacit consent of the people. The Purchase
was the death blow of strict construction in the original,
literal sense.

160 The Danger of the National Bank to the Govern
ment. The arguments here presented were practically
identical with those on which Jackson later successfully
attacked the second Bank. In both cases the arguments
were sound although the hostility was the more bitter be
cause the Bank was controlled by the enemies of the Ad
ministration. In his suggestion that the United States do
its own banking, Jefferson anticipated the principle of the
present Independent Treasury system.

162 Death of daughter. Jefferson's daughter Mary,
born at Monticello, Aug. 1, 1778, was described by Mrs.
John Quincy Adams as "one of the most beautiful and
remarkable children she had ever seen." She married her
cousin John Wayles Epps, but her health was delicate and
she died at the age of 26, on Apl. 17, 1804. (Compare
page 164.)

162 Attempted reconciliation with Adams. Mrs. Adams
304

NOTES ON THE TEXT

proved implacable, and refused to respond to the advances
of Jefferson. The circumstances of the quarrel are ex
plained in the note on page 196.

168 Second Inaugural Address. It is interesting to
note how four years of power had broadened Jefferson's
conception of the legitimate activity of the Federal Gov
ernment. National aid, through the states, was now advo
cated for public improvements, manufactures, and educa
tion. The letter of strict construction was preserved in
the demand for a specific amendment to the Constitution,
but the ideal of government differs little from that of
Washington and Adams. See pages 259, 279-

178 Proposed Alliance with Great Britain. The dispute
with Spain referred to arose over the indefinite boundaries
of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States claiming
West Florida, and desiring East Florida. As Spain's re
fusal to yield was backed up by Napoleon, Jefferson pro
posed that Great Britain fight our battles for us. The
proposal came to nothing.

183 Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Grandson of Jeffer
son and editor of his "Memoirs, Correspondence and Mis
cellanies," 4 vols., published in Boston 1830.

196 The Break tvith Adams. This account of the
unfortunate estrangement between Adams and Jefferson is
supplemented by the selections on pages 54, 112, 113, 114,
162. Dr. Rush and other mutual friends finally succeeded
in bringing these two old friends together (page 208) and
they remained firm friends and constant correspondents.
Their deaths on the same day, July 4, 1826, was a dra
matic ending of the friendship.

204 Federalists and Republicans. This description of
political parties in 1812 shows the progress of the fusion
of parties so ardently desired by Jefferson in his first In
augural. It shows also the fundamental political convic-

305

NOTES ON THE TEXT

tions of Jefferson better than the Kentucky Resolutions
(page 127).

208 Reconciliation with Adams. See note on page 196.

214 English Common Law in America. This was en
tirely consistent with Jefferson's views in 1776, that the
Colonists had all the rights of men and of Englishmen,
and that the Colonies were not dependent on King or Par
liament, but coordinate parts of the British Empire.

217 Practical Politics. The improvability of the hu
man mind and of institutions was the very foundation of
Jeffersonian democracy. He himself believed that the
progress of science and knowledge was the chief factor in
such improvement.

21Q Finance, Debt, etc. The national finances had
fallen into hopeless confusion during the war of 1812, and
under existing circumstances Jefferson's proposal of no
loan without a specific tax and drastic reform of paper
money were probably sound. His theory of the limitation
of the liability for the National Debt to nineteen years
must, of course, be taken as applying to the morality and
justice of the obligation, not as a plea for repudiation.

226 Political History. Compare pages 217 and 280.

231 Massachusetts Politics. The war of 1812, although
waged to protect American commerce, was exceedingly un
popular in the commercial states of New England. The
action of Massachusetts referred to was her refusal to
furnish militia for service outside of the state. The New
England opposition culminated in the Hartford Conven
tion, which dissolved amid general ridicule on the conclusion
of peace in 1815.

233 The Monroe Doctrine Foreshadowed. In this let
ter, as in the farewell address of Washington, may be
seen the principle of the specific declaration of Monroe
— America for Americans, and no entanglements with

306

NOTES ON THE TEXT

Europe. Jefferson heartily commended Monroe's message
(page 276).

242 Comparison of Great Britain and the United Statet.
Compare note on page 41.

246 "Our Institution." The University of Virginia, to
whose foundation and success Jefferson devoted the last
years of his life.

247 The Banking Mania. In the financial confusion
and depression during and following the war of 1812 the
people sought relief in the multiplication of banks and
paper money. These banks were chartered by the states
without any restriction as to specie reserve or emission of
bank notes, and collapsed by the hundred in the panic of
1819- After that sound banking principles were gradually
established by the states by general legislation.

248 Local Government. The local government of Vir
ginia was practically unaltered by the Revolution, and the
parish and county governments were still in the hands of
the leading families. Jefferson's last years were devoted
to three objects closely related in his own mind: The
University of Virginia (page 2 16) ; a comprehensive public
school system, adopted in principle; and a system of local
government directly controlled by the people. The last
was not fully developed until reconstruction times.

250 The South American Colonies. During the Na
poleonic regime the Spanish Colonies in America were
practically independent, and after the restoration of the
Bourbon king in Spain in 1815 revolted against his arbi
trary rule. The younger statesmen of the United States,
particularly Henry Clay, clamored for an immediate recog
nition of their independence, if not for open assistance to
them, but recognition was wisely deferred until 1821.

259 The proposition under consideration at Washington
was national aid to the National Colonization Society. In

307

NOTES ON THE TEXT

1819 Congress appropriated $100,000 to carry back to
Africa slaves captured on the high seas, and in 1821
founded the negro colony of Liberia.

259 Public Improvements. See note on the Second In
augural Address (page 168).

263 The Supreme Court. Jefferson's criticism of the
Supreme Court arose from three sources: He regarded the
court as essentially anti-republican because the judges were
not immediately dependent on the people (compare selec
tion on page 254) ; he believed that power of the court to
pass on the constitutionality of the acts of the Executive
and the Legislature was contrary to the principle of the
separation of the departments ; he saw clearly that the court
as it existed, dominated by John Marshall, was undermin
ing the principle of strict construction.

26-1 Possibility of Secession. The reference, of course,
was to the struggle over the admission of Missouri to the
Union.

267 Corruption of the Teachings of Jesus. Jefferson
himself winnowed out of the New Testament what he con
sidered the genuine teachings of Jesus, and the compilation
has been published as "Jefferson's Bible." His religious
views exposed him to the charge of atheism in his own time,
but to-day would not excite especial comment.

269 The Spoils System. The "mischievous law" was
the law usually known as "Crawford's Act," passed in
1820, limiting the term of appointment of attorneys, col
lectors, etc., to four years. This is considered the beginning
of the "Spoils System" in national politics, although the
officials were ordinarily reappointed until the inauguration
of Jackson.

279 Proposed amendments to the Constitution. These
amendments were not even adopted by Congress.

308

LIST OF AUTHORITIES

Memoirs, Correspondence and Miscellanies. By Thomas
Jefferson Randolph. 4 vols. Boston 1830.

Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Henry A. Wash
ington. 9 vols. Washington 1853.

Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Paul Leicester
Ford. 10 vols. New York 1892-99.

Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Published under the au
spices of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Society.
20 vols. Washington 1904.

Life of Jefferson. George Tucker. 2 vols. Philadelphia
1837.

Life of Jefferson. H. S. Randall. 3 vols. New York
1858.

Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson. S. N. Randolph.
New York 1871.

Life of Thomas Jefferson. James Parton. Boston 1874.

Life of Thomas Jefferson. J. T. Morse Jr. Boston 1883.

Life of Thomas Jefferson. J. Schouler. New York 1897.

Life of Thomas Jefferson. H. C. Merwin. Boston 1901.

The True Thomas Jefferson. W. E. Curtis. Philadelphia
1901.

Works of Alexander Hamilton. Edited by Henry Cabot
Lodge.

Life of Alexander Hamilton. By Henry Cabot Lodge.

309

INDEX

Adams, John, characterization of,
56, 201-202; accused of being
"Publicola," 94; candidate for
President, 112; influenced by
Hamilton, 115; relations with
Jefferson, 113, 114-115; Jeffer
son advances reconciliation, 162-
164 ; account of break with Jeffer
son, 196-202, 228-229; on con
stitution of Great Britain, 197.

Adams, John Quincy; answer to
"Rights of Man," 281.

Adams, Samuel, tribute to, 141-
142.

Admiration, clothes and, 9.

Advice, ethics of, 36.

"Agricola," Jefferson accused of
being, 94.

Agriculture, commerce and, 40-42;
science of first order, 158.

D'Alembert, mentioned, 239.

Alexander of Russia, characteriza
tion of, 196.

Alien and sedition laws, 271 ; draft
of resolutions, 127-134; constitu
tionality of, 126.

Alien influence in American com
merce, 116.

Alienage, laws of, national bank
and, 86.

American character, 62.

American commerce, trade in home
bottoms, 75; alien influence in,
116.

American finance, 219-226, 247-
248; internal revenue, 169.

American genius, art of war, 24;
astronomy, 24; physics, 24.

American men, 46.

American poetry, 24.

American politics, 217-218, 226-
230 ; monarchical tendencies,
111; in 1798, 122; sectional dis
sensions, 123 ; danger of disunion,
124; in 1790, 281.
See also Antifederalists, Federal
ists, Republican party.

American system, 277.

Anglo-American alliance, 178-179;
in event of French taking
New Orleans, 143; desirable,
277.

Annexation, constitutionality, 154.

Antifederalists, join Republicans,
98.

Arbitration, 49.

Argand, lamp of, 90.

Argument, Jefferson on, 185.

Artisan, as a citizen, 40.

Atheism, morality of, 238.

Bank of the United States, 85-89,
160.

Bank notes, unlimited emission de
preciates specie, 226 ; prohibition
of, 247.

Banks, danger to Government, 160-
161; alienators of nation's re-

310

INDEX

sources, 223; evil influence of,
247-248.

Barbary States, European peace
alliance, 49.

Beaujolois, France, chateau de
Laye-Epinaye, 58.

Beckley, John, mentioned, 93.

Blackstone, characterization of,
215-216.

Books, reality and, 12.

Bourbon, house of; characteriza
tion, 196.

Boys, education of, 36-40.

Brutus, Jefferson accused of being,
94.

Buffon's tables, 220.

Burr, Aaron, mentioned, 199.

Burvvell, Rebecca, loved by Jeffer
son, 11.

Bushnell, Mr., of Connecticut,
mentioned, 35.

Calvinism, 274.

Canals, congressional authority to
open, 88.

Canning, opinion on Anglo-Ameri
can alliance, 277.

Carr, Mrs. Dabney, mentioned,
33.

Catherine of Russia, characteriza
tion of, 196.

Celtic language, Jefferson's at
tempt to acquire, 14.

Centralization of government, 249.

Chase, Samuel, appointment as
judge of Supreme Court, 111.

Chateau de Laye-Epinaye, Beaujo
lois, 58.

Chesapeake affair, 213.

Christian VII, King of Denmark,
estimate of, 196.

Church and State, 29.

Cincinnati, Order of, European
conception of, 50-5 1 ; influences
monarchical tendencies in Amer
ica, 51.

Cities, corruption of, 134, 160, 167;
growth of, 134.

Citizens, most valuable classes of,
40-il.

Citizenship, educational qualifica
tion for, 253.

Civil jurisdiction, over food, in
France, 30; over medicine, in
France, 30; over expression of
scientific theories in France, 30;
in Italy, 30; over religion in
Rome, 29.

Climate, effect of warm climates, 28.

Clinton, George, mentioned, 203.

Coke, mentioned, 8, 216.

Colbert, mentioned, 59.

Commerce, 104-107; agriculture
and, 40-42.
See also American commerce.

Common law of England in Amer
ica, 214-217.

Condorcet, mentioned, 239.

Conduct, Jefferson on, 283-284.

Connecticut, political influence in
1798, 123-124.

Constitution, adoption of, 67-6?;
objections to, 69-70.

Constitutional amendment, pro
hibiting Federal Government to
borrow, 126; on slavery, 289.

Constitutional amendments, Jeffer
son on, 279-280.

311

INDEX

Constitutionality of alien and sedi
tion laws, 126; of annexation,
154 ; of Federal power for internal
improvement, 88, 259-260, 280,
288; of the Louisiana purchase,
153-155; of a national bank, 85-
89; of prescribing religious exer
cises, 181-182.

Cow-pea, agricultural advantages
of, 120.

Credit, national, American, 71;
English, 70.

Credit system, American, 62.

Creek Indians, 148.

Crop rotation, Jefferson on, 120-
121.

Cuba, annexation of, 192-193, 272-
273.

Cuyahoga canal, 79.

Deane, Silas, mentioned, 117.

Dearborn, General Henry, men
tioned, 177.

Declaration of Independence, text
of, 16-22.

Declaration of rights, 68-73.

Deism, 239.

Denny, editor of "Portfolio,"
monarchical preferences of, 282.

Descartes, mentioned, 30.

Descents, course of, national bank
and, 86.

Diderot, mentioned, 239.

Discriminating duties, 106.

Disputation, Jefferson on, 185.

Distribution, laws of, national bank
and, 86.

Divers, Mr., mentioned, 214.

Domestic pleasures, Jefferson on,

52, 67, 103-104.
Donald, Alexander, mentioned,

120.
Dupont de Nemours, mentioned,

145.

Education, 109; of girls, 32; of
boys, 36-40; English, 45; Euro
pean, 45-46.

Egoism, 239-240.

Ellsworth, Oliver, appointed as
chief justice, 111.

Emigrants, German, 147; learned
vs. laboring classes, 159, 167.

Encyclopedic methodique, prints
misleading article on the Cincin
nati, 50.

English interference in American
commerce and finance, 116.

"Entangling alliances" phrase,
138.

Eppes, Mrs. Francis, mentioned,
33.

Escheat, law of, national bank and,
86.

Essex junto, 208, 282.

Ethics, comment on, 36; study of,
38.

European alliance against Barbary
states, 49.

European politeness, 45; morals,
45; women, 45.

European war, Jefferson on, 116.

Farmer, as a citizen, 40.
Farming, Jefferson on, 119-122.
Fast day, Jefferson refuses to pro
claim, 181-182.

312

INDEX

Federalists, Jefferson's opposition
to, 77-78; majority in Congress,
98; monarchical party and seces
sion, 100; influence in securing
presidency for Adams, 198;
Jefferson on, 204-208.

Fenno, John, mentioned, 122.

Ferdinand IV, King of Naples,
estimate of, 196.

Ferdinand VII, King of Spain,
estimate of, 196.

Fiction, power of, 12; history and,
13.

Floridas, cession of, 192; com
pensation for French possession
of Louisiana, 145.

Food, government control, 30.

Foreign missions, 274-275.

Forfeiture, law of, national bank
and, 86.

France, civil jurisdiction in, 30;
compared with United States,
42-44; domestic happiness in,
43; music of, 44; and Barbary
states, 49; influence of women in
government, 74; court hatred of
parliaments, 74; power of States
General, 74; commerce with
United States, 75 ; Lafayette and
the Tiers-fitat, 79-80; relations
with United States, 142-145.

Franklin, Benjamin, estimate of,
24; lamp invented by, 90; Mes-
mer and, 90; French people's re
spect for, 90; Vergennes' regard
for him, 91 ; amiability of, 185.

Frankliniana, 89-92.

Freedom of religion, 29, 170.

Freedom of the press, 166.

French interference in American

commerce and finance, 116.
French language, value of knowing,

39.

French literature, 43.
French manners, 44.
French people, temperate habits of,

44.
French revolution, 102; American

influence on, 76-77.
French women, life of, 57 ; influence

in government, 74.
Friends, Society of, 275.
Friendship, Jefferson on, 204.

Galileo, mentioned, 30.

Gallatin, Albert, and American
finance, 82.

George III, of England, characteri
zation of, 196.

German colonization in Virginia,
66; immigrants, 147.

Girls, education of, 32.

Government, theory of, 54.

Government control; see Civil
jurisdiction.

Gravitation, law of, mentioned,
30.

Great Britain, Barbary states and,
49; war with Spain, 85; inter
ference in American affairs, 102;
negotiations with United States
affected by Washington's retire
ment, 102; trade with United
States, 106; Anglo- American
alliance, 178-179; Adams and
Hamilton on British constitution,
197; sea power, 211; relations
with United States, 212-214;

313

INDEX

compared with United States,

242-245.
Grief, 2.52.

Growth of cities, Jefferson on, 134.
Gustavus of Sweden, estimate of,

196.

Hamilton, Alexander, financial
policy, 82; influence on Adams,
115; anti-republican influence,
123; on British constitution, 197;
Julius Ciesar greatest man in
opinion of Hamilton, 198; politi
cal theories of, 205; monarchical
preferences, 281.

Hand, General, mentioned, 79.

Happiness, estimate of, 9, 11.

Harper, Dr., monarchical prefer
ences, 283.

Hereditary magistracies, 108.

History, lesson of, 13; study of, 37.

D'llolbach, mentioned, 239.

Holland, and Barbary states, 49.

Holy Alliance, 277.

Home consumption, 191.

Home and foreign missions, 274-
275.

Homogeneity of population, de
pendent on territorial division,
47-48.

Honesty, 37, 109.

Hopkinson, Mrs. Francis, men
tioned, 33.

Horse, utility of, 38.

Hotel de Salm, Paris, 58.

Howe, General, mentioned, 15.

Humphreys, Colonel David, men
tioned, 35, 50, 84.

Hunting, as an exercise, 38.

Imports, tariff on, 169.

Impressment of seamen, 211.

Incorporation, congressional power
of, 88.

Indian policy of the United States,
94-95, 148.

Indians, degeneracy, 170-172; fut
ure of, 188-191.

Internal improvements, constitu
tionality of Federal promotion of,
259-260, 288.

Internal revenue, 169.

Italy, civil jurisdiction in, 30.

Jay treaty, 110.

Jefferson, Thomas, in love with
Rebecca Burwell, 10; interest in
Celtic language, 14; attitude
toward England, 15; retirement
from public life, 23; private
affairs, 23 ; ambassador in France
34; contributes article to En
cyclopedic methodique on the
Cincinnati, 50 ; has no interest in
country west of Alleghany, 55,
at Nismes, 58; Secretary of State;
80-81 ; attacked by "Publicola,"
93; accused of using pen name of
"Agricola" and "Brutus," 94;
urges Washington to reconsider
contemplated retirement, 1 00-
101; public service of, 102-103;
retirement of, 103-104; rural
life, 107; relations with John
Adams, 113, 114-115; as Presi
dent, inaugurates custom of pre
senting annual message in writ
ing, 140; advances reconciliation
with Adams, 162-164; death of

314

INDEX

his daughter, 164-165; reasons Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

for refusing to proclaim day of
fasting and of prayer, 181-182;
comment on his political op
ponents, 186; daily routine at
Monticello, 194-195; account of
break with Adams, 196-202,
228-229; personalia, 202-204,
261-263; reconciliation with
Adams, 208-210; anticipates
Monroe doctrine, 233-234; phi
losophy of life, 252-253 ; religion
of. 257-258.

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.
to John Adams, 1791, July 17.
Letter of explanation, 93; 1811,
January 21. On reconciliation,
208-210; 1813, June 15. On
practical politics, 217-218;
July 27. On political history,
226-230; 1816, April 8. On
the philosophy of life, 252-253;
1823, April 11. On religion,
274-275.

to Mrs. John Adams, 1804, June
13. Advance toward recon
ciliation with John Adams,
162-164.

to Samuel Adams, 1801, March
29. Tribute to Samuel Adams,
141-142.

to Edward Bancroft, 1788, Jan
uary 26. On emancipating
slaves, 65.
to J. Bannister, jr., 1785, October

15. On education, 45.
to Bellini, 1785, September 30.
On the superiority of United
States to France, 42.

to William B. Bibb, 1808, July
28. On public ownership, 182-
183.

to Mrs. Bingham, 1787, February
7. Letter of courtesy, 57.

to John Brown, 1788, May 26.
Navigation of the Mississippi,
72-73.

to Joseph C. Cabell, 1816, Febru
ary 2. On local government,
248-250.

to David Campbell, 1810, Janu
ary 28. On choice of a pro
fession, 193-194.

to William Carmichael, 1790,
August 2. On the Missis
sippi, 83-85; 1791, March 12.
Control of the Mississippi,
92.

to Peter Carr, 1785, August 19.
Letter of advice, 36.

to Edward Carrington, 1787,
January 16. On newspapers,
53; August 4. Division of
authority in government, 63.

to Thomas Cooper, 1814, Sep
tember 10. Comparison of
Great Britain and United
States, 242-245; October 7.
On courses of study, 246.

to D'lvernois, 1795, February 6.
Political theory, 108.

to Alexander Donald, 1787, July
28. On the national character,
62; 1788, February [?]. On
philosophy of life, 67; Feb.
ruary 7. On the adoption of
the Constitution, 67.

315

INDEX

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

to Dupont de Nemours, 1816,
April 24. On educational
qualification, 253.

to John W. Eppes, 1813, July 24-
On finance — national debt —
paper money, 219-226.

to Edward Everett, 1826, April 8.
On slavery, 289.

to Robert Fulton, 1807, August 6.
On torpedoes, 177.

to Albert Gallatin, 1803, De
cember 13. Danger of banks
to the Government, 160-161;
1815, October 16. On banks,
247-248; 1817, June 16. On
internal improvements, 259-
260.

to Robert J. Garnett, 1824,
February 14. On amend
ments to the Constitution,
279-280.

to Elbridge Gerry, 1797, May 13.
On his relations with Adams
and attitude toward England,
114-118.

to William B. Giles, 1825, De
cember 26. On State rights,
287-289.

to Captain Hendrick, 1808, De
cember 21. Advice, 188-
191.

to John Holmes, 1820, April 22.
On the possibility of secession,
264-266.

to Francis Hopkinson, 1789,
March 13. On character of
Washington, 78. On party,
77-78.

316

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

to Alexander v. Humboldt, 1813,

December 6. Monroe doc
trine foreshadowed, 233-234.
to Dr. Thomas Humphreys, 1817,

February 8. On slavery, 258-

259.

to Andrew Jackson, 1803, Feb
ruary 16. On Indian policy,

148.
to John Jay, 1785, August 23.

On superiority of agriculture

to commerce, 40.
to Martha Jefferson, 1783, No
vember 28. On education, 32.
to Walter Jones, 1814, January 2.

On character of Washington,

234-238.
to Rufus King, 1807, July 13.

Colonization of slaves in Sierra

Leone, 146-148.
to General Knox, 179T, August

10. On a national Indian

policy, 94.
to Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1810,

Fel ruary 26. On his manner

of life, 194-195.
to Lafayette, 1787, April [?].

Travel and science, 60.
to John Langdon, 1810, March 5.

On the breeding of kings, 195-

196.
to Thomas Law, 1814, June 13.

On basis of morality, 238-242.
to Thomas Ixjiper, 1809, January

21. On manufactures, 191-

192.
to James Lewis, jr., 1798, May 9.

On newspaper libels, 122-123.

INDEX

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

to Mr. Lithson, 1805, January
4. Qualifies condemnation of
cities and manufactures, 167-
168.

to Robert E. Livingston, 1802,
April 18. Policy as to pur
chase of Louisiana, 142-145.

to Charles McPherson, 1773,
February 25. Opinion of
Ossian, 13.

to James Madison, 1787, January
30. On theory of government
and on Louisiana, 53; Char
acter of John Adams, 56; 1788,
May 3. National credit, 70—
72; 1790, March 6. On Hamil
ton's finance, post-roads, 82-
83; 1793, June 9. On obliga
tions to public service and the
simple life, 102; 1796, Decem
ber 17. On Adams for Presi
dent, 112; 1797, January 30.
On las relations to Adams, 113;
1805, August 27. Proposed
alliance with Great Britain,
178-179; 1809, April 27. On
annexation of Cuba, 192-193;
1820, November 29. On the
spoils system, 269-270.
to James Martin, 1813, Sep
tember 20. On term of office
and Massachusetts politics,
231-233.

to James Maury, 1812, April
25. On foreign affairs, 210-
214.

to Philip Mazzei, 1796, April 26.
On party lines, 111.

317

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters,
to Michael Megear, 1823, May
29. On home and foreign
missions, 275-276.
to John Melish, 1812, January
13. On Federalists and Re
publicans, 204-208.
to Samuel Miller, 1808, Janu
ary 23. Reasons for refusing
to proclaim a fast, 181-182.
to James Monroe, 1782, May
20. On retiring from public
life, 23; 1785, June, 17. On
expenses in Paris, 34; 1786,
July 9. On new States, 46;
August 11. Doctrine of force
in Barbary states, 48; De
cember 18. On the simple life,
52; 1796, March 21. Jay
treaty, 110; 1816, February 4.
On aiding South American
colonies of Spain, 250-252.
1823, June 23. On annexa
tion of Cuba, 272-273; Octo
ber 24. On the Monroe
doctrine, 276-2', 8.
to John Page, 1762, December
25. On a juvenile experience,
7; 1763, July 15. On an
affair of the heart, 10; 1804,
June 25. On the loss of his
daughter, 164-165.
to Mann Page, 1795, August
30. Fxlucation, rogues, and
honest men, 109.

to Dr. Richard Price, 1785, Au
gust 7. On slavery, 35; 1789,
January 8. American influence
on French Revolution, 76-77.

INDEX

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

to John Randolph, 1775, No
vember 29. Attitude toward
England, 15.

to Dr. Spencer Roane, 1819,
September 6. On the Supreme
Court, 263-264.

to Benjamin Rush, 1800, Sep
tember 23. On yellow fever
and growth of cities, 134;
1803, April 21. On religion,
149; 1808, January 3. In
troducing his grandson; esti
mate of character, 179; 1811,
January 16. Account of break
with Adams, 196-202; August
17. Personalia, 202-204.

to Edward Rutledge, 1787, July
14. On rice culture, 71. Sup
pression of slave trade, 62;
1797, June 27. On the posi
tion of the United States, 118-
119.

to William Short, 1793, Janu
ary 3. On the French Revolu
tion, 102 ; 1820, August 4.
On religion, 266-269; 1825,
January 8. Concerning party
names and purposes, 280-
283.

to Robert Skipwith, 1771, August
3. On books, 12.

to Colonel Smith, 1787, No
vember 13. Apropos Shay's
rebellion, 64.

to Mrs. M. Harrison Smith,
1816, August 6. Concerning
his religion, 257-258.

to Thomas Jefferson Smith, 1825,

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

February 21. Rules of con
duct, 283-285.

to Hyde de Neuville, 1818, De
cember 13. On the tax on
wine, 260-261.

to George Nicholas, 1821, De
cember 11. On the Kentucky
resolutions, 270-272.

to Wilson C. Nicholas, 1803,
September 7. Constitutional
ity of Louisiana purchase, 153—
155.

to John Norvell, 1807, June 11.
Conduct of a newspaper, 175-
176.

to Dr. Ezra Styles, 1785, July 17.
On the screw propeller, 34.

to John Taylor, 1798, June 1.
On sectional politics, possi
bility of division, 123-125;
November 26. On public
debt, 126; 1816, May 28. On
the true republic, 254-257.

to Comtesse de Tesse, 1787,
March 20. Art et la politesse,
58.

to John Tyler, 1804, June 28.
On politics, 166; 1812, June
17. On the English common
law in America, 214-217.

to Dr. Nine Utley, 1819, March
21. On personal religion, 261-
263.

to George Washington, 1786, No
vember 14. On the Cincin
nati, 50; 1788, May 2. Po
tomac canal, European affairs
and the Constitution, 69-70;

318

INDEX

Jefferson, Thomas, Letters.

December 4. On foreign af
fairs, commerce, 73-76; 1789,
May 10. On political consis
tency, 79-80. On canals,
Congress, returns, 78-79;
December 15. On his ap
pointment as Secretary of
State, 80-81; 1792, May 23.
Obligations and discomforts
of public office, 95-102; 1795,
April 25. Rural life, 107.

to David Williams, 1803, No-
vemlx?r 14. On learning and
agriculture, 157-160.

to William Wirt, 1808, January
10. Urging him to run for
Congress, 180-181.

to Miss Frances Wright, 1825,
August 7. On slavery, 285.

Messages,

1st inaugural, 135-140.
2d inaugural, 168-175.
3d annual, 155-157.
8th annual, valedictory, 187.

Notes on Virginia; see that

title.
Jesus Christ, syllabus on estimate

of the merit of doctrines of, 150-

153; character of, 266.
Jews, character of, 125; religious

rites of, 268; religious system

of, 151.
Joseph I, of Austria, estimate of,

196.
Justinian's institutes, 216.

Kentucky, political sympathy with
Virginia, 271.

Kentucky resolutions, Jefferson on,

270-272.
Kings, breeding of, 195-196.

Lafayette, mentioned, 50; Repub
lican principles, 79-80.
Language, impossible to write two

languages perfectly, 46.
Languedoc canal, 69.
Law, profession of, 193.
Legal tender, paper money not a,

126.

Libels, newspaper, 122, 172-173.
Liberty of conscience, 29, 170; of

the press, 166.

Lindsay, Mr., mentioned, 214.
Littleton E., mentioned, 216.
Ixians and taxation, 222.
Local government, 248-250.
Log rolling, 288.
Louis XVI, of France, estimate of,

195.
Louisiana purchase, 55, 142-145,

156, 170; constitutionality of,

153-155.
Love, emotion of, among negroes,

26.

McCaul, Alexander, mentioned, 14.

McDonald, Mr., offers iron mine
to Government, 182.

McDufTie, speech on slavery, 289.

McPherson, James, characteriza
tion of, 13.

Maison Quanve, Nismes, 58.

Man, imitative faculty, 27.

Manufactures, encouragement of,
191-192.

INDEX

Maria, Queen of Portugal, estimate

of, 196.

Mariner, as a citizen, 40.
Maritime rights, 41.
Massachusetts, Shay's rebellion,

64; political influence of, in 1798,

123-124; leads Federalist party,

206; politics of, 231-232.
Mays, Mr., Virginian slave-holder,

mentioned, 66.
Medicine, government supervision,

30; profession of, 193; study of,

246.
Melish, John, " Travels through the

United States," comment on, 204.
Mercantile marine, American, 41-

42.
Merry, Anthony, British envoy in

United States, estimate of, 213.
Mesmer, Franklin and, 90.
Mexico, incorporation with United

States, 272.

Minzees, Ninian, mentioned, 14.
Misfortune, resignation under, 11.
Mississippi River, abandonment of

navigation to Spain, 55; sover
eignty over, 72-73, 84, 92, 156-

157.
Monarchical tendencies in United

States ; see American politics.
Monarchies, Jefferson's opposition

to, 70.
Monopoly, laws of, national bank

and, 86.
Monroe doctrine, Jefferson on,

233-234, 276-278.
Montaigne, criticism of, 109.
Montesquieu, political theories,

108.

Morality, Jefferson on, 238-242.
Morals, European, 45.
Moreau, mentioned, 179.
Morocco and United States, 49.
Morris, Gouverneur, mentioned,

200.
Martmain, laws of, national bank

and, 85.

Mosaic faith, 267.
Moultrie, W., mentioned, 94.
Music, French, 44.

Naples, kingdom, and Barbary
states, 48.

Napoleonic policy, 192.

National bank, 160; constitutional
ity of, 85-89.

Negro colonization, 25; citizen
ship, 26 ; emotional faculties, 26,
27; mental faculties, 26; musical
faculty, 27.

Neutrality, desirability, 115-116.

New, Mr., mentioned, 123.

New Orleans, strategic commercial
position, 142.

Newspapers, value of, 52; libels,
122; abuses of, 172-173; conduct
of, 175-176.

Newton, Isaac, mentioned, 30.

New York, sectarianism in, 31.

Nicholas, W. C., mentioned, 271.

Nismes, France, Maison Quarree,
58.

Notes on Virginia, extracts from;
revision of Virginia constitution,
25; American genius, 24; on re
ligion, 29-31 ; new edition of, 167.

Ossian, estimate of, 13.

320

INDEX

Paine, Thomas, Rights of Man, 93;
attacked by "Publicola," 93.

Paper money, 219-226; induces
legislative corruption, 97-98;
not a legal tender, 126; issues of
1755, 223.

Paris, expense of living in, 34;
women of, 57; Hotel de Salm, 58.

Party politics, Jefferson on, 77-78;
see also Antifederalists, Fed
eralists, Republican party.

Peace, war and, 49.

Pennsylvania, sectarianism in, 31.

Physical exercise, Jefferson on, 38.

Pickering, T., mentioned, 218.

Pinckney, C. C., candidate for
presidency, 112.

Plato, mentioned, 151.

Poetry, Ossian, the greatest poet,
14; American, 24; negro, 27;
study of, 37.

Politeness, 185.

Political consistency, 79-80.

Political patronage, 82-83.

Political theory, 108-109.

Population, homogeneity of, de
pendent on territorial division,
47-48.

"Porcupine," mentioned, 122.

Portugal and Barbary states, 48.

Post-roads, 82.

Potomac canal, 69, 78.

Pnetorian palace, Vienna, 59.

President of United States, re-
eligibility to office tends to
monarchy, 70; veto power, 89;
Jefferson inaugurates custom of
presenting message in writing,
140; term of office, 231, 279.

Press; see Newspapers.

Priestley, Dr. Joseph, " Socrates and
Jesus Compared," mentioned,
149.

Privateering, 119-120.

Public debt, 126, 219-226.

Public ownership, 182-183.

Public service, measure of, 102-
103.

"Publicola," attacks on Paine and
Jefferson, 93; John Adams ac
cused of being, 94.

Quakers, 275; as slave-holders, 66.

Randolph, Peyton, mentioned, 120,
184.

Reading, for boys, 37, 39.

Reason and religion, 29-30.

Rebellion, value of, 54, 65.

Reciprocity, 104-107.

Religion, 149, 266-269, 274-275;
freedom of, 29, 170; and reason,
29; uniformity of, 30; sectarian
ism, 31.

Republican party, 111; minority in
Congress, 98; accessions to, in
third Congress, 99; minority of.
in 1798, 123; Jefferson on, 204-
208.

Republics, territorial division of,
108; theory of, 254-257.

Resignation, 11.

Rice, culture, 61 ; trade in, 76.

" Rights of Man," Paine's, 93.

Rittenhouse, David, estimate of,
24.

Rochefoucauld, criticism of, 109.

321

INDEX

Rotation of crops. Jefferson on,

120-122.

Royalty, degeneracy, 195-196.
Rural life, 107.
Rush, Benjamin, theory of bleeding

and of mercury, 246.

Screw-propeller, 34-35.

Sea power, American, 41, 49, 75;
British, 211, 212.

Secession, possibility of, 100, 264-
266.

Sectarianism, 31.

Sedgwick, Theodore, mentioned,
218.

Senate of United States, term of
office too long, 231.

Shay's rebellion, 64.

Siberian barley, experiments with,
120.

Sierra Leone, colonization of slaves
in, 146-148.

Simple life, Jefferson on, 52, 67,
103-104.

Skipwith, Mrs., mentioned, 33.

Slavery, abolition in Virginia, 25;
influence on manners, 27 ; eman
cipation of slaves, 29, 65; in
Maryland, 35; in Virginia, 35;
suppression of, 62; colonization
in Sierra Leone, 146-148; coloni
zation, 258-259; abolition of,
285; constitutional amendment,
289.

Slodtz, A., Diana of, 58.

Small, Dr. William, mentioned,
184.

Smith, Jonathan B., mentioned, 93.

Soils, renewal of, 121.

South Carolina Yazoo Company,
94.

Spain, and Barbary states, 49;
dispute with United States, 83-
85; claims to territory north of
31°, 84; war with England, 85;
control of Mississippi River, 92;
negotiations with United States
affected by Washington's retire
ment, 102; educational qualifica
tions for citizenship, 253.

Spanish-American colonies, Ameri
can aid to, 250-252.

Spanish language, value of knowl
edge of, 39.

Spoils system, 269-270.

State and Church, 29.

State control ; see Civil jurisdiction.

State governments, American, best
in the world, 126.

State rights, 280, 287-289.

Study, courses of, 246.

Style, 46.

Submarine boats, 177.

Suffrage, educational qualification,
253.

Supreme Court of the United States,
263-264.

Tariff, 104-107; discriminating
duties, 106; on imports, 169.

Taxation, constitutional provision,
87; collection of taxes facilitated
by national bank, 88; and loans,
222.

Taylor, "New Views of the Con
stitution," mentioned, 277.

Theocritus, quoted, 226.

Theology, study of, 246.

322

INDEX

Tobacco, American trade in, 75.
Torpedoes, 177.

Tracy, Nathaniel, mentioned, 218.
Trade, see Commerce.
Travel, pleasure of, 60.
Treasury notes, issue, 247.
Treaty-making power, 154-155.
Trist, Mrs. N. P., mentioned, 33.
Truthfulness, 37.

United States, sea power, 41, 49,
75; mercantile marine, 41-42;
war with European powers, 42,
73-74; compared with France,
42-44; territorial division, small
vs. large States, 46-47; and
Morocco, 49; credit system, 62;
government authority in, 63;
public debt, 71, 96-97; Euro
pean interest in Constitution of,
71 ; post-roads in, 82; finances of,
82; Indian policy, 94-95; paper
money, 97-98 ; legislative corrup
tion, 98; secession, 99, 100, 264-
266; foreign relations, 118; with
France, 142-145, 154, 155; with
Great Britain, 154, 210-214;
compared with Great Britain,
242-245 ; see also American Poli
tics; Anglo-American alliance;
President of United States; sen

ate of United States; supreme
court of United States.

Veto power, 89.

Vergennes, Count de, regard for

Franklin, 91.
Victor Emmanuel I, King of

Sardinia, estimate of, 196.
Vienna, Praetorian palace in, 59.
Virginia, abolition of slavery in, 25 ;

revision of Constitution, 25;

negro insurrection, 146; political

sympathy with Kentucky, 271.
Voltaire, quoted, 43.

Walking, as an exercise, 38.

War and peace, 49; Jefferson on,

117, 122-123.
Washington, George, estimate of,

24; characterization of, 78, 234-

238; retirement of, 95, 100-101;

and Federalism, 207.
Whately, Phyllis, mentioned, 27.
William III, of Prussia, estimate of,

196.

Wine, tax on, 260-261.
Wolcott, Oliver, mentioned, 218.
Wollaston's theory of morality, 238.
Women, European, 45.
Wythe, George, mentioned, 184.

Yellow fever, Jefferson on, 134.

323

E JEFFERSON
332,86 LETTERS AND
,P3 ADDRESSES OF THOMAS
JEFFERSON 33827

DATE ISSUED TO

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